The Bourne Identity

Rating:
Summary: nice tale, quite different from film read one, watch other
Review: Yes it is a long tale, which Ludlum book is not? Fast paced in the telling of the action scenes; but, the standard Ludlum fare throughout. If you can get through 500 plus pages (some of my attorney friends can not) you will like this read and marvel at the differences to the film which is also quite good. Take this book on vacation and enjoy the ride!

Rating:
Summary: Good story, not told so well
Review: The story and concept behind Bourne Identity is great. It is one which has been somewhat retold through the movie. However the book is a slow and sometimes dry read.

Ludlum seems to lack what great authors have. He can create a good story, however in the good story he fails to hold the attention of the reader. It has very little flow to it, and is a very slow read. I've read several books that are just impossible to put back down. This one was hard to pick back up and continue reading.

For those of you just wanting a book to compliment the movie this is not it, just to warn you. The book starts off roughly the same and then from there on it is like having two different stories. Which is not a bad thing, just do not read the book in order to have something like the movie. I think the movie makers became as bored as I did with the book and decided just to make something up on their own after the first couple of chapters.

Rating:
Summary: One of the better novels I've read!
Review: The plot is exciting, and has many unexpected turns. Jason Bourne is just a great character, and you haven't a clue what he really is until 3/4 of the way through the book. And nothing is really obvious, which is why I like to read novels; books that are predictable are boring. This is not a boring book; it's fast-paced all the way through, and the character development is very good, even on the less significant characters.
And the way Ludlum puts you right into the culture and scenery is what makes the plot so suspenseful. A great read.
I've read the 2 sequels. I can't decide which is better: Identity or Supremacy. But Ultimatum was a serious letdown.

Rating:
Summary: Typical Ludlum.
Review: This book is probably the most famous of Ludlum's many books. The gimmick that made this book the most noteworthy of Ludlum's books is that the protagonist Jason Bourne is suffering from amnesia. He awakens with no memory of who he is. He follows clues and his periodic 'remembrances' and finds that he is a marked man and trained assassin. He literally dodges bullets for the next 500+ pages.

The book moves quickly, has some great twists, and fantastic action sequences. I can definitely see how this book inspired the movie, which aside from the amnesiac is nothing like the book. The book also has the annoying love interest springing from absolutely impossible circumstances. There are some loose ends to the story, but I'm sure those are dealt with in the next two Bourne books. Still, if you like the action thrillers this should be high on your list. Worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Sub-par reading
Review: I was very disapointed with this book. The book is very slow and dry and the author seems to be telling us the same things about his main character over and over every chapter. After a while, the suspense is no longer effective because we expect Jason to get into a bind, to have everything go wrong, and have him escape by the skin of his teeth only to go through the whole cycle again as he tries to figure out who is after him and why.

The villains have no apparant motive for what they are doing (since that is part of the mystery) and the snippets Ludlum feeds us along the way are not enough to sustain the reader's hunger to know what happens next. Don't read this book!

Rating:
Summary: After the movie this book is a treat!
Review: I was not familiar with Jason Bourne until after watching the movie, and I read the book anticipating that, like most movie/book combo's, the book would be much better. I was not prepared, however, for just how MUCH better the book is.

Surprisingly, the movie and the book share very few commonalities. Jason Bourne has the same name, but otherwise it's two stories running in opposite directions. The main antagonist in the movie is a CIA desk jockey at Langley, but in the book it's Carlos the Jackal - a character completely missing from the movie.

Marie is also much more then a not-so-bright brunette who can't get a Visa to the U.S., she an older and more mature international finance expert who helps Jason wire and hide the large stash of cash he carries out of the bank in Zurich.

The paper-thin plot of the movie amounts to nothing more then this: Jason Bourne, a government trained assassin, botched a job, got shot in back in the process, and now has amnesia. The CIA only knows that he failed to make an assigned kill and now wants him dead. While trying to run from his former employer he must also try and discover his own identity.

Now, in the book, add this element: Jason Bourne is NOT Jason Bourne, but an ex-military special ops agent who assumed that identity to trap the elusive international assassin Carlos the Jackal. While trying to discover his own identity (of which he has two) he must also try to capture and avoid being killed by Carlos, who wants his dead, and try to re-establish contact with his former employer who can't understand why he seems to have turned, and who also wants him dead.

In a nutshell... if you loved the movie then the book is a must.


Rating:
Summary: Great beach vacation reading, nothing more
Review: Excellent, gripping, suspenseful plot. The dialogue, however, is completely melodramatic and not at all believable. The love story sub-plot is nothing short of nauseating. Take this on vacation with you for a great read. But leave it in the hotel room for the next guest, you won't have the stomach for a second round.