Bond at His Best

Where does Goldfinger rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there among the best. I've listened to this read by Rufus Sewell in the past which was excellent, and I feared listening to the 'Earl of Grantham' do Bond may feel odd, but the narration was great.

What did you like best about this story?

This Flemming at his best. Bond is on excellent form having been on night duty for a number of months and when he gets his chance to head out into the field again he grasps it. The golf scene is a real classic.

What about Hugh Bonneville’s performance did you like?

I liked the fact that I barely noticed it was wasn't Connery. Hugh Bonneville doesn't attempt any awkward Connery impression, he does it in his own style and it works.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Um... The name's Bond, James Bond.

Any additional comments?

Well worth a listen. You know what you're getting if you're a Flemming fan, if you're not, this is a great place to start.

18 people found this helpful

Better Than The Films

If you could sum up Goldfinger (with Interview) in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, dated, all-the-better-for-it

What did you like best about this story?

The way the reader brought the characters to life. I think the Bond stories are best experienced in this format as it's the reader's imagination that provides the mise en scène.

Have you listened to any of Hugh Bonneville’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No. The interview with Hugh Bonneville at the end of the story is fascinating. In it he revealed that he relished the challenge of reading the chapter about a meeting of eight gangsters.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

These are ridiculous questions – I just want to review the thing in a way that will be of use to potential listeners.

11 people found this helpful

Audible gold!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Most people are familiar with the Bond stories through the films, and probably then compare the book to the film as opposed to the other way round, and i was pleasantly surprised how close in essence the two are to one another.The Seventh Bond novel is very much still a product of the author's era and attitudes to women etc are refreshingly 'un-pc.'Goldfinger was next book written after Dr No is contrastingly different. Where in Dr No we only meet the main antagonist near the end of the book Goldfinger is introduced almost immediately. And Bond struggles to really gain his confidence.The round of golf is very descriptive, although again, maybe the terminology is a little dated, but that adds to the charm of the book.Theres a very mid 20th century feel to the book and certainly for this 30year old listener really captures a time period that has long since gone. You can tell that Fleming is writing about countries and areas he is fond of both in the UK and in Europe.

Who was your favorite character and why?

James Bond for all is faults and out dated opinions is still one the best charters ever written.

What does Hugh Bonneville bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Bonneville's characterisation of Bond and the other main characters really dials into the era and the mood of which Fleming wrote this novel. Having listened to the previous Reloaded releases (I'm doing so in the order or original book release ) Bonneville's reading is definitely, so far, the best reading from the series. Both in his characterisations and emphasis.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The game of golf gave a great in sight to both Bond and Goldfinger,

Any additional comments?

The audio quality of the narration is very good, and doesn't suffer from as much sibilance as a couple of the other Bond reloaded novels do.

8 people found this helpful

Snowflakes beware!

Written in the 1950s, this book contains some language of it's time, which is likely to cause palpitations in those unable to separate "then" and "now.''
For those of us who can accept that society has moved on in the last 60+ years, listen to the Bond story as written, just after WW2, in a time of uncertainty, suspicion and fear that WW3 was just around the corner.
Enjoy it for what it is. I did.

7 people found this helpful

Classic book, with dated offensive LGBTQ content

I loved listening to this for the most part. Well plotted and definitely worth a listen. However, not unlike other Bond books, some of the dated offensive material can let it down. Bond’s description of his understanding of LGBTQ people is laughable & offensive and causes this book to loose one star from me.

6 people found this helpful

Superb

A great story, very exciting. Brilliantly read by Hugh Bonneville, one of the best Bond narrations I've heard.

4 people found this helpful

Surprised by so much here

What did you like most about Goldfinger (with Interview)?

Expecting a very light read to listen to while engaged on mundane tasks, I quickly realised that - perhaps because Fleming wrote this at the end of the fifties - his style here still had a sort of innocence. Even the baddies (with the exception of poor old Oddjob) have their vulnerabilities and their twisted but believable humanity. And Bond certainly does. He is shown worrying about the violence he has to show in his profession and there are moments of real characterisation never seen in the films.The writing too is surprising, with moments of imagery that lift the book way beyond the mere thriller - as too do the lengthy explanations, saved from being boring by little dramatic moments, about the importance of gold to the British economy in the fifties or the intricacies of really good golf. Yes, the treatment of the girls and lesbianism makes us groan nowadays - but it fits the era and adds a lot of colour to this macho tale.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favourite chacacter, apart from marvellous James Bond himself, is the Bank of England gold expert, Smithers. As Bond himself says, one can listen to a really enthusiastic expert with interest, whatever the expertise is in. And given the mess we are in with our ever more worthless fiat currency, the long chapter on gold couldn't be more relevant.

What does Hugh Bonneville bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I soon forgot the Downton Abbey aristocrat and even Paddington's Mr Brown. Hugh Bonneville brings all the characters alive. Really impressive.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely. I couldn't - but would have done if I could have found enough free consecutive hours.

Any additional comments?

Don't be put off this audiobook by the awful, heartless modern OO7 brand. This is a really exciting and well written story, beautifully read.

4 people found this helpful

Goldfinger - misogyny and racism overload

Many of the 007 stories are strong enough to make the racism and misogyny almost stomach able. Not in this case. A lot of bloating, for example a half an hour long description of a golf game that adds very little to the plot. Add to this the more than casual racism, but rather an obviously vicious hatred of the Korean characters, and it all becomes just too much. I just cannot make myself listen to the last ten minutes. when James Bond is going to show the lesbian "girl" that all she ever needed was a proper man to show her the error of her 'confused hormones'. This one should have crossed the lines even in the 1950s. I am surprised that Hugh Bonneville could read this at all, never mind as well as he did. A reluctant 5 for performance, but 2s for overall and story. This should not be on Audible's list.

3 people found this helpful

great story great pace

Would you listen to Goldfinger (with Interview) again? Why?

well read, well written really engaging story

What other book might you compare Goldfinger (with Interview) to, and why?

nearly as good as from Russia with love - in my opinion

What about Hugh Bonneville’s performance did you like?

good pace, narration doesn't distract from the story but his performance draws you in.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Bond better than Reacher

Any additional comments?

one of my favourites - if they made the Bond films more like the books we would have much better films

3 people found this helpful

Boring

I was hoping that reading one of the books might add a little more depth and substance to James Bond’s character as compared to the films, but unfortunately that didn’t really prove to be the case. Both his and the other characters’ actions were routinely dictated by the needs of the plot rather than decent character-building, which wouldn’t have been so bad if the plot was edge-of-your-seat exciting, but instead Fleming seemed more concerned with writing about fancy dinners and games of golf than super-spy action.

I also got a bit fed up with how un-PC Bond is. I know, I know, it was written in the 1950s and it’s unlikely a man like Bond would have progressive political views, but a lot of the time it just felt like Fleming inserting his own personal views into the narrative.

2 people found this helpful