I have been meaning to read the Bourne Trilogy for the past... decade, I suppose, and I am kinda ashamed that it took me this long to get around to it. I suppose it's because I didn't want to start liking the book and hating the movie because with the exception of the Count of Monte Cristo the movie always stinks compared to the book. My guess is that there are a lot of people out there that are exactly like me in this sense: you loved the movies, maybe thought it would be a good idea to read the book sometime but just never got around to it...
How do I know that? Because in the ten years since the movie came out no one has ever once mentioned THAT THE BOOK IS NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE!!! Please do not be mistaken here when I say "nothing"... I'M NOT EXAGGERATING!! Seriously, I want to look up plagiarism cases here because someone wrote an awesome screenplay but stole the title for it from Robert Ludlum's book. Let me give you the two, I repeat, two things in common between the movie and the book. First, there is a character named Jason Bourne (OK, maybe I AM exaggerating here, there are a few names that are the same). Second, he gets amnesia and forgets he's an American agent. As far as everything else goes, prepare to have your mind blown.
How Bourne is Different:
OK, yes, the title of this blog is silly because no Matt Damon is NOT as cool as Jason Bourne. The question should be is the movie Jason Bourne cooler than the book Jason Bourne. The answer is an unquestionable YES. In the first hundred pages or so of the book, Bourne not only blackmails and robs a couple but he also holds a women hostage and slaps her around!! What the heck! That women happens to be Marie (same name as the girl in the movie but COMPLETELY different character). They end up falling in love? Yeah, you gotta read the book for that to make sense. But to the point, I really could not have cared less if Bourne had died in the first half of the book because I hated the guy. Whereas in the movie, he's a killing machine, but he's a NICE guy. Chalk one up for the movie
Furthermore, in the movie Bourne is unstoppable. Alisa and I watched the movie last night, and seriously the guy doesn't make any mistakes. In the book, however, Bourne gets manhandled left and right and is outsmarted a couple times. In the end, he doesn't kill the bad guy; he passes out from loss of blood because the bad guys beats him. Sorry Ludlum, we Americans like our secret agents to kick butt and take names. The movie Bourne would make the book Bourne pee his pants.
How the Plot is Different:
(Spoiler Alert, don't read this if you plan to read the book and want to be surprised)
In the movie, the plot revolves around an American agent that does high security assassinations. When he doesn't have the heart to kill one of his hits, he gets shot, loses his memory, and wanders around Europe trying to find out who he is while other American agents try and kill him. He meets a girl, kicks the crap out of the other assassins, and single-handedly brings down the whole organization of questionable legality.
Don't look for that in the book. In the first book you don't actually find out what Jason was doing when he gets shot (in the head, which in fairness to the book credits the amnesia, while in movie... Well, I really didn't see any reason for him to lose his memory from two shots in the back). The most important part of the plot in the book is a guy named Carlos (don't look for that name in the movie, IT AIN'T THERE!). Carlos is a terrorist assassin who is killing political people at random and has a huge network set up in Europe.
Bourne at first thinks he is Carlos because he can remember tons of facts about Carlos. Then he finds out about another guy named Cain (there is a call out to Cain in the movie, it's one of Jason's aliases, but it's spelled Kane). Cain is a revival assassin to Carlos that is cutting in on his business. We find out that Bourne is Cain and for three/fourths you think he really is a bad guy. Then you find out Cain is a fake, the US government made him up in order to track down Carlos (Jason's job is to find, and stop Carlos). In the end, Carlos wins because he tricks the US into thinking Bourne killed the leaders of Treadstone (which Carlos actually did). In all the confusion, Bourne and Carlos fight, Bourne gets injured and passes out from lack of blood and Carlos gets away.
So is the book worth reading?
To be honest, I only liked the last two hundred pages of the book. Before that, like I said, I didn't like the characters and was upset it wasn't as cool as the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, or if you can disassociate the book from the movie, you'll probably really enjoy it. The book really does keep you guessing and is capable of keeping it's secrets til the end which is a mark of a good author I feel.
I don't think it is any coincidence that Ludlum died a year BEFORE the movie came out. It really is like comparing apples and oranges here. The book better illustrates the amnesia aspects. Yet, the movie is better because, well, Jason Bourne is freaking awesome. I think I'll stick with the movies on this one. It's rare I get to say that.
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