11 member(s) found this review helpful.
I read "The Bourne Identity" after seeing the film and I enjoyed both though the book was better. 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 could be tracked via cell phone signals, satellite imagery, email and the Internet. In the book there are none of these modern devices, allowing Bourne and his female companion more time to plan and 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.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Unlike the movie, Ludlum engages Robert Bourne in an unbelievable series of events that draw him all across Europe. It's one of those reads that until you finish the novel you don't realize just how bizarre the trip is because you are so caught up in the events. This is one book you won't put down once you start reading it.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Robert Ludlum's best book ever, IMHO!!
Much better than the movie(a pale imitation).
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Dare I say it? This is one of the very cases in which I preferred the movie to the book. I picked up the novel after having seen the film starring Matt Damon, thinking to find a similar plot (though, of course, we all know movie plots always are changed). However, the book is extremely different. Honestly, I found Jason Bourne to be more of a "thinker" than a "doer" in the novel. Which, therefore, made it a far more boring read for me. Again, this is simply my opinion. It was still a decent book and I don't necessarily discourage one from reading it - just a warning that it is quite, quite different from the movie and I found it difficult to be fully absorbed by the novel.

Jennifer M. (
litgeek) wrote on 10/11/2008...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is one of the rare cases where I'd have to say that I like the movie better! All of the layers of psychological delving started to get old.

Ed P. (
jollymoon) - Marietta, GA wrote on 6/24/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Most excellent...the Movie was wonderful, but this book adds several details and nuances that the movie lacked
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
The first of Ludlum's three Bourne books. Tremendous...just the best.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
His memory is a blank. His bullet-ridden body was fished from the Mediterranean Sea. His face has been altered by plastic surgery. A frame of microflilm has been surgically implanted in his hip. Even his name is a mystery. Marked for death, he is racing for survival.