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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I usually enjoy books more than the movies so I decided to finally get around to checking this book out since I love the movie. I was really disappointed by this unfortunately. The book started out good and definitely grabs your attention but once it hits the ‘romance’ section of the story it kind of fell apart. The romance itself seemed to have come out of nowhere and felt forced and after that the story just drags. I enjoy an occasional slow moving, detailed plot but this was just a chore to get through. Half of the plot felt like it revolves around shopping or bank transactions and just did not hold my interest at all. The writing wasn’t all that great either, I listened to the audiobook and found myself having to back track a few times to try and make sense of some of the sentences. This is one of the few times I think the movie is a more interesting story than the book.
Well I'm glad I took this is a holiday read, I think this would have taken twice as long if I had to fit it around normal everyday life.
The first starts out very similar to the film with a man found in the sea who doesn't remember who he is, and that's about it. The plot is very different to the film so I think you have to judge them as separate from one another. I actually enjoyed both versions. For me the first on the trilogy was the best, followed by the last with supremacy bringing up the rear.
I would definitely read more by this author as well as watch the next instalment of the film out next month!
The first starts out very similar to the film with a man found in the sea who doesn't remember who he is, and that's about it. The plot is very different to the film so I think you have to judge them as separate from one another. I actually enjoyed both versions. For me the first on the trilogy was the best, followed by the last with supremacy bringing up the rear.
I would definitely read more by this author as well as watch the next instalment of the film out next month!
I think that my mind could be slightly bias because I loved the film starring Matt Damon, and as such I had very high hopes for its source material. I was, however quite disappointed when I closed the back cover and shook my head in both disbelief and utter disappointment. I must also make a disclaimer that I judged this book independently of the film because I know that if I was rating it against the film it would only get one star.
Let me just get the elephant in the room out of the way, the book is a completely different entity from the film; I actually think that on a bare adaptation standpoint, the film is one of the worst I've seen. Aside from the differences from book to film my problem is simply the novel's lack of substance, it feels much more like a freshman novel than it does from a seasoned writer like Mr. Ludlum. This book will show some of the greatest flashes of brilliance only to let you down moments later. For example, Mr. Ludlum will be writing about some kind of conflict involving gunfire, death, and all sorts of action but almost always, at the middle of the description, it just becomes incomprehensible. There is a part at the end in which a character seems trapped by the main villain, and with no description whatsoever, the villain disappears and is replaced by a government official. I thought that the villain had been killed, but no, he someone made it out of confined room inside of a house with government agents crawling all over its interior.
Aside from the mere incomprehensible portions of the novel the middle of the book takes a giant dip in quality. Mr. Ludlum paints Paris as this giant turning point that Jason needs to get to in order to learn about himself, and yet he takes his sweet time with the bureaucratic processes of European banking before anything happens. The beginning of this book was absolute dynamite and I was really looking forward to the next four hundred pages, but as soon as they get to Paris this piece of fiction really drags it's feet. I will admit, however, that once the American government gets involved towards the end this book really picks up once again.
The only other complaint I have with the novel isn't something that I can say simply because it's a massive spoiler. There is a moment at the end of the novel where I thought that Mr. Ludlum was going to make a really risky and creative decision, in fact it was teased in the pages for quite a while. However when it came down to the moment it didn't happen and I was quite let down, not because it didn't happen but because the change felt like an afterthought (read it and you'll know what I mean).
What this novel did get right was some of the coolest set-ups ever, between shady CIA organizations and secret armies of deadly assassins this novel really had everything going for it. Bourne and his woman were well written in the beginning and the book really makes you root for him. Despite all of my gripes over the book I want to read the next ones simply because at this point I want to know who the villain is, and if a writer can make his or her reader want to do that then they've definitely done something right.
The Bourne Identity is a wholeheartedly average book, its the kind of book you pick up from the airport book store to read on a plane, but its still a good one. Ultimately The Bourne Identity is like the Fast and Furious of books, you'll read it if its in front of you, but most wouldn't go out of their way to experience it.
