tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post7477828590762854055..comments2023-10-06T20:40:16.011-07:00Comments on Scientist Gone Wordy: The Bourne Identity by Robert LudlumRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-67955457357649816942014-07-05T11:51:49.631-07:002014-07-05T11:51:49.631-07:00Yes, this time it was an unabridged audiobook for ...Yes, this time it was an unabridged audiobook for the reread, with Scott Brick as the narrator. A good fit given Brick can be fairly 'theatrical' in his readings, but it did bit tiresome. Especially with "Alpha, Bravo, Cain, Delta ...: ;-)le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-13839606622588228212014-07-05T03:27:34.991-07:002014-07-05T03:27:34.991-07:00I love your comments! It was like another review. ...I love your comments! It was like another review. Very nice for any readers. :) <br /><br />Thanks for the cover comments. I'm going to look up the original. And you did hit on one of the lines that got really old. ;) Did you do this one on audio? As I was reading I was able to skip over some of the repetitive bits and it made me think I definitely would not have enjoyed it on audio because it's much harder to get past that type of thing when listening.<br /><br />Glad we did this one, too. It was fun to revisit the story and chat about the plot and the movie. Thanks!Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-61703529455360554502014-07-01T13:55:31.395-07:002014-07-01T13:55:31.395-07:00Well, I’m certainly glad you picked this one, Rach...Well, I’m certainly glad you picked this one, Rachel. For the movie and the excuse to re-read this old spy thriller of my youth. Allow me to response to each of your points in order.<br /><br />Cover: Yeah, the more recent covers are really open to criticism. However, its first edition book cover was simple, elegant, and IMO, one of the great ones of the era (damn Blogger is not letting me embed the link to it, please Google it though).<br /><br />What Works: Again, I have to agree with your points. The decades old method of analyzing what’s happening to our hero, and the suspicions thrown his way, was something that worked well. Mostly, because it hadn’t been done in such a way as Ludlum concocted. And the author’s style, one very theatrical (but then again he came from the theater), drew a lot of fans back then. Me included.<br /><br />What Doesn’t: Admittedly, Ludlum was more of a grand storyteller than an accomplished writer. Now on this side of a relatively new century, that part was fairly clear to me when I returned to the novel. Somehow, I’d forgotten about the novel’s length! But, Ludlum does cover a lot of ground. Makes me wonder what a modern day editor would have done with this. I wonder if Elyse is listening ;-). Let me guess about this part:<br /><br />"Alpha, Bravo, Cain, Delta ...<br />Cain is for Charlie, and Delta is for Cain.<br />Get Carlos. Trap Carlos...<br />Kill Carlos!"<br /><br />You got pretty sick of this passage, huh? I did by the mid-point in all its utterances. However, strangely, by the end, it kinda worked for me. Afterwards, I’d have wished for fewer of them written.<br /><br />Overall: it was an awesome bit of plotting by Robert Ludlum. I still think it’s his best novel. All of them are long-in-the-tooth nowadays, I’m afraid, but did portray their time fairly well. He did, too, come up with a thoroughly intriguing character. Unsurpassed in this book — the sequels were disappointing. But it’d be hard to have the same amount of fun and revelation with Jason Bourne afterwards.<br /><br />I’m so very glad you suggested this one, Rachel. Many thanks.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-69625891228156003072014-06-30T23:24:34.340-07:002014-06-30T23:24:34.340-07:00Hiya jmc - I can't tell you how often I was wi...Hiya jmc - I can't tell you how often I was wishing for a good editor while reading. It's such a great set-up but it is severely lacking in editorial finesse. Sounds like you and I had very similar reading experiences with this one. <br /><br />I agree that it's wonderfully adapted to film. Not one of those faithful adaptations of course but one in which the essence of a story is captured almost perfectly while very different devices are used to tell that story. I love this movie and queue up my copy quite often. In fact, I think I'll watch it again tonight with some wine while the fire is going. :)<br /><br />The Bourne Legacy was weird, wasn't it? The mind simply boggles at the science. I kept trying to make it work with the movie's rules (forget reality) but even then it didn't make any sense. I did like how the pills were manufactured in another country. Of course that didn't actually make sense for their use (how many of these super expensive, highly trained time bombs are out there? enough to justify a factory?) but I liked how it highlighted that aspect of drug production.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12471937819219493034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856065630155928814.post-73570407236351619792014-06-30T14:45:53.301-07:002014-06-30T14:45:53.301-07:00I read the book after seeing the movie, and rememb...I read the book after seeing the movie, and remember thinking that it had been adapted/modernized pretty well for the film. But I agree that it felt like it dragged on and on, and needed an editor not afraid to be brutal with the red ink. (Full disclosure: I enjoy the movie and am sidetracked into watching it whenever I happen to flip past it on tv. But I do not like where the series went in the last film. And the science was ridiculous.) jmchttp://jmcbks.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com