18 July 2008

The Bourne Identity -- Robert Ludlum



I finally read this book. I had been meaning to after seeing the first movie years ago. I still never managed to see the second or third movies. Not because I did not like the first, but rather I just never seemed to get around to it. I thought this was somewhat of a good thing, because then when I read the three books I would not have known the entire story yet. After reading this book though, I do not think it would have been a problem. This book is so much different from the movie that I remember that I believe the second two movies are probably also very loosely based. I thoroughly enjoyed this book however. The fact that Carlos was actually in this book, albeit that most of the character in the book was false, it still lent a bit of realism to the story.

It has been a very long time since I read what I would actually call a page-turner. I could not put this thing down. Near the end of every chapter there is some new twist that nearly forces me to read on and find out what happens next. I have been reading mostly biographies lately and, before that, nothing I would call action for quite some time. Hence, this book may seem much better to me because I am not engrossed in this genre. But, it was very well executed. Obviously there were times were some disbelief needed to be suspended. Further, I did not fully buy certain characters motivations and feelings throughout. But, I don't always understand why people do certain things in real life either. Thus, with limited skepticism, I believe this is one of the better action-packed novels I have ever read. I fully recommend this book to anyone. It is a very quick read. I am certainly looking forward to the next two.

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