Let me just get the elephant in the room out of the way, the book is a completely different entity from the film; I actually think that on a bare adaptation standpoint, the film is one of the worst I've seen. Aside from the differences from book to film my problem is simply the novel's lack of substance, it feels much more like a freshman novel than it does from a seasoned writer like Mr. Ludlum. This book will show some of the greatest flashes of brilliance only to let you down moments later. For example, Mr. Ludlum will be writing about some kind of conflict involving gunfire, death, and all sorts of action but almost always, at the middle of the description, it just becomes incomprehensible. There is a part at the end in which a character seems trapped by the main villain, and with no description whatsoever, the villain disappears and is replaced by a government official. I thought that the villain had been killed, but no, he someone made it out of confined room inside of a house with government agents crawling all over its interior.
Aside from the mere incomprehensible portions of the novel the middle of the book takes a giant dip in quality. Mr. Ludlum paints Paris as this giant turning point that Jason needs to get to in order to learn about himself, and yet he takes his sweet time with the bureaucratic processes of European banking before anything happens. The beginning of this book was absolute dynamite and I was really looking forward to the next four hundred pages, but as soon as they get to Paris this piece of fiction really drags it's feet. I will admit, however, that once the American government gets involved towards the end this book really picks up once again.
The only other complaint I have with the novel isn't something that I can say simply because it's a massive spoiler. There is a moment at the end of the novel where I thought that Mr. Ludlum was going to make a really risky and creative decision, in fact it was teased in the pages for quite a while. However when it came down to the moment it didn't happen and I was quite let down, not because it didn't happen but because the change felt like an afterthought (read it and you'll know what I mean).
What this novel did get right was some of the coolest set-ups ever, between shady CIA organizations and secret armies of deadly assassins this novel really had everything going for it. Bourne and his woman were well written in the beginning and the book really makes you root for him. Despite all of my gripes over the book I want to read the next ones simply because at this point I want to know who the villain is, and if a writer can make his or her reader want to do that then they've definitely done something right.
The Bourne Identity is a wholeheartedly average book, its the kind of book you pick up from the airport book store to read on a plane, but its still a good one. Ultimately The Bourne Identity is like the Fast and Furious of books, you'll read it if its in front of you, but most wouldn't go out of their way to experience it.
It's not bad, but when the movie is way better it's kinda ruins the book.
Top class thriller, nothing like the film but a real page turner.
I was kind of torn. I have seen the movies and having never read the book I decided to give it a try.
The idea itself, I find really interesting. But I guess I have become cynical about these kind of books because at times I found myself rolling my eyes just a little. The repeated and sometimes sing-song repetition of the "Cain is for Charlie, Delta is for Cain". I get that this what integral for the character to remember his life. It just became tiresome as a reader.
Not at all related, but I couldn't help noticing just how far the movie deviated from the book. They are actually scarcely the same story other than the basic details. Marie is a completely different character and the complexity of the Carlos situation is basically cut out.
The idea itself, I find really interesting. But I guess I have become cynical about these kind of books because at times I found myself rolling my eyes just a little. The repeated and sometimes sing-song repetition of the "Cain is for Charlie, Delta is for Cain". I get that this what integral for the character to remember his life. It just became tiresome as a reader.
Not at all related, but I couldn't help noticing just how far the movie deviated from the book. They are actually scarcely the same story other than the basic details. Marie is a completely different character and the complexity of the Carlos situation is basically cut out.
So this isn’t the kind of book i would pick up by myself but i had to read it for english class. But to be fair? I actually enjoyed it. I finished it within 24 hours and the story had its interesting plot twists, i have never seen the movies but i might give them i try.
The story was confusing sometimes tho, i didn’t even know what the hell i was reading at times. But i think i now have a pretty okay vision about the story?
The story was confusing sometimes tho, i didn’t even know what the hell i was reading at times. But i think i now have a pretty okay vision about the story?