Book: The Bourne Identity

Author: Robert Ludlum

Rating: 5/5

Jason Bourne Was shot and thought to be killed, but he wasn’t, he survived somehow and he escapes death but after being treated by Doctor Geoffrey Washburn, Bourne wakes up with one problem, he is an amnesiac. He restarts his life in a search for his past but soon encounters people who thought he was dead, and want him to be, and in attempt to murder, Bourne finds he knows how to fight and how to survive. Bourne escapes but is now in danger and is on the run from murders. He meets a woman named Marie who he takes hostage to help him survive. But Bourne is once again found by killers and Marie is sentenced to die, Bourne escapes and decides to put his life at risk again to save Marie, someone he took hostage. Slowly Marie and Bourne fall in love and Jason Bourne finds that she starts to accompany him and help him. Slowly Bourne learns about his little about his past and finds the name Carlos, who he finds out is an assassin looking to kill him, as well as Cain and tread stone Seventy-one. Bourne soon discovers that Cain is an assassin who Carlos swore to kill, and later discovers that he is the man that people refer to as Cain. Slowly Bourne and Marie move apart to make things safe for Marie. Bourne is revealed to be part of the American government and is going undercover to be engaged in a battle to capture Carlos. The result of that battle is for you to find out.

Social/Historical context:

The books social and historical context depicts the life of a previous army commander. Jason Bourne served in the Vietnamese war prior to the beginning of the book. Before he was shot and got amnesia he was a ruthless and barbaric commander, but he was effective. Now Bourne lives life after the Vietnamese war, in the mid 1980's as a shadow of a man. The book shows the hardship of having amnesia and the complications of the US government.

Writing Style:

The book is written in sophisticated language, and flows nicely with that language. The Bourne identity is a novel written in 3rd person omniscient. A problem with literacy is that it can often be confusing and and sort of abrupt in small sections of the book, however that was not a problem when I got to the middle of the book.

My Thoughts:

Personally, I loved the Bourne identity, and I found that it was very enticing and had an intriguing plot. I also found a lot of the book very original in many aspects, and non-repetitive which was good. The action in the book is riveting and keeps you on your toes but I did not find it gory, however many people could. The Bourne Identity was an intriguing, suspenseful book. It was wonderfully written and a great book. A an age group is hard to set on this book but I feel that anyone mature enough and who likes the action and espionage genre would like this, so I would say anyone 12 or over. I really loved this book and would give it a 4.5/5 star rating.

Book Reviewed By Zamaan Nathoo

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