Post #10: The Bourne Identity Review

                One of the most suspenseful and intriguing books out there is The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.  There is suspense from the very beginning of the book as an unknown man is shot six times on a boat and falls into the sea.  This man wakes up with no memory of who he is and people are trying to kill him for reasons he doesn’t understand.  The book is about him looking for clues to find who he is, with a lot of danger along the way.  This book is an intense page-turner.

                The plot of The Bourne Identity has many twists and turns.  This makes the book very exciting and interesting to read.  One instance in the book when the plot turns is when Jason is in a bank in Zurich and as he is leaving, he sees a man pull a gun out.  This man and other men attack Jason and he fights them off, but then he realizes there are many other killers coming after him.  This was very suspenseful because we don’t understand why Jason is being attacked, since we don’t know about his past.  Another moment of suspense in the book occurs just as Jason thinks he has escaped the killers in Zurich.  It says, “His eyes were looking at two thin intersecting lines!  Crosshairs!”  This was very suspenseful because it seemed like the killers were everywhere and it seems to the reader like it is going to be impossible for Jason to get away from them.  As in the examples mentioned so far, the plot in the book is very fast-paced at most times.  However, the plot can also be very slow-paced.  For example, the plot is very slow at the part when Jason and Marie are working to find clues in order to discover his identity while they are in Paris.  This part of the book is slow because there is a lot of dialogue and not a lot of action.  The book is still interesting at this point even though the plot is slow, because the reader is intrigued to discover more of Jason’s past and answer questions that might have come up earlier in the plot.  There are many unknowns in the book and it can become very confusing.  Overall, the plot of The Bourne Identity is intriguing and suspenseful.  It forces the reader to turn the page and keep reading.  The author also uses characterization to add to the book.

                The main characters in The Bourne Identity are well-developed.  Jason Bourne and Marie St. Jacques are both very likeable characters.  Robert Ludlum characterizes these characters through their dialogue and their actions.  We can see that Jason is willing to do anything to discover his identity when he abducts Marie and uses her to get himself to safety.  We can also see that Jason is a good person even though he does this because he was only doing this to keep himself safe and he also keeps her safe.  We can also see that Marie is a good person because she refuses to leave at any of the times Bourne tells her to leave because it is too dangerous.  Carlos is a very mysterious and evil character.  He is not characterized as much as Jason and Marie, but he still adds a lot to the plot of the book.  The reader sees small glimpses of Carlos throughout the book and is intrigued to find out more.  The characterization of Jason, Marie and Carlos enhances the book, as does Robert Ludlum’s writing style.

                Robert Ludlum does many things with his writing to make the book more interesting.  The book is written in third person, but sometimes it changes to first person in italics for one sentence to show Jason’s thoughts.  These thoughts come to show what Jason thinks about the things he finds and what he thinks those things might mean about him.  They also show him remembering what the doctor told him to do when he sees something familiar.  One time when Jason was thinking, the book said, “Specifics may come to you…certain repressed conduits…prodded into functioning.  Was it happening now?  Oh Christ, I can’t stand it!”  Jason’s thoughts add suspense to the book because they are popping up in his head when he needs to focus on getting to safety.  The writing style of the book definitely adds suspense.

                The Bourne Identity is a great read.  Anyone would like this book, but especially people who enjoy thrillers.  It is intense, suspenseful and hard to put down.

Post #4: Informal Reflection on 11/22/63

11/22/63 by Stephen King was the longest book I have ever read.  It was worth my time though.  I enjoyed the book very much with all of the plot twists.  It wasn't the best book I have ever read, but I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.  From the very beginning of the book, I was intrigued and I wanted to read more.  I read 100 pages at one time when I first started the book because I thought it was so good.  The middle of the book is sort of slow and that is why I struggled to get the book done on time, but overall I still enjoyed the book.  I would reccomend this to someone who likes history or suspense, but you have to be able to make a commitment to this book because it is 850 pages long.

