The+Bourne+Identity

=__The Bourne Identity__= By: Robert Ludlum

__About the Author__
Robert Ludlum was born on May 27, 1927 in New York City. Ludlum attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He wrote twenty-two novels in his lifetime, but he is credited with writing twenty-seven novels. Many people are not sure if these books were written by him or a ghost writer. Robert Ludlum used pen-names when he wrote a few of his novels. For example when he wrote __Trevayne__ L udlum went under the name of Jonathan Ryder, and when he wrote __The Road to Gandolfo__ Robert went by the name Michael Shephard. Some of his other works include __The Bourne__ __Supremacy__, __The Bourne Conspiracy__, and __The Road to Omaha__. All of the Bourne novels were turned into movies even though the movies are very different from Ludlum's books. Robert Ludlum died on March 12, 2001 in Naples, Florida.

__Setting__
The setting of __The Bourne Identity__ is all over the world. It takes place in many different countries around the world including Paris, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Tam Quan, Malaysia; New York City, USA. The novel never gives any specific dates as to what time frame it takes place in, but it would seem that it takes place around the times of publication date which is 1980.

__Characters__
The main character of this novel in Jason Bourne who is struggling to regain his memory while he is being hunted down by people who want to kill him. Another one of the main characters in Marie. She is unwillingly pulled into this novel by Bourne. One other character that has a lot of influence on the novel in Carlos who is an assassin for hire in Europe. He is one of the men hunting Bourne.

__Plot__
In this novel Jason Bourne is pulled out of the Mediterranean Sea by a group of fishermen. Bourne is badly injured. He has been shot multiple times, and one bullet managed to hit him in the head. He is brought to an alcoholic doctor that helps him through the ordeal. Bourne has absolutly no recoleection of the events that transired before he woke up in Dr. Washburn's care. Bourne then travels to Zurich, Switzerland where he finds he has a bank account that contains 7,500,000 francs in it. That is equivalent to 5,000,000 American dollars. He withdraws a lot of this money, and he transfers most of it to a bank in Paris. This event is what starts the hunt for Jason Bourne. He runs for his life all around Zurich. Bourne takes Marie St. Jacques into his custody when he is fleeing from men that are trying to kill him. Bourne has many skills that he does not understand how he knows them. Some of these skills include great marksmanship and extreme skill with martial arts. He is also fluent in many different laguages. Bourne and Marie eventually fall in love and travel to Paris. Then Carlos comes into the picture. He is another man that wants Bourne dead. Everyone that wants Bourne dead refers to him as Cain. Jason Bourne gains back many memories and things about his life throughout the rest of the novel. The end of the novel is extremely thrilling and throws a big twist into the story.

__Style__
Robert Ludlum's style is very specific to him. One of these things that really stands out about most of his work is the titles of his novels. Most of the start with The followed by a proper noun which is then followed by a common noun. This novel is told by a third person narrator. Bourne's thoughts are the only ones that are actually written though. Flashbacks were used frequently in the novel. They were usually used when Bourne was remembering things about past events. There was plenty of action in this novel. There were gun battles and quite a few fist fights between Jason and his would-be killers.

Below is an example of the action from __The Bourne Identity__. This clip is taken from __The Bourne Identity__ movie. This clip has some graphic elements to it.

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 * may not be viewable at school because it is from youtube

__Style (cont.)__
I felt that Ludlum's title was entirely appropriate. It helped the reader realize that Bourne would be trying to find out his true identity. The dialogue in the novel was very believable. The characters conversed just like real people. The plot might not happen in the real world, but Ludlum conveyed it in such a way that he would make the reader think that it could. Ludlum's chapters could be kind of long, but as a whole they were a good length.

__Review and Recommendations__
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a good action, suspense, thriller novel. The novel did get slow in some parts, but soon enough Ludlum would throw the reader right back into it with a sequence of intense action. New York Times said, "Mr. Ludlum stuffs more surprises into his novels than any other six-pack of thriller writers combines." Catherine Tuckwell from Book Critics Magazine said, "Not only does Ludlum show a great deal of skill in bringing his complex plot together, but a thorough eye for detail and the occasional glimpse of subtle wit is evident." I truly enjoyed reading this novel, and I would, once again, recommend it to anyone.