A review by randomprogrammer
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
3.0
Holy info-dump batman! The thinly disguised info-dumps are painful, the instantaneous lovey-dovey relationship stretches belief, and certain details really bothered me. Especially during the beginning, I found myself wishing I'd just watched the movie 3 times instead of reading this book.. It did get more engaging near the end, but I don't think it made the slog worth it.
Ludlum over-explains everything. Every super-mega-cool-WOW spy detail needs it's initial Ph.D. dissertation when first introduced, and then at every subsequent occurrence needs a little ELI5 just in case the reader forget how it works during the intervening 20 pages. Yes, I understand that the neato spy details are part of what makes it a fun spy novel, but at some point the author needs to give the reader's intelligence some credit.
And the downfall of the fashion shop was just plain silly. What a lame climax. Carlos and the fashion lady both know that Bourne has compromised the shop, and it didn't scare them a bit. And then he terrifies the organization by....by making the shop seem compromised? What the hell is this plot point??
And not just that, but Carlos is built up as having this far reaching organization of disconnected tendrils, and then I'm suddenly supposed to believe that there's some kind of need for the fashion shop to be a base of operations which is even possible to compromise? Yeah, tldr, I could have done without this plot point.
Bourne's and his lady's emotional interactions were also pretty weird. He was always flying off the handle, she was always perfectly loving and composed. Even setting aside the datedness of the relationship, it's just not good character writing.
Ludlum over-explains everything. Every super-mega-cool-WOW spy detail needs it's initial Ph.D. dissertation when first introduced, and then at every subsequent occurrence needs a little ELI5 just in case the reader forget how it works during the intervening 20 pages. Yes, I understand that the neato spy details are part of what makes it a fun spy novel, but at some point the author needs to give the reader's intelligence some credit.
And the downfall of the fashion shop was just plain silly. What a lame climax. Carlos and the fashion lady both know that Bourne has compromised the shop, and it didn't scare them a bit. And then he terrifies the organization by....by making the shop seem compromised? What the hell is this plot point??
And not just that, but Carlos is built up as having this far reaching organization of disconnected tendrils, and then I'm suddenly supposed to believe that there's some kind of need for the fashion shop to be a base of operations which is even possible to compromise? Yeah, tldr, I could have done without this plot point.
Bourne's and his lady's emotional interactions were also pretty weird. He was always flying off the handle, she was always perfectly loving and composed. Even setting aside the datedness of the relationship, it's just not good character writing.