Book Review: Octopussy and The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming
Final Fragments—Moral Reckonings, Quiet Farewells, and a Glimpse into the Soul of 007
Octopussy and The Living Daylights is the last literary offering from Ian Fleming, posthumously published in 1966, and it reads more like a coda than a full performance. Originally intended as a collection of short stories for The Sunday Times, this slim volume offers two—and later four—compact narratives that strip Bond of the grand theatrics and instead place him into smaller, more intimate moral landscapes.
This collection, depending on the edition, includes Octopussy, The Living Daylights, The Property of a Lady, and 007 in New York. None of them are traditional Bond thrillers. There are no grand conspiracies, no globe-trotting chases, and the villains are often less superhuman than simply flawed men. But therein lies the charm. These are stories where Bond is less a hammer and more a scalpel—precise, thoughtful, and often morally conflicted.
“Octopussy” is arguably the richest tale. Bond confronts a former British major, Dexter Smythe, who embezzled Nazi gold during World War II and murdered to cover it up. Bond’s role is more judge than executioner here—he gives Smythe time to settle his affairs rather than dragging him back. The story’s strength lies in its slow, elegiac tone. This is a tale of guilt, aging, and reckoning, with Bond serving more as a ghost of justice than a man of action. There’s poetic irony in the ending—death by nature, via the eponymous pet octopus, rather than a bullet.
“The Living Daylights” is a taut little gem. Bond is assigned to kill a Soviet sniper who’s threatening a double agent’s defection at Checkpoint Charlie. For three nights, Bond watches the no man’s land between East and West Berlin—cold, dispassionate, waiting to kill. But when the sniper turns out to be a beautiful female cellist, Bond delays just enough to wound rather than kill. This is Bond at his most human: weary, reluctant, and quietly rebellious. It’s an excellent exploration of moral hesitation in a job that demands precision and detachment.
“The Property of a Lady” is the most classically “Bondian” of the stories—a subdued auction-house sting involving a Fabergé egg, a Russian double agent, and an elegant setting. While not particularly gripping, it’s clever and stylish, showcasing Bond in his element: mixing wit with surveillance, charm with suspicion.
“007 in New York” is more of a curiosity than a story. A brief vignette filled with Fleming’s grumbling opinions on American culture and cuisine (especially his disdain for New York eggs). It’s slight, but not without charm, and it offers an intriguing glimpse into Bond’s off-duty mindset, complete with a half-hearted romantic entanglement.
Together, these stories represent the most human and vulnerable Bond ever written. There’s a quiet dignity to how these tales emphasize the moral cost of espionage over the glamour. It’s a fitting farewell—less about martinis and gadgets, more about conscience, memory, and aging.
The Klahr Index for Octopussy and The Living Daylights
A personalized literary evaluation scale from 1 to 10 across key thematic and stylistic pillars.
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Narrative Precision | 8 | Each story is compact and efficient; “The Living Daylights” is particularly sharp in structure. |
| Character Depth | 9 | Bond is morally conflicted, thoughtful, and fatigued—more man than myth in these vignettes. |
| Atmosphere & Style | 8 | Fleming captures everything from Berlin’s cold paranoia to Jamaica’s fading colonial air with crisp detail. |
| Symbolism & Ritual | 7 | Themes of justice (Octopussy), restraint (Daylights), and class tension are present but lightly handled. |
| Cultural Commentary | 7 | Subtle commentary on the East/West divide, the legacy of empire, and the changing face of spycraft. |
| Philosophical Undertones | 8 | Aging, guilt, ethics, and duty simmer beneath the surface—these are Bond’s twilight meditations. |
| Personal Impact | 7 | Quiet but resonant; these stories linger through their introspection rather than adrenaline. |
| Linguistic Flair | 7 | Fleming’s style is tight and disciplined, though lacking the muscular sparkle of earlier entries. |
| Relevance to Personal Canon | 7 | Not essential in plot, but vital for understanding Bond’s psyche and Fleming’s final reflections. |
| Re-readability | 7 | Worth revisiting for “Octopussy” and “Daylights”; the others offer flavor but less substance. |
Final Klahr Index Score: ★ 75/100 ★
Verdict: Octopussy and The Living Daylights is a low-key but reflective finale to Ian Fleming’s work on Bond. Eschewing spectacle for subtlety, these stories reveal the quieter, weightier side of 007—a man shaped not just by missions, but by the moral shadows that follow him. A graceful, thoughtful farewell to the original Bond mythos.