The Bourne Identity

I came to this book after having seen the film and I enjoyed both though I have to say I enjoyed the book slightly more than the film. In modernizing the time of the story for the film, new technologies come into play making Bourne's flight through Europe almost impossible because he can be tracked via cell phone signals, satellite imagery, email and the internet. In the book's diegesis, the year is 1980 (there abouts) and there are none of these modern devices, allowing Bourne and his female companion more time to plan and to act. I also prefer Maria in the book because she actually has useful skills. In the film she is just there as a convenient ride away from the initial confrontation and later hangs onto Bourne out of Stockholm syndrome. It was refreshing to see her have useful skills and a more robust personality than she does in the film.

While I have to admit to finding the book a little too long I did enjoy it more than the recent film of the same name. The film takes what had happened to David Webb's first wife as the starting point to remove Marie from the film so he can go rogue and go back to Europe to replay the "best of" scenes for the first film. That is not what happens in this book (thank goodness!) The Bourne Supremacy was published in 1986 and so the story centers around the cold war politics of the pre return of Honk Kong to the People's Republic of China. While MI6, the CIA and the PRC are at odds trying to twart a plot by local cartel to take control of Hong Kong, David Webb is tricked into reviving Jason Bourne to both save Marie (who it turns out, doesn't need saving) and his reputation (another killer is pretending to be Bourne) he must do it at the risk of his sanity. The plot suffers sometimes from too many tangents where each of the factions have their few pages. It would have been a tighter plot had the book just stuck with David Webb/Jason Bourne, Marie Webb and let the other characters have their scenes when directly relevant to the two main characters.

Quite enjoyable. I found the love-interest pretty unbelievable but then again, I knew it wasn't going to be a Jane Austen novel. Undetermined yet as to whether I'll bother with the rest of the trilogy.

In a world obsessed with the glamour of spies, this book delivers an entirely different experience. The action never stops, and the reader quickly feels the exhaustion of the main character, Jason Bourne. He's not the rich and adventurous spy like James Bond. Instead he's on the lam, confused by amnesia and hunted by just about everyone. As he pieces together the story of his life, he must not only trot the globe but find people to help him in the most unusual places. Eventually he figures everything out, and must take action to save his life from the very people he worked for. If you like action, adventure, suspense, intrigue, and you want one of the best reads of your life... join Jason Bourne. If you took in the first flick, be prepared for a story that is a million times better and actually includes a plot. This book has only the back flap in common with the movie. If you read the book, but still have not found time to take in the movies, don't waste your time. The movies were little more than someone reading a back flap and thinking, "What a neat idea." Movie adaptations tend to be lacking. In the case of the Bourne Identity lacking quickly led the way to abysmal.

Nice book...just a little too long.

Awesome, throw-away fiction. Entertaining as anything I've ever read, and completely unlike the movie.

I found this very enjoyable and well written and paced. My only problem was the relationship between Bourne and Marie, which is built mostly on his interrupting her rape from one of the bad guys. I don’t think it was handled all that well and I flip flop as to if their love, with that scaffolding was believable or not. On the one hand I like that she’s not a typical written victim but on the other basically no weight is given to it, which makes it feel strange. Eventually there are many more moments that give their relationship more credence. But it kind of felt like it was hand waved simply because she was extremely intelligent and analytical. I actually liked that she would call Bourne out on things frequently, showing that his confirmation bias was driving his conclusions. The dynamic worked well because it explores his past trauma, and centres it frequently. The training versus the man are liminal and nicely coupled with the larger plot. It’s much more complex and rich, and featured way more trade craft and more factions than I expected. I was warned that it was much more slow and I think it altered my expectations enough. I could see how if you expected the movie you’d be disappointed. Ones an action movie with spy fiction trappings while this is full fledged spy fiction. I actually thought it moved along at a good pace and developed characters more than the other books do in the genre. It actually has something interesting to say about what the government does to operatives trained in a far more nuanced way that isn’t boiled down like in the movie. As I said before, pretty much my only problem was the initial relationship development. But Marie is a much more fleshed out and better character in the book, I found. I suspect some of that is down to when it was written, possibly. I also listened on the audiobook and the narrator was great (same guy who narrated Jurassic Park, I think.) sometimes listening this way really highlights the cadence and flow of the author. Really like the authorial voice in this one. And while the action is far less, I liked how they were written; felt much like the action in the movie.

Bourne’s trauma causing a sort of dual personality is still interesting in the sequel, but the premise is less interesting in this one. Marie is kidnapped by the government in order to force a psychological break and get Bourne back, bringing him back into the fold to take on an assassin who is claiming to be Bourne. The problem is that it’s also a tour of China that, while clearly well researched, still feels like it’s reductive and a monoculture experience. Which is actually ironic considering there are times when people talk about little people understand about China being composed of many different cultures. Later on, Bourne keeps claiming he knows “the oriental mind” (like 12 times) and can therefor predict the actions and thoughts of any given person he needs to handle. It’s inconsistent and baffling. Where the book shines though, is the trade craft and it’s implementation. There’s some good action and really inventive obstacles that are circumvented in really interesting ways. Overall liked it, but not as much as the first where the psychology and more complex questions were interwoven into the premise.

I really loved this book! I saw the movies a while ago, and I loved them too, but I wasn't even aware that they had originated as books until a fan of my Facebook page recommended them to me. I have to say, the plot line of the movie was NOTHING like the book. I feel as though I can't say which one I liked more because they're practically two separate things. The book was also a little bit confusing, with all of the different names. I found myself trying to remember which name belonged to which character and getting all mixed up. Despite all of that, I really loved the book! It was written well, and it was exciting! They really went into detail about everything! I loved reading about all of Jason Bourne's spy tactics. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone who's willing to sit through a bit of a tedious beginning to get the all of the excitement and action that this book has in store.

Wow, what a read! This is the first military fiction novel I've ever read, and I'm glad I did. Rather outside of my comfort zone when it comes to novels, I found this rather a slow read, but it was amazingly done. I fell in love with the movies, and still watch them often. I knew the book was probably different, but how different I wasn't sure. Is it old? Yes. So it'd wordy, and the technology is incredibly outdated. But seeing what Bourne had to work with was part of what makes it a great novel. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Jason face incredibly difficult situations, with only the limited technologies of my childhood, and knowing he'd come out on top. I loved the addition of Carlos, a plot that wasn't in the films, and couldn't guess how things were going to play out. I did miss the female operatives and political leaders that are in the films, but it was published in 1980. There is a rape scene that's kind of graphic, as well as some cursing, but this is definitely a series I want to continue!

Which is better, the movie or the book? In this case, the movie. No contest.