Bourne Identity - Book Review

Author : Robert Ludlum Genre : Fiction Year : 1980 Publisher : Richard Marek ISBN : 0399900705

I liked the movie Bourne Identity and its sequels. When in Local Library I saw this book "Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum. Heard the movie version is slightly different from the book version. The curiosity to find the difference made me read it.

Gist of the movie is "Jason Bourne is an under-cover agent who worked for US. Because of some unexpected events, he loses his memory, even he forgets his name. But the qualities and techniques of assassin within him remain. He is trying to find who he is in every possible way. His identity was revealed on this search which is no-no for under-cover. So, the agency which created him wants to destroy him. Finally he finds out his Identity and his employers.

The difference between the book and its adoption is very large. It’s like only half of the book taken as movie first part. In the book, Jason Bourne is not really Jason Bourne, it’s the name he chosen himself. At last he finds out, he is David Webb. But in movie series, this happens only in the third part "Bourne Ultimatum".

In movie, the US Intelligence Agency is portrayed as negative role, but in book there is much more powerful villain “Carlos the Jackal". Nobody knows who he is. He is virtually non existent. He works in stealth and is the greatest assassin in the world. Jason Bourne is created to trap Carlos.

It’s true that the whole book cannot be taken as a movie. I felt in between while reading, in some places, some characters and situations are only to increase the length of the book.

I can say the movie is more interesting than book. The book is more intriguing than movie.