'Casino Royale'

I once found an old used paperback of Ian Fleming's classic tale of super spy James Bond at a book store. They tried to charge me $12 for it.

Two years or so later, I'd find the very same copy for $1. Patience is a virtue.
It's my first foray into anything Bond outside of a film. I was impressed with his narrative and storytelling. It was very sophisticated. And I think the films do very well to really convey Fleming's voice from the stories.

I also found it interesting that the story in the book (published in 1953) is relatively the same as the new film, released in 2006. A lot of the story is still there.

Most notably the turning of Bond's testicles and other naughty bits into ground beef. Putting it into the recent film was expected. It's gritty and dark. The fact that more than 50 years ago, young boys were reading about it dreaming of becoming a spy seems unusual.