Tag Archives: 3.5-Stars

Casino Royale by Iam Fleming

Casino Royale was Ian Fleming’s first novel, and the book that launched the global, iconic, legendary action adventure, espionage franchise that is James Bond/007.

JAMES BOND PLAYS A DEADLY GAME OF CHANCE IN IAN FLEMING’S UNFORGETTABLE FIRST NOVEL

“Le Chiffre” is a ruthless operative and the money-man for a Soviet cell in France, but he’s on the verge of disaster after gambling away his client’s money. Taking the last of his stash to the casino, he lures a dozen wealthy players to a high-stakes game, hoping to hustle his way whole.

The British Secret Service would like to see this red thorn plucked from the hide of Europe, and sends their best card sharp, James Bond, to the baccarat table to bankrupt Le Chiffre for good. With the cards running against him and SMERSH operatives threatening to kill him and his beautiful counterpart, Vesper Lynd, 007 needs his luck to turn before he loses their lives to the mission.

I’ve seen plenty of Bond movies. Not a one of them is based on this book. Sean Connery is not in this book! My expectations were all based on preconceptions of Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Sean Connery.

The main character of this story is 007, but you’ve never met this guy before if you’ve only watched the Bond movies! The plot was confusing. The main story was over half-way through the book. What else is there to talk about? It wasn’t intriguing — it was confusing! The relationships made NO sense at all. Boy meets girl and is ready to propose marriage. Um . . . maybe spend some time together in the real world, away from the expensive resort before you go ring shopping?

I’m not going to jump on the “misogynistic objectification of women” band wagon. This book was written in the 1950s and, as such, is only low-hanging fruit not worth getting ones panties in a bunch!

So once you realize that this poor book was a victim of the Bond movies, you can sit back and enjoy the story. I wonder what the reaction was to these cinematic offerings in the 1960s? Were fans of these books thrilled or appalled? I think I’ll need to read #2 in this series to see if the movies just totally ran away with the Bond character or if he does show up, eventually, in Fleming’s writings.

3.5/5

The Alternative: Your Family’s Guide to Wellness by Elena Upton, Ph.D.

This review was written for LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers. I received a copy of this book from the publisher to review.

“The Alternative: Your Family’s Guide to Wellness” by Elena Upton
Fifth Element Press (2019) 2nd Edition
3.5 / 5

“The Alternative: Your Family’s Guide to Wellness” is a book by Elena Upton, Ph.D., a classically trained Homeopath. It contains the usual disclaimers for health-related books. The type-face that’s been used seems particularly small and at times was difficult to read, but there is plenty of white-space, so that does help.

The first few chapters of the book focus on the history and implementation of natural medicine and some of its different disciplines. Of particular interest is “How Did We Get Here?” which deals with the 1908 report by Abraham Flexner, commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation to study medical schools in the United States. It’s alleged that, within a few years of its publication, the recommendations of the report were responsible for the demise of not only most of the medical schools in the U.S. (those that weren’t affiliated with a University), but also most of the alternative medicine options. Also mentioned is the “Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973” which made health care in this country a for-profit enterprise.

While the book centers on homeopathy, there is some introductory information about Chinese medicine and acupuncture, naturopathy, and chiropractic and osteopathic processes. Most of the book is dedicated to setting forth the causes and symptoms of common maladies and injuries and the homeopathic remedies for them, but some of the entries include other types of treatment possibilities.

This is a great book for Inquiring Minds that Want to Know more about natural medicine, why it isn’t currently at the forefront of medical care in the U.S. like it is in the rest of the world, and some examples of how to implement it. But this book will also work for someone who already has an interest in homeopathy or other healing arts. There are actual remedy dosages listed in this book. I’ve read a lot of herbals and other books of natural and alternative medicine, and it’s refreshing to find this information actually put forth. It has to do with the nature of homeopathic remedies themselves — there’s pretty much no way you can hurt yourself with them and that’s the crux of the controversy.

I don’t know that homeopathy will every be my go-to medical route, but there’s a lot of information in this book that’s still useful and relatable. I’m very happy to have this book in my library.