About this title: This contemporary classic spy thriller was the basis of both a 2002 theatrical film starring Matt Damon as well as a 1988 TV movie with Robert Chamberlain. A man is pulled out of the Mediterranean Sea by a fishing boat. He has been shot several times, bears the telltale scars of the plastic surgery that has altered his features, has a piece of ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
"A guy full of bullet holes wakes up on a fishing boat in the Mediterranean with no memory of who he is or where he came from. His face has been altered by plastic surgery and he carries with him a microfilm with the code to four million dollars. To say that he knows how to handle a gun--any gun--would be a gross understatement. To say that handling a gun is his only talent would also be inaccurate. The race this man makes to discover his true identity and his past involves intrigue, covert operations, and a whole lotta page turning.
While being pretty dark and depressing, this book is nonetheless a page turner. The movie doesn't even begin to touch on the real story of Jason Bourne, assassin extraordinaire.
My only complaint is the character of Marie. She's pretty much a two-dimensional token female character. The movie Marie had a lot more depth to her as a person--flawed, but interesting."
"An absolute thriller! one of a kind. The entire flow of the story is sublime. Any reader should have a private copy as a collection.Nobody writes like Ludlum...period!"
"Although many people only know of The Bourne Identity as one of Matt Damon's better roles, it is also a book written by Robert Ludlum in the 1980's. The spy-themed novel was once a #1 New York Times Bestseller that grabbed the attention of the public during the era where a military's best weapon was an individual who could uncover top-secret military information from the opposing forces. It begins with a man barely clinging to life when he is discovered by fishermen, nearly frozen to death in the cold Mediterranean Sea. He has sustained several gunshot wounds including a serious one to the head. As he begins to recover by the help of a doctor with a revoked license, he realizes that he doesn't know who he is; he has lost his identity. With only one clue to his identity, he sets out to determine who he is. He soon discovers his name is Jason Bourne. Along with that discovery comes the realization that the U.S. government, his former employer, and Carlos the Jackal, a famous assassin during the Cold War era, want to see him dead. He discovers he has skills in many areas he didn't know he had; he speaks several languages, he is skillful in armed and unarmed combat and can easily slip into roles that allow him to be a whole different person .Using these skills along with bits and pieces of his slowly recovering memory, he gradually pieces his identity back together. Ludlum did an outstanding job putting the story together with his unique writing technique, which allowed for detailed imagery, and way of not allowing the reader to foresee what was lying ahead. For example, the different settings within the book are perfectly described to allow the reader to understand the type of atmosphere at that particular point in time. Like a good author, he researched the subjects he was writing about and placed his new found knowledge clear and concisely into his novel. Ludlum wrote this book during the Cold War era when espionage was a country's first line of offense, so I presume he had a great comprehension of how to write a novel based on the art of spying. The first concern I had with the book was its size at 535 pages of single spaced, size eleven font. The editor could've easily cut the book down to a more appropriate size which would've made the book more enjoyable to me and many other readers. Also, the novel begun lively and entertaining, but as I read on, the novel never once lived up to the hype of the beginning. My second concern is how Ludlum abuses the detail used to describe his characters' movements. The explanation is dragged on for a paragraph or two when it could've been described in three or four sentences with perfect clarity. For example, when Jason Bourne was fighting for his life against 3 angry fisherman armed with blunt weapons, every action was described to the last detail. The fight scene didn't have to be as vicious as it was written and it still would've brought Ludlum's point across; that Jason Bourne isn't someone you would want to exchange blows with. Finally, the romance in the movie was horribly put together. Ludlum doesn't understand that love doesn't just happen out of thin air, the romantic actions must be followed in a sequential order to understand how the relationship is established. In the novel, Jason Bourne kidnaps Marie, physically abuses her and holds her at gunpoint, but after he saves her life they magically fall in love. This is very unrealistic and illogical in the sense that Marie can love someone who brutally beat her and was ready to kill her at any time. To conclude, I would recommend this to anyone interested in the world of spies and conspiracies. Although the novel is a tad lengthy, it is a well-written and attention-grabbing book with enough twists and turns to leave you puzzled and then draw you back in for more."
"While perusing the library shelves for something new to read, I came across The Bourne Identity, a 1980's era Cold War espionage novel by Robert Ludlum. I'm not usually a reader of this genre of fiction, but based on what I felt had been an excellent film, I borrowed the book.
The 1980 novel (which spawned the 2002 film) opens with a man barely clinging to life being discovered by fishermen, nearly frozen to death in the cold French Mediterranean sea. He has sustained several gunshot wounds including a quite serious one to his head. As he begins to recover, he realizes that he doesn't know who he is; he has lost his identity. With only one clue to his identity, he sets out to determine who he is.
He soon discovers his name is Jason Bourne, and along with that discovery comes the realization that a number of unpleasant parties want to see him dead. He discovers he has skills in many areas he didn't know he had; he speaks several languages, he is proficient at armed and unarmed combat, and can easily slip into roles that allow him to gain information or disappear in a crowd. Using these skills along with bits and pieces of his slowly recovering memory, he slowly pieces his identity back together.
The plot was well paced from first page to last, but never rushed. The book was a real "page turner" for me; I was drawn in right from the first page, and I ended up reading the book straight through, staying up all night!
Ludlum is an excellent storyteller. His vibrant descriptions of people and places really helped bring the story to life. As Bourne discovered or reacted to each development, I felt as if I were there with him, or perhaps watching from across the street.
It's my opinion that novels lose a lot of character development when adapted to the "silver screen", and for that reason I feel that novels are always far more entertaining than their Hollywood screenplay adaptations. The Bourne Identity is no exception.
All the characters (even the lesser and peripheral ones) are well developed; as the story progresses, each has their own unique perspective on the matters at hand. Because the characters were so well developed, most of the complex concepts the novel explored were explained entirely through dialogue between the characters. Through his characters, Ludlum exposes his readers to the complex world of world banking, international diplomacy, as well as the roles of the NSA, CIA, and the Office of the President (past and present) in shaping world events.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and would happily recommend it to anyone, with a caveat: The book can be a vocabulary builder. I had to look a number of words up in the dictionary while reading the book. However, it was well worth my time to do so; I'm sure I absorbed a few of those "fancy" words, and maybe I'll remember what they mean next time I see them again! So don't let a few "big words" stand in your way of enjoying a truly entertaining read!
There are two more "Bourne" series books; The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. If the other two are as fun to read as this book was, I'm sure I'll probably be pulling another all-nighter!"
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