Post #12: Reading Wishlist

After this Best Sellers course is over, I will continue to read.  There are many books that I want to read, and the book I will read next is The Hunger Games.  I have never read it and everyone else enjoys it so much so I think I should read it.  Other books I plan to read in the future are: The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum and the rest of the Jason Bourne series, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Let Me Off At the Top! by Ron Burgandy, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, A Time to Kill by John Grisham, and more.

Post #11: Book Talk Presentation

Post #9: Charachter Reflection

The two main characters in The Bourne Identity are Jason Bourne and Marie St. Jacques. Both characters are very likeable.  Although we dont know about Bourne's previous life for most of the book, we can see how he acts after his memory loss and can tell that he is a good person.  Readers of the book really learn to root for Bourne after reading the beginning when he struggled for nineteen weeks to try to regain his memor because you really want him to find out who he is.  Even though he abducted Marie, he made sure she was safe the entire time.  One example of him trrying to protect her is when they were at a restaraunt and a man walked over to the table they were sitting at to speak to Jason.  Jason said to Marie, "A man's coming over here.  A fat man, and he's afraid.  Don't say anything...And dont look at him...For your own good,.  There's no point in him being able to identify you."
Marie is very likeable as well because she cares about Bourne.  She realizes he abducted her because of the situation he is in, and she is greatful that he saved her life.  Many times Bourne tries to tell Marie to leave so that she can stay safe, but she cares to much about him, so she stays with him and helps him figure out what is going on.

Post #7: No Country for Old Men Trailer

Post #8: Truth in Memoir

In order to be considered a non-fiction book, a book must be completely true.  James Frey claims that his book, A Million Little Pieces, is non-fiction, although some of it is untrue.  He claims that 95% of it is true, which makes it non-fiction.  I disagree with this.  If you tell someone that a book is non-fiction, they are going to believe that everything in the book is true.  You can't put fiction in a non-fiction book.  His book might still be a good book, but it is fiction because he made some of it up.  People shouldn't be misled into believing what they are reading if it is labeled as non-fiction, but is really not true.  There does need to be a line between fiction and non-fiction.  It matters so that people know what they are reading.  In order for A Million Little Pieces to be non-fiction, Frey would have to take out the part that is not true.  If he wanted to keep that part of the book, it would have to be labeled as fiction.  I disagree with David Shields when he says there doesn't need to be a distinct line between fiction and non-fiction.  He encourages readers of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto to cut out the pages where he cites all of the quotes he plagiarized in his book.  I think that it is important for people to know what they are reading, so there does need to be a line between fiction and non-fiction, and people should know where the information in his book comes from.

Post #5: Adapting No Country For Old Men

One scene from No Country For Old Men that is important to be in the film adaptation is when Moss returns to his wife and says he is in danger and he might not come back home.  This is important because it introduces his wife and it is when Moss first states that he is going to keep the money and face whatever danger comes at him.  Another important scene is when Chigurh flips the coin at the gas station for the first time.  This is a very important scene because this scene develop's the character a lot so you get to know more about him.  One more important scene is when Moss and Chigurh meet at the hotel, because it is an intense confrontation between the two of them and it helps move the plot along.

One scene that is not important is when Chigurh gets hit by a car.  Although this part of the book is cool, it does not move the plot along at all and it would have to be cut in the movie.  (Although this part is kept in the real movie.)  The scene when Moss goes back to where he found the money is important, because an assailant sees him and shoots at him, but the movie should not include all of the detail from this scene, because there is not that much time in a movie to give a lot of detail and the scene would still make sense without all of the detail.

The best thing about The Bourne Identity

I am still reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum.  I am enjoying the book very much and I would recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers with a lot of action.  The best thing about my book is the suspense.  Jason Bourne is always in danger.  As soon as you think he is safe from some danger that he was facing, something else comes up.  This example comes from a time in the book when Bourne thinks he has escaped people who were trying to kill him, "His eyes were looking at two thin intersecting lines. Crosshairs!  A scope... an infrared scope of  a rifle."