Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

     A friend of mine told me years ago how she loved the Bourne books by Ludlum so much, that she kept them by her bedside and would read them over and over. She told me that if I loved the show "Alias" as much I did, I would love them. But I never went to pick them up. So, recently, I decided it was time, and I was not disappointed.
     You may think you know the story of Jason Bourne because you have seen the blockbuster movies with Matt Damon. Think again. Many people have told me that the books barely resemble the movies, and they were so right! While the general premise that Jason is hurt, found on a ship and nursed to health, only to find he has one heck of a case of amnesia, is all intact, that is where all similarities between the book and movie stop. In this complicated espionage thriller, the plot to destroy Bourne is not just undertaken by the government agency he worked for, it's perpetrated by many other criminal aspects as well, most especially by a notorious assassin named Carlos. All Jason remembers is that he is a killer and that he must kill Carlos, even though he has no idea who that really is or who, he himself, really is.
     The people and places in the plot swim smoothly together, creating a huge web of mystery, and you question your logic at every turn. The only thing I really disliked in the book was the woman love interest, Marie, who is so unlike the sexy, unfortunate woman that Bourne borrows the car from in the movie, that it was pretty distracting to me at times. The Marie in the book, while extremely intelligent and loyal, seemed too much like a '70's romance novel heroine to me. The romantic dialog between she and Bourne seemed very forced, and pretty unoriginal. "Oh, Jason,  my love, I can't bear to live without you," and that kind of thing. While the whole exciting plot kept me on the tips of my toes, holding my breath, I would then sigh when Marie would say this kind of inane drivel and think, "Geez, Jason, can you just dump her for someone with a little more savvy?" I so love the tattooed girl with the choppy hair and broken down car in the movie, that I just kept wishing it was her at Jason's side in the book.
   But that is a small flaw in a wonderful thriller full of detail and twists and turns. While I enjoyed The Millenium trilogy more, the Bourne books are classics in the thriller genre. So, don't be a late bloomer like me, and pick up a Bourne today!

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