The Bourne Identity: Review

Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Author: Robert Ludlum



Being a fan of thrillers and spy novels, I really wanted to read this one considering the hype surrounding it.But I am very disappointed. The story begins when a half dead man is found floating and is rescued by a fisherman. The plot covers and lot of Europe and the United States. The story is interesting and not much predictable.The characters of the story are well drawn and there is enough detailing.

The protagonist, who is called Jason Bourne for the major part of the story, is very interesting. Especially, the last fifty so pages amazes one and one really comes to adore him. Marie St. Jacques, on the other hand, is depicted as an intellectual who falls in love with this lost man. Her loyality towards Bourne really wins her the respect of the reader.

The "Villain" of this story, Carlos, is a surrounded with an air of mystery. All one knows is, he is a lethal assassin who wants Bourne dead, and will go to any lengths to ensure this. While, the governments, secret agencies want him dead at any cost, they have no clue how he looks and they know only Bourne can help them.

I would have given this book about four stars but two things vexed me a lot. First, the pace. The pace of the book is extremely slow, and one does feel bored at times. There is a lot of useless detailing at places and the writing style also bothered me at some places. Secondly, the sentence Cain is for charlie, Delta is for Cain. This line is repeated page after page after page.

Thus, the book is a good read if you can stand a slow paced book. I am not encouraged enough by this book to read the two other sequels of this trilogy.