You're here for the book. If you were looking for the movie, hie thee hence to the next writeup.
Ian Fleming's sixth
James Bond novel, and one of two named directly after the
adversary.
In the aftermath of From Russia With Love, a physically and emotionally battered Bond is sent to Jamaica on a busman's holiday -- half R&R, half to investigate the disappearance of the Secret Service's local controller and his secretary. Once in Jamaica, Bond rapidly finds that all is not as it seems. Stung by M.'s implied criticism, he decides to crack the problem himself rather than request backup (a standard Bond attitude, actually).
The problem is Julius No, half-chinese ex-tong treasurer, now a brilliant madman working for the Russians. His guano mining operation is a cover for a missile guidance jamming station. Noone can be allowed to discover this, and so, after explaining everything, the self-styled Doctor sends Bond into an obstacle course designed to kill him. No's insanity is Bond's salvation -- he survives the electric shock, the vertical climb, the heat, the cold, the tarantulas, the plunge into the sea, and the duel with the giant squid, where he would not have survived a simple bullet in the skull.
Two things of note -- in this book, Bond is forced to trade in his old .25 caliber Beretta in favor of two different guns, a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber, and a 7.62 mm Walther PPK. The other thing that struck me on this reading is the implicit racism, present in most Bond books, but closer to the surface in this one. An example:
"The Jamaican is a kindly lazy man with the virtues and
vices of a child. He lives on a very rich island but he
doesn't get rich from it. He doesn't know how to and he's
too lazy."
According to Master Villain, the authoritatively correct title of this book is Dr No, unpuncuated. According to the information I found at the Library of Congress website, Dr. No is more likely. Of course, my memory of the copy of Doctor No I re-read while writing this node indicates that it was Doctor. I'm sure that a strong case can be made for both. However, since the database links to both Doctor No and Dr. No, it makes no sense to merge the nodes. All Hail the Lord Brawl for his Solomonic solutioning. Please see Doctor No for information about the dastardly villain.
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