For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

By Ian Fleming

Today, I've finally finished For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming.

Published as a collection of short stories meant to fit in at different points of the Bond series chronologically, Fleming managed to still capture enough excitement for pleasure reading, for the most part.

From a craft point of view, however, some of his brevity ends up being his enemy because he tries to pack tons of action into a short number of pages. This ends up making some of his characters appear flat or half-cocked. Instead of well-developed, they come across as potentially caricatures instead of real people.

But where he might grapple with this he makes up for it with his approaches to point of view and symbolism. Probably the best out of the collection are "Quantum of Solace" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" for their unique approaches not only to their subject matter but also their greater meaning. Rather than taking the standard approach of trying to make his meaning fit a spy story, Fleming turns the focus of them towards symbolic tales of relationships.

Considering the name he had made for himself with Bond, I view this as both adventurous and clever. What do we have left when we lose all sympathy for our enemies, and at what point does the act of murder become moral? These are both questions Fleming weaves throughout his collection.

I’d like to recommend this collection to anyone looking for a great read.