Rating: 
Summary: The Bourne identity
Review: The Bourne Identity
In the opening paragraphs of The Bourne Identity a bullet ridden body is found floating in the Mediterranean Sea by fishermen. The half dead man is hauled onto a fishing boat and examined by a drunken doctor. The doctor discovers an I.D. number etched in this man's back. The man with the bullet wounds survives but suffers amnesia. His only clue to his identity is the I.D. numbers the doctor found on him. Later, in a Zurich bank the I.D. number matches a bank account and storage box in which he finds money, weapons and passports with the name Jason Bourne. Then he discovers that he is supposed to be dead. Confused, he holds hostage a woman, named Marie, and together they set out to find out who the man Jason Bourne was.
The author of this book Robert Ludlum, is amazing. One of his strengths is an ability to give an incredible portrait of the main character's thought process along with descriptive details. For example, in one passage he writes, "A crack. Outside the room. Snaplike, echoing off into a sharp coda, the sound penetrating, diminishing in the distance. Bourne opened his eyes.
The staircase. The staircase in the filthy hallway outside his room. Someone had been walking up the steps and had stopped, aware of the noise his weight had caused on the warped, cracked wood. A normal boarder at the Steppdeckstrasse rooming house would have no concerns.
Silence.
Crack. Now closer. A risk was taken, timing paramount, speed the cover. Jason spun off the bed, grabbing the gun that was by his head, and lunged to the wall by the door. He crouched, hearing footsteps -one man- the runner, no longer concerned with the sound, only with reaching his destination. Bourne had no doubt what it was; he was right.
The door crashed open: he smashed it back, then threw his full weight into the wood, pinning the intruder against the doorframe..." Another strength of Robert Ludlum is his ability to create a believable plot; though the stories are outrageous, he can still make the reader believe them. In one chapter of the book while going through files Jason Bourne finds a story containing a theory of JFK's assassination and in my mind it is still a possibility.
Although he has many strengths, in this novel there was one weakness. In a few passages the place and setting was not explained. It was as if he left it to the reader's imagination to picture the setting. This seems to be his only flaw and it is pretty minor.
In conclusion, I thought this book was extremely intriguing and it was very hard to put down. This was because every chapter there was more information about Jason Bourne and I wanted to find out more. It was a novel filled with cruel villains and wise officials who either helped or impeded Jason's findings. So if you are drawn to action and suspense thrillers, read The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't stop reading!
Review: This book grabs your attention once you start reading it. It is NOT the same as the movie, but is just as good or better...so don't expect a carbon-copy of the movie. I loved the non-stop action and character development of Jason Bourne. I definitely recomend this book. I've already purchased The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum from Amazon and can't wait to start!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Wow. This novel packs a puch. With it's eccentric plots, twist and turns, this is one of the best books I've ever read. I don't know why some people gave it one star. I love this book! The movie was a disapointment, but if you want a great book, read this!
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but not worth the time
Review: I had heard of this book for years, and the arrival of the movie prompted me to search it out. I quit half way through. The characters didn't seem believable, the dialogue didn't seem believable, the settings seemed constructed out of cliche' cloth. Once it occurred to me how it was probably going to turn out, who Bourne probably was and who Carlos probably was, I quickly lost interest. I no longer cared what happened. On to the next book!
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is much better
Review: I am not a fan of the spy genre. This is the first book I picked up after watching the Matt Damon movie where he played Jason Bourne. I thought it was wonderful and since books are usually better than the movies, I thought the book would be even better. It turned out I was wrong because while the plot was pretty good, Ludlum cannot write for nuts. Seriously, I wince when I read the dialogue. Characters have no chemistry between them. I cannot feel Bourne's anguish because the writing is so technical. I felt that throughout the novel, rather than having an atmosphere of despair as Ludlum wanted to convey, all i got was he throwing it in my face that yes, poor bourne, poor thing. This book gets a 3 stars for the nice action and plot. If you can ignore the poor writing, it does make for a rather good read especially at the end. Oh and i don't plan to read the next 2 books.
Rating: 
Summary: The first- and last - spybook I will ever read
Review: I bought this book a few days after seeing the movie, which I really liked. At first the book was OK, not great, but fine. But then Marie entered. Personaly, she annoyed the hell out of me. She acted like no human being I have ever met. For example, she gets kidnaped by Jason, held hostage by him, he theatens her with a gun, he hits her several times, another man rapes her, and a few days later she's all ready for a relationship ... Now if I were her, I think I'd be developing some serious trust isues, not jumping some injured spy.This Ludlum guy obviously doesn't know much about women. Not to mention all the "My love, you cannot leave me" [stuff]. I had to stop reading it about 200 pages in. Do yourself a favor; skip the book and see the movie.(Matt Damon kicks ... in the movie).
Rating:
Summary: The first- and last - spybook I will ever read
Review: I bought this book a few days after seening the movie, which I really liked. At first the book was OK, not great, but fine. But then Marie entered. Personaly, she annoyed the hell out of me. She acted like no human being I have ever met. For example, she gets kidnaped by Jason, held hostage by him, he theatens her with a gun, he hits her several times, another man rapes her, and a few days later she's all ready for a relationship ... Now if I were her, I think I'd be developing some serious trust isues, not jumping some injured spy. This Ludlum guy obviously doesn't know much about women. Not to mention all the "My love, you cannot leave me" ... I had to stop reading it about 200 pages in. Do yourself a favor; skip the book and see the movie.(Marie [is cool]in the movie).
Rating: 
Summary: Better than the movie...
Review: ...that was pretty good for an action film to begin with. The story of an amnesiac who is driven to think he's a dangerous killer is full of suspense and lots of neat twists that almost never feel contrived. Even though the book is over 20 years old, it rarely feels dated (granted, from time to time you wonder why the hero doesn't just use a cell phone). A few minor gripes: somtimes, the klanguage the characcters speak seems to be straight out of a romance novel. This gets better during the novel. I liked the character of Marie in the movie, where she was very convincingly portrayed by Franka Potente, because she was quite unusual for an action movie sidekick. She's even more interesting in the book, even though I could have done without her stilted language. Her complete change from victim to accomplice which looks very strange without reading it almost makes sense. I didn't like the italics which convey the character's thoughts and are far too repetetive. I didn't care too much for the ending, too. I'm told all will be settled in the third installment, which I will tackle after finishing the second. Any book that makes you buy two sequels at once can't be all bad.
Rating:
Summary: Lots of Good Action, Too Unrealistic
Review: I think Jason Bourne's name changes two or three times in the book before you get to the end. The action is good, but it's too unrealistic. Unless you're into books that include the die hard James Bond character who manages to survive every impossible scenario, but has time for a love affair all the while trying to learn his identity and escaping the bad guys, then this book is for you. I hope the movie is better.
Rating:
Summary: The Bourne Identity
Review: This was the first book I read by Robert Ludlum. I can say for sure this won't be the last. Ludlum pulls you along with a string and only lets you know what he wants you to know. I was on the edge of my seat reading this from about page 100 on. The plot was excellent and there was great plot twists.
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