Simultaneously the most and least interesting of Fleming's bond novels. The most interesting because Fleming acknowledges the eclipse of the UK's standing in the world by the US. I think this is the closest he ever got to Le Carre territory (although he is still quite far away). Fleming's weird hangups about sex also are dialed down, mercifully. On the other hand, it is the most boring because apparently Fleming did some kind of newspaper travel writing about Japan and decided to incorporate that material here and I am frankly not interested in Fleming's limited worldview about Japan. The plot with Blofeld is frankly even sillier than the film adaptation, and that's saying something. ( )

I am mindful of at least three things as I review Ian Fleming 19s novel, 1CYou Only Live Twice. 1D One is that very few readers will need to be reminded that this is part of a series of novels and short stories, written over the last decade of the author 19s rather short life, about his fictional British secret agent James Bond, Codename 007. Another is that I have only read two novels in the series, this one now and, earlier, the first novel in the series, 1CCasino Royale. 1D Finally, I am aware that the novels have all been turned into movies. (In the case of 1CCasino Royale, 1D twice.) I have seen all of these films, though I have not read all of the books. I recently watched the movie version of 1CYou Only Live Twice, 1D which has been said to have departed from the novel more than other films in the 007 series. (They perhaps exclude the 1967 film 1CCasino Royale, 1D which was not made by the same company that has produced every other Bond film, including the relatively more faithful 2006 version of 1CCasino Royale. 1D) 1CYou Only Live Twice 1D was the last novel that Fleming completed before his death. ( 1CThe Man with the Golden Gun 1D was half-finished and was published posthumously in an unsatisfactory state, in the opinion of many critics.)

The title, 1CYou Only Live Twice, 1D derives from a scene 14for which there is no equivalent in the film version, in which Bond is asked by his Japanese mentor, 1CTiger 1D Tanaka, to write a haiku, and Bond writes, 1CYou only live twice/ Once when you are born/ And once when you face death for the first time. 1D A myth has grown up that this verse is by the late seventeenth-century poet Matsuo Basho, but, of course, it is rather composed by the novelist, Ian Fleming (on behalf of Bond), in homage to Basho. Indeed, Tanaka tries to translate it into Japanese to see if he can make a respectable Japanese poem of it, but this does not work. Judge only upon the question of whether the title, has any meaning, the novel wins out over the movie, which does not make much of it, whereas, in the novel, it turns out to be a kind of foreshadowing.

Written and set in the early 1960s, this novel finds 007 in a depressed psychological state. His short 1962 marriage has ended in his wife 19s murder by his arch nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and despite thwarting Blofeld 19s subsequent schemes, Bond has not been able to achieve what we today would call 1Cclosure, 1D which would presumably involve bringing the fugitive Blofeld to some sort of justice, wild or otherwise. Cheated of a satisfactory outcome, Bond has lost his edge and made unspecified but serious blunders. When he is summoned to his superior 19s office, he fully expects to be asked to resign, but M, as the spymaster his known, has been advised to send Bond on a mission of sufficient importance to make him useful, but not so critical as to depend on his former level of dedication and ability. The atmosphere of 1Caccidie 1D (also, 1Cacedia 1D) 14a word meaning spiritual torpor that is used late in this novel 14seems to permeate the entire Secret Intelligence Service. Reference is made to a major scandal in the service involving homosexuality. Indeed, a man connected to this scandal has committed suicide even though he is not suspected of being gay. This reminds us that homosexuality was so fraught at the time when this novel written, that even an indirect connection to it could bring about shame, blackmail and death. Being gay was not decriminalized in Britain until 1967.

Having even been stripped of his 007 number and status, Bond goes off to Japan, taking an exhausting flight across Europe and Asia. Although his adventures in Japan involve the usual sex and alcohol, they also consist of an intricate exploration of Japanese culture, primarily through Bond 19s relationship with Tanaka, the head of Japan 19s secret intelligence agency and a former kamikaze, who was only spared the fate of his fellow World War II suicide pilots by the timely end of the war. A genuine affection develops between the two men as they travel from the urban north of Japan to the rural southern island of Kyushu. Bond finds that he is not only learning Japanese culture very seriously playing by its rules. Although he has been given what M believes to be a 1Csafe 1D mission, Bond is forced by unforeseen circumstances to improvise as well as to follow Tanaka 19s lead. Bond was under orders to exchange information with Tanaka, but it turns out that Tanaka, through his connection with the American Central Intelligence Agency 14which considers Japan their province and the British as not entirely welcome 14has far more valuable information to trade than Bond has. This is where the novel departs from its travelogue and becomes a dangerous adventure.

At the heart of the novel is one of the most horrific battlefields on which Bond has fought: the 1CGarden of Death, 1D which has been created by a wealthy expatriate European calling himself Dr. Shatterhand, who has imported poisonous plants and snakes and other deadly creatures, such as piranha fish, and installed them within his walled estate. This gaijin (the Japanese term for a resident alien from the West) has been luring many suicides to his estate where they have their choices of awful deaths (including native lava pools). Wanting to avoid a potential international incident by arresting Shatterhand, the Japanese government has decided to ask Bond to do the honor of assassinating him. Only this service is valuable enough to them to be worthy of the information that Bond 19s government wants him to bring back.

In order to go undercover, Bond is made to resemble a Japanese, which is a problematic conceit in any case and one that would probably be considered racist in today 19s politically correct climate. (Perhaps even more so in the film version 19s depiction of it.) He is also brought to a fishing village on a small island off the coast of Kyushu which becomes not only his base of operations for his mission, but part of his cover. Blending into the community, he even joins the fishermen in their daily work. Here the novel explores Bond 19s inner life more than those who know Bond only from the movies might expect. He is both vulnerable and feeling toward others, and comes to admire the local woman he becomes involved with for her strength, intelligence and kindness as well as her physical beauty.

Without giving away the ending, I will say that the novel ends on an unresolved note that holds out some promise for its resolution in Fleming 19s next novel. Apparently, he did try to do this, but it is said that he did so less satisfactorily than the promise here deserves. Notwithstanding that, this is a good novel in view of its exploration of the inner demons of its main character, loss, cross-culturalism, and natural horror (as opposed to the supernatural type). ( )

If you’re only familiar with You Only Live Twice from the movie then this may be something of a disappointment. There’s no giant hollowed out volcanoes, or capsule swallowing spacecraft. Nor does Bond have a cool missile firing autogyro.

This starts a low key story of Bond being promoted to the diplomatic service and given an impossible mission to get the Japanese to share their intelligence sources; a task that takes a surprise turn into a mission of personal vengeance.

Fleming uses the first two thirds of the book as a travelogue on 1950s Japan, an opportunity to sound off as a conservative critic about the state of British and American culture, and act as an amateur psychologist.

It’s only really in the later stages when the vengeance plot kicks in that we get some good old-fashioned Bond action. ( )

In some ways, this is one of Fleming‘s best books. Obviously written at a Magdalene time in his life, it reflects the spark on the hero, James Bond. It’s part, travelogue, part, cultural exposition, part reflection, on the philosophy of life and death. Obviously bonds obituary and the haiku that he creates Very famous parts of this book for the bond enthusiast. It’s here that it’s confirmed that bond has a child with Kissy Suzuki. Unusually sad and wistful. This is Bond at hiis philosophical best. ( )

The characterization of the Japanese was interesting. And Bond's obituary is written by M. ( )