Gurglings of a Putrid Stream

* The ninth Bond book.

* Fifth appearance of Leiter, first appearance of Blofeld.

* Fleming's back in top form (after the disappointment of Goldfinger) in this, the novel that introduces Blofeld and SPECTRE (though Bond doesn't get to go after Blofeld here and doesn't even know he exists).

* High stakes--two stolen atomic warheads--and a solid plot that begins on an amusing tangent as Bond is forced by M to spend a couple of weeks in a sort of health spa to clean out his system.

* Exciting climax, and one of those that shows that the Bond of the books isn't quite the superman he often appears to be in the movies.

* Controversial, in the sense that it began as an idea for a film, with other writers involved. Did Fleming create SPECTRE or did someone else? What really matters is that Fleming eventually saw sense and changed his villains from the Mafia to SPECTRE.



* The fourth Bond movie (Sean Connery).

* If you should ever wonder at what point the plot of a book is sacrificed as a result of the accumulation of altered details, this film will give you a solid clue. Sure, it's still about SPECTRE threatening the world with two stolen atomic warheads, but beyond that, it might as well be a different story.

* I do not recommend watching it after having just read the book. Because, after having done so myself, I wouldn't recommend watching it all.