Books2Movies Club discussion

The Bourne Identity, a first in the series, is today well-known spy story about a man not having any clue of why's everybody chasing him, because of not knowing who he is at all. Haven't read it yet, but wanted for a while, especially because of another Ludlum's novel I liked, The Holcroft Covenant.

So, here you may post your thoughts and opinions about the book while and after reading it, things that exhilarated or annoyed you, quotes that intrigued or puzzled you, and other stuff related to the book. If you wish to compare the book to the movie, please post that to the thread The Bourne Identity – The Movies.

I read the book about the twenty years ago. It was a bestseller in that period and it was very difficult to obtain. I remember that I enjoyed reading it but not so much that I have reread it. The plot is set to a background of beautiful European scenery, jungles in the Far East, with the aid of modern technology, financial loopholes and wiring.
What else we need for a good thriller.

I also read this book a while ago. I'm generally a Ludlum fan and greeatly enjoyed this book. However if I remember correctly the book and the movie diverge very early and have very few plot points that overlap. They're both good but almost completely different stories with the same theme.

Dina wrote: "...The plot is set to a background of beautiful European scenery, jungles in the Far East, with the aid of modern technology, financial loopholes and wiring..."

I like it already :D

Claire wrote: "However if I remember correctly the book and the movie diverge very early and have very few plot points..."

That would make this reading even more interesting, to see the differences, especially if both the book and the movie are so good anyway :)

Just noticed that 'The Bourne Identity' is our monthly read...have it on my shelve at home so this is chance to finally read it :D

Denis wrote: "Just noticed that 'The Bourne Identity' is our monthly read...have it on my shelve at home so this is chance to finally read it :D"

Hooray :D

Zeljka wrote: "Claire wrote: "However if I remember correctly the book and the movie diverge very early and have very few plot points..."

That would make this reading even more interesting, to see the difference..."

Oh yes, I agree. Especially if you like the political/spy/thriller genre that is Ludlum's specialty. If you don't, well, then I can't relate :)

An update: I'm currently on the part three of the book :) At first I was completely puzzled by the terms and schemes used by our protagonists and antagonists. Really, that Ludlum got really wild imagination, better said, 'knowledge' of economy, politics and such things! I am hopeless regarding such (financial and other) plotting. Some elements of the book I might consider weak, but the story is so fast-paced I really do not have will to ponder a lot about it! I just sheepishly follow our heroes through their (mis)adventures :) Hope to finish it in a day or two...

Well, I've read the book two weeks ago - but the lure of the sea was stronger than the look on the computer screen, sorry! The book was unbelievable...in every sense. I had to suspend my belief if I wanted to enjoy the narrative - which I did it seems successfully. But I had some issues with Marie St.Jacques's character - I let that pass too, because story was too exciting to be picky about the way author imagined the main female character.

Book was fascinating, in terms of everything resolved properly despite of having a 500+ pages of intrigues, plots and subplots behind. How on Earth would any filmmaker make a faithful adaptation with so many things going on here in the book? That would require a series of ten episodes, if not more :)

Just donated several of Mr.Ludlum's books to the local library. Sad to say I didn't read any of them.

The first Ludlum book I ever read, and my favorite. I don't want to say the book was better, because they're so different. The book just had so much going on. The character of Bourne was the same, and I'm thankful for that, but I consider the movie to be more of a "re-imagining" then a straight across adaptation.

Mat wrote: "The first Ludlum book I ever read, and my favorite. I don't want to say the book was better, because they're so different. The book just had so much going on. The character of Bourne was the same, ..."

Yes, they were totally different but equally enjoyable. I haven't read the other two Bourne novels, but these movies are probably also way different from them. Ludlum's Bourne is fascinating just the same as the movie Bourne... I guess that is because the character is so strong, in a sense of integrity and charisma. Despite his memory loss ;)

Agreed. I also agree with you about the Marie character. It seemed like the whole book was afraid. And it took her way to long to start trusting Jason I thought.

I could definitely think up more reasons to not like her character, but i haven't read the in months. What was your issue with Marie?

Mat wrote: "Agreed. I also agree with you about the Marie character. It seemed like the whole book was afraid. And it took her way to long to start trusting Jason I thought.
I could definitely think up more reasons to not like her character, but i haven't read the in months. What was your issue with Marie?"

I do not have book by myself either, but what I recall was that I didn't feel that her reactions were natural for a woman, particularly so supposedly independent and smart. I mean, somehow she didn't seem so well developed as a character. Just like you said, she was constantly afraid, and her behaviour was irrational, even dumb in some cases, like she was a child not a grown-up woman.

I tried to read this, but actually abandoned it. Just not engaging my interest and frankly poorly written. I agree, my issue was mostly with Marie. She did a complete 180 and was completely flat. Just didn't buy it.

Here's my review, of what I read (about 1/4 of the book)
I think I'm in the minority, but I just didn't care for this one. I really enjoy the films and while the first film up to the part I read seems fairly close to the source material, just cutting down for time, the book was just so-so. The writing just wasn't engaging, and after the female sidekick goes from "Let me go, don't kill me!" to "I know you got me into this mess, but now I feel compelled to throw everything else aside and help you, oh, and by the way, let's screw around, even though I was raped a few days ago," I rather lost interest and mostly just wanted to vomit. I know, it's a spy novel, not supposed to be realistic, but good grief, talk about Stockholm Syndrome on steroids.

I think I'll just stick with my Matt Damon eye candy for these stories. :)