New Book Discussion!

I've posted the latest book discussion over at the DAW Books blog (dawbooks)! We're discussing Deborah J. Ross' second Seven-Petaled Shield novel Shannivar! Swing on by and check it out, and leave a comment if you've read the book or started the series!

Book Review: "The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum

I'd seen the movie, knew it was based on a book, so decided that I should, you know, actually read the book to see what started it all in the first place. I also knew that the book was originally published in 1980, so I was curious about how the movie stacked up to the book, especially with the change in technology.

The basic premise is that a man is pulled from the ocean with amnesia, but with a microfiche embedded in his skin. The microfiche contains the name of a bank and a code. The main character, supposedly Jason Bourne, sets off to find out his true identity, but as he continues his search, and his unique skills begin to manifest themselves, he begins to suspect that perhaps his past is best left buried when it appears he may be an assassin known worldwide.

As I suspected, the biggest aspect that readers need to adjust to in the book is the significant technology gap between now and when the book was published. There were no cell phones, no computers on every street corner (let alone in every hand), no internet. All of this makes it imminently more believable that Jason Bourne can maneuver through the world, access the bank account, hide in Zurich and Paris, etc. It becomes obvious that it was much easier to "disappear" in the 1980s.

However, if you remove the technology aspects of the novel, the story itself still stands up over time, which is likely why we can have the (relatively) recent movies. This story isn't really about the assassin and the tech and the "action" of spies and supersecret groups within governments. The story is about this man searching for himself, not liking what he finds, then finding a way to change the situation. It's about discovery, about choosing who you want to be, not being what everyone expects you to be. That story will stand the test of time, and as seen in the movies, the tech can change with the story and the story will still remain true.

I probably would have given this book four stars out of five instead of three . . . except that, even without the tech issues taken into account, the ending of the book wasn't as satisfactory as I'd have liked. It's hard to say exactly why without spoiling the ending, but the books ends without a feeling of "this plotline is finished." It's obvious that there is more to come, and while you do get a resolution to the main question--Who is Jason Bourne?--that in an of itself wasn't enough to satisfy me. The main conflict of the story--between Jason and Carlos--isn't resolved, and I felt that needed a more solid resolution than what was given.

And that would be the only flaw I saw in the book. Jason's character, his struggle, how he and everyone else in the novel is manipulated, either by others or by their own machinations, is solid. I now need to rewatch the movie to see exactly how the plot was updated to include our technology advances, and to see how it had to shift in order for the story to make sense in our time.