You Only Live Twice, the 12th Bond novel and the last of the James Bond Blofeld trilogy, was the last Bond book published during Ian Fleming's lifetime. I last read it more than 50 years ago.
While this novel is somewhat different in structure from the previous Bond books, it is a powerful, well-written thriller that stands out in many ways. But if your only knowledge of this title comes from the movie, don't expect rockets, astronauts and a volcano spaceport. That is NOT the Ian Fleming book.
The story opens with Bond suffering debilitating depression from the loss of his wife, Tracy (On Her Majesty's Secret Service). The depression has caused Bond to botch two recent assignments and has caused M to consider removing Bond from the 00 section. Instead, he offers Bond a chance at redemption with an impossible task—one that is more diplomatic in nature than 00 section assignments. Bond is sent to Japan to negotiate for Britain's access to the highly secret Japanese code-breaking machine that reveals Chinese secret communications, something that currently is only being shared with the CIA.
When Bond arrives, his host is Tiger Tanaka, the head of Japan's secret service. Tanaka's price for the secret information is high. He wants Bond to rid Japan of its newest problem -- Dr. Shatterhand and his Garden of Death (what a great name for a 60s rock band). Bond quickly discovers that Dr. Shatterhand is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the mastermind behind Thunderball and On Her Magesty's Secret Service and the murderer of Bond's wife, Tracy.
The book is, at times, almost a travelogue of Japan. The major action is confined to about 20 pages, but it is not at all slow or boring. It is a fascinating look at Japan in the post-war years from a Westerner's eyes, including the world's introduction to ninjas. And, as with From Russia With Love, it ends with Bond's future in question.
The book famously includes Bond's obituary, written by M, which provides much of Bond's previously undisclosed background. It also contains perhaps a hint of Fleming's plans for a future Bond storyline—his child with the book's Japanese Bond female lead, Kissy Suzuki, who, unknown to Bond, was pregnant with his child at the end of the book.
Reading this Bond book, particularly at a time when I am simultaneously reading the new Ian Fleming biography "Ian Fleming: A Complete Man," comes with a bit of melancholy. Written in 1963, the book was published in England in the spring of 1964 as Ian Fleming was dealing with severe health issues and the legal morass of the Thunderball lawsuit.
On August 12, 1964, five days before You Only Live Twice was published in the United States, Ian Fleming died of a heart attack after a weekend of playing golf at Royal St. George's Golf Course. He was only 56 years old.
You Only Live Twice is a MUST READ for any Bond fan.
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