- Paperback: 544 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Film tie-in edition edition (19 Aug 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007134355
- ISBN-13: 978-0007134359
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.6 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 742,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Bourne Identity: The Bourne Saga: Book One (Bourne 1)
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Product Description
Review
‘Always absorbing … His characters are complex and credible, his sleight of plot as cunning as any terrorist conspiracy … A Bourne from which no traveller returns unsatisfied.’ Time Magazine
Review
"Probably the best modern spy thriller I have ever read. I love Ludlum's stuff because he challenges you from the first page." -- Pete Waterman DAILY EXPRESS
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Paris, 10 July - France expelled three high-ranking Cuban diplomats today in connection with the world-wide search for a man called Carlos, who is believed to be an important link in an international terrorist network. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Paris, 10 July - France expelled three high-ranking Cuban diplomats today in connection with the world-wide search for a man called Carlos, who is believed to be an important link in an international terrorist network. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio Cassette
Gripping and thought-provoking thriller, but only if you like to think! Mindless readers should not attempt this intricate story of an amnesiac who tracks down his own history from clues he doesn't even realise he's picked up, efficiently surviving asassination attempts without knowing why "they" are out to get him, or how he acquired these deadly skills. Those who found the film differing wildly from the plot of the book should track down the original film starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith, far superior to the latest Matt Damon scramble.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is a cliché that says a book is a real page turner and it certainly applies to this book. I picked it up because I loved the film and I imagined the book would be just as good. The novel, however, leaves the film standing. Don't expect a movie tie-in because this is certainly not that. Jason Bourne is found floating in the ocean and that's about where the similarity starts and finishes. Some great scenes in Zurich and Paris are the only other resemblances to the film.
I'd never read a Robert Ludlum book before but this has me searching for the next. It's written at a pace that keeps you hooked, the story is much more complex than the film and the characterisation and plot is a joy to read. I was hooked to the very last page.
On the downside, if you have seen the film one of the crucial story twists is known to you. If you haven't seen the movie - read the book first for this is how a thriller should read.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I too, like many people have offered reviews, saw the film before i read the book. After being pleasantly satisfied with what hollywood had to offer i was sceptical as to what the book could offer that the film hadn't already...
It took only the first few chapters for that scepticism to wash away, much like Bourne's limp body in the opening of both book and film. This book offer's more depth, twists, morale dilemmas, teasing questions, and surprising answers than the film could ever have done, even if it were to run for abother 10 hours. I ask you, in dilluded confusion, where was Carlos in the film? The most gripping, intriguing and heartwarming elements of the story are elated from the film for absolutely no reason!
"Bourne's" history is, in itself an intruguin story of loss and dealing with it, and the knock on effect leading to the pier in Marsaille is just bewildering.
The depth and detail of which Ludlum presents for Carlos' army of old men, and the tedious encounters around the analyst's conference room in the 'mighty' USA CIA headquarters, lend a delightful and delicate intricacy to a world unknown to all that read. Every strategic decision Bourne makes, based on his training, lends a new dimension to the stereotpyically 'Muscle-bound' world, that we so readily associate (through hollywood, i presume) to a spy.
Now for my complaints, of which i only have one:
Ludlum hints at the identity of a 'certain character' to be significant and, at the very least, surprising... Why was this abandoned?
Ludlum is, without doubt, the most accomplished Spy thriller writer of this century, and The Bourne Identity is his finest work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pete Read
I wondered where Dan Brown had found his writing style. Mr Ludlum is another who can only write at the top of his voice. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Pete Read
Very entertaining
This was entertaining and I couldn't put it down. I loved the setting of the book and the characters were great. I'll certainly be reading more in this series.
Published 2 months ago by Jane
Director's ruined a Classic Masterpiece!
Robert Ludlum wrote an amazing masterpiece where a man with no memory decides to find his past and hopefully leading to a future, he ends up having the infamous Jackal becoming his... Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. Kirkwood
Disappointing
I'm truly shocked at the number of gushing reviews for this book. True, it is nothing like the film but that's not usually a bad thing. The book is ALWAYS better than the film ... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Joy
Bourne to Thrill
So this book is as old as I am and I've only just got round to reading it after having seen all three films. Read more
Published 2 months ago by bloo_toon_red
nice film, shame about the book
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
The most surprising feature of TBI is that this big baggy muddle of a book was made into an excellent film (with 2 equally good... Read more
The most surprising feature of TBI is that this big baggy muddle of a book was made into an excellent film (with 2 equally good... Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. C. Dickens
Gripping all the way
I bought this book on kindle not really knowing what to expect and not having many high hopes for it, but I was wrong! Read more
Published 7 months ago by H. Andrews
A very good read
This is a worthy basis of all the Bourne industry. In some ways it is a pity that it is so much better than the subsequent films and books, but that may not be a surprise. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Roland Pullen
A thoughtful intro to Bourne
Like a previous review, this book is quite lengthy and goes into great detail about who he is. He remembers things that help him on his quest after suffering from amnesia. Read more
Published 7 months ago by A. Douglas
650+ horsepower
If The Janson Directive has power under the hood, The Bourne Identity has a tail wind that makes a spectator's hat spin. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Roger Weston
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