Rating: 
Summary: Make you wonder who you really are
Review: How would you like to wake up one day, in Europe, to find out you do not know who you are or where you are from, but still retained physical, emotional and mental instincts that you had when you did know who you were? I recently re-read this book, having a vague recollection of reading it way back it the early '80s, to refresh my memory on it before going to see the movie of the same title that was released this past summer (I enjoyed the movie immensely by the way). It's a fun and exciting read, given all of the action, chases, violence, etc. But fundamentally it deals with someone trying to find out who he really is as defined by his past. And as the story unfolds and wraps up it seems to figuratively place a question mark on this approach - are you who you are because of what you have done in the past, or what you are doing in the present? Not to get too cerebral, because the book is basically entertaining and not "deep", but that is what it left me thinking about.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bournr Identity
Review: Critical Review: The Bourne Identity
In my opinion, after reading this book, I feel that Robert Ludlum is the proverbial father of suspense, holding his own with such writers as Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King. The book, the first of a trilogy is written magnificently leaving endless opportunities to expand on future sequels. Ludlum has an uncanny way of grabbing the reader's attention and keeping him eager to continue. The plot thickens early, wasting no time to express deep thought. The author leaves much to decipher, not spoon-feeding information; done commonly in less quality works of literature, boring the reader to exhaustion.
Jason Bourne the protagonist has a very disguised role in the novel. Although struck with amnesia, Bourne has a very smooth and calm way of executing his actions. Bourne's ability to stay mild mannered is a perfect counter balance to all the far-fetched and extravagant plots that arise throughout the course of the novel.
Throughout the novel uncertainty keeps the reader intrigued. Bourne is constantly fighting a battle; not always physically with other characters, rather mentally against himself. The never-ending dilemma between good and evil is a major factor in this book. Slowly learning more about his past, Bourne is realizing the life he led is not the one he wants to lead. From this point on in the book, Bourne is fighting to get out of the line of work that made him into what he is. "Jason Bourne had been paid to kill, and the police in several countries had sent funds through Interpol to convert reluctant informers, to broaden the base of his capture (Ludlum, 94)." With the help of Marie St. Jacques Bourne starts his transformation. In reality, The Bourne Identity is an incredible suspense thriller, but if you take a closer look, its really just your basic stereotypical love story with many obstacles and twists, boy meets a girl, boy has four million dollars, boy asks girl to drive him to Paris, and they fall in love.
Bourne, right off the bat, is portrayed as a superhero, almost immortal, having the ability to endure the icy wrath of the ocean and the lead that is temporarily residing in his head. "The boat rolled violently leeward and the and the man whose skull was ripped open plugged over the over the side into the madness of the darkness below (Ludlum, 1)." Bourne's flawless execution is a little overdone at times and casts a shadow of artificiality on the storyline. The novel is quite unrealistic at times though, for example, Bourne's amnesia was in a sense limited, his name, age, identity were all lost in his accident, but his ability to combat was in tact as well as his illusive clever nature. "Jason dropped to a crouch, spun to his left and lunged out of the aisle between two adjacent cars, breaking his fall with the palms of his hands, the maneuver made in silence (Ludlum, 426)."
To conclude, The Bourne Identity is a literary masterpiece, setting a mold for all future suspense thrillers to come. The book is directed towards more of an intellectual audience, with gaps in the story that only your imagination can fill. Each person will take his or her own individual thoughts and opinions from this book. I stand strong behind this book, and would recommend it to all readers with interest in deep thought and suspense.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage Ludlum
Review: I thought this book was really good. Robert Ludlum is a good author. I read this book right before the movie came out. I think one of the things I liked about it was the characters and what they go through in the book. Jason Bourne is my favorite character in this book. The emotional things he has to go through are interesting, and educational at the same time. I would reccomend this book to anyone who likes Robert Ludlum, or spy thrillers.
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).
|
