Average Literature Trivia: Live and Let Die | 10 Questions

Answer: New York City

James disembarks the airplane at Idlewild airport, which is the old name for the John F. Kennedy Airport in the Big Apple. It gained this name after the golf course which had originally stood there, and although it was renamed Major General Alexander E. Anderson Airport in 1943, the nickname of Idlewild stuck until the mid 1960s. James is called in to help with an issue involving Harlem, St. Petersburg and Jamaica, which at this time is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

Answer: Felix Leiter

Felix Leiter is a good ally to James in a few of Fleming's novels, and helped James when he was in a financial jam during "Casino Royale". Felix is able to work with James on the international part of the case, but not on the American part, since that is to be left up to the FBI.

Answer: Mr. Big

Mr. Big is an African-American criminal genius who is working for Russia, and a member of SMERSH, which is short for the Russian translation of 'Death to Spies'. James is out to exact revenge on this organization after it attacked him and caused the suicide of his lover, Vesper Lynd, in "Casino Royale", and as such, is happy to take the job.

Answer: Voodoo

As this book was written in the 1950s, it has certain parts and uses certain terms that are that are now politically incorrect. One of part of the novel which was controversial even back when it was written is the portrayal of voodooism, and the power that it has over the African-Americans in the novel. Mr. Big is believed to be the zombie of Baron Samedi, a guardian of the dead in Voodoo culture, and as such all the believers in the novel do not stand up to him.

Answer: She can foretell the future

Solitaire is a Haitian-born tarot card reader, who is trapped by Mr. Big and forced to work for him; she is his intended bride someday. She discovers through her card reading that James is meant to help her escape, and she uses James for this purpose - not that James isn't ready and willing.

Answer: The Cayman Islands

In this novel, Quarrel helps James train for his attack on Mr. Big's island and is a useful friend as he knows much about Jamaica and the surrounding area to help James acclimatize. He re-appears in the later James Bond novel "Dr No" (1958), which takes James once more to Jamaica.

Answer: Buried treasure

Bloody Morgan is the pirate who left his great treasure somewhere in the Caribbean, which is discovered and claimed by Mr. Big. Mr. Big and his organization use the Secatur, which catches rare species of fish and brings them to St. Petersburg for sale, to smuggle the coins (in the tanks of the particularly dangerous fish) which are then sold in the United States.

Answer: Barracuda

To save Solitaire before the explosions go off in the Secatur, which the government had decided would solve the problem of the smuggling and Mr. Big, James has to swim underwater to Bloody Morgan's island to escape detection. Unfortunately, 007 is not so lucky as to not be noticed, and blood and offal (the entrails of butchered animals) are thrown into the water to enrage the fish around him.

They all go somewhat mad, and one very large barracuda is able to get a bite out of James' shoulder before he can get away.

Answer: Eaten by a shark

Once the Secatur is on its way back to St. Petersburg, the explosive devices which had been set there went off, and the entire boat blew up. Mr Big survived the blast, however, and was seen by James to be floating in the water when he was first attacked by barracudas, then eaten by a leopard shark. Barracudas play a large and interesting part in this novel, and it is true that they are dangerous - they may not be as large as sharks, but they have much worse tempers, and are more likely to attack humans.

Answer: Paul McCartney and Wings

Any time I looked at the cover of this book while reading it, the song kept popping into my head! "Live and Let Die", the movie, came out in 1973 and starred Roger Moore as the ever smooth James, and Jane Seymour as Solitaire. The movie is very different from the book, but is nevertheless very entertaining as well. The song was written by Paul and Linda McCartney.