Fred’s Reviews > Diamonds Are Forever > Status Update

Bond says he wants children once he’s retired (263) (!) and quips only half-jokingly that he’s married “to a man. Name begins with M” (262). Whoever said he didn’t have a more human side!?

Pp249-50 is such a moving passage - Bond acknowledges how cruel it would be to “love and leave” Tiffany Case after everything she’s been through with other men. Their banter is funny (255); I just wish she were in the novel slightly more. Their relationship is not quite as compelling as what he has with Honey Rider or Gala Brand.

Tiffany Case is in some ways a typical Bond girl - the one who falls for him because he is far more sensitive to her, more complimentary and cares more about her safety than most of the other men she’s had. But she’s also got a good sense of humour (235, 247), and becomes the hero by almost single-handedly getting Bond away from the Spangled Mob!

After the failed “payment” for Bond’s smuggling at the horse races, and the successful one at the casino, the Spangled Mob have finally captured him and discovered he is a spy. We got a proper Die Another Day moment (“how do you propose to kill me now, Mr Bond?”).

“Whatever the job dictated, there was one way he would never ‘use’ this particular girl. Through the heart.” (102)

Who said Bond didn’t have a soft side!?

I love Fleming’s description of Bond on a long-haul flight (66-8). His descriptions of the small but vivid everyday moments are brilliant.