This is the twelfth book in the classic James Bond series, and effectively the last full length tale written exclusively by the author. The unofficial “Blofeld Trilogy” comes to a close in an unusual fashion. Where “Thunderball” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” were both energetic action tales, “You Only Live Twice” is far more subtle. Unfortunately, while some of the more sexist elements are avoided, so is the most necessary plot element.
The previous novel ended with Bond’s wife dead, assassinated by Blofled, and Bond on death’s door. Bond recovers, but he’s clearly not the same. His slow but steady descent into darkness and self-doubt, well explored in the final few novels, has hit another peak. Since his wife’s death, his missions have been failures, and Blofeld is nowhere to be found. He is given one last chance to “reboot” his confidence and get his fire back, and this mission takes him to Japan.
The first half of the novel details the long process of Bond’s education in the Japanese culture of the period. It is mostly a series of conversations between Bond and Tiger Tanaka, his contact in the Japanese secret service. Undoubtedly, that material was revealing for its time, given the post-WW2 sentiments, but now it is not quite as engaging. The highlights include a criticism of American culture that, given the period, was quite prophetic.
Bond’s mission is against an odd foreigner who has created a garden of death, appealing to those within the Japanese culture seeking expiation of dishonor. As it turns out, this foreigner is Blofeld. It takes half the book to get to that revelation (hardly shocking), and yet Bond’s wife and his psychological reaction to her death are barely mentioned. This is a massive oversight, considering that it is precisely the reason why Bond makes the mission a personal quest for vengeance (something also downplayed significantly).
Worse, Blofeld’s plan is completely inexplicable. The first two gambits involved nuclear terrorism and biological warfare. To a certain extent, this kept the Bond series grounded in a sense of realism. Blofeld’s gambit in this novel is so obscure that I’m still not sure I understand the point of it all. That lack of focus makes this final mission dissatisfying.
The love interest, Kissy Suzuki, is the typical mysterious Asian woman, and of course she falls for Bond. Thankfully, she is equally resourceful, if not more so, despite the ridiculous name. Bond is completely out of his element, while Kissy takes every change in her life naturally and without much concern. This is played up as part of her “mysterious” religion, but it works for the purpose intended.
Bond’s final showdown with Blofeld is so short and anticlimactic that it undermines the entire trilogy of novels. Bond does act out of personal vengeance, but the novel never takes the reader into that dark world. Bond gets caught, endures a little torturous exposition, and then kills Blofeld, barely surviving in the process. There’s almost no complication to it, and that is deeply disappointing.
Rating: 5/10
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