 "The Bourne Supremacy: Slooooooooooooooooooow." | 2010-02-15 |
| - Reviewed By Patrick J. Jones |
Title: The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum
Pages: 646
Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 4-5 years.
Days spent reading it: Umm, I first started reading this book 4-5 years ago (was it really that long ago?!?). Then a combination of boredom and school work kicked in, and I put it down. I later picked it up again and read to about the 200 page mark. Was mildly interested, but ended up quitting again. This time I picked it up and skimmed the first 200 pages (that I had already read, twice) and knew I had to power through this time or I would never be able to read it again--I was tired of the opening scene. 3 days was all it took me to finish it this time through.
Why I read it: I read this book to get through the Bourne trilogy. I really liked the Bourne Identity. A few others tell me the third book in the trilogy (The Bourne Ultimatum) is well worth it. So that's the goal.
Brief review: To start with, this book is absolutely nothing like the movie. Where the differences in the Bourne Identity were huge, at least the basic plot and characters were the same. That is not the case with the Bourne Supremacy. So if you liked the movie, I'm glad to hear it. The book is an entirely different experience.
I enjoy an intrigue novel occasionally. This book just bothered me. For starters, it is freaking slow. The reason I had to read the first few hundred pages multiple times is because I got bored over and over again. It does get better in the last 200 pages, but so much of this book was unnecessarily complicated (in my opinion). The reader never has a clear picture of what the heck is happening. I had no idea what was going on during most of the book. There are all of these subtle conversations, and I'm not that subtle. Just tell me what's going on, and get on with the story. The truth is, I cannot even give you a brief synopsis of the plot because it is so convoluted. So some key words that you can put all together and make your own book with: assassins, black ops, China, economics, identity theft, the Canadian Embassy, Charlie-Delta-Cain-Carlos-Jason Bourne. There you go, clear as if you had read it yourself.
Other elements annoyed me about this book as well. The pacing, the confusing as heck plot, the random government officials (their conversations are the worst!), the schizophrenic main character, it all contributed to a book that I would not slug through again. I would definitely skip this experience if I could. But since I'm such a stubborn person, I knew that if I did not finish the book this time through, I would never pick it up again. And I don't like to quit much. So I finished it. It wasn't pretty, but it got done.
So my recommendation, if you are looking for a good spy novel, skip this one. Some enthusiasts will of course read this book no matter what. Heck, I did. But really, it was not worth the trouble. But I do feel great having actually completed it! That was probably the best part of the day. I am hoping the Bourne Ultimatum was worth slugging through this book first.
Favorite quote: "This thing is filled with lousy ducks!" screamed the commando, staring around at the banks of wooden cages on all sides, the odor overpowering, sickening. A particular fowl, in its infinite wisdom, chose the moment to squirt a stream of excrement into the assassin's face.
Stars: 2 out of 5.
Final Word: Slooooooooooooooooooow. |
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 "The Bourne Supremacy" | 2009-09-14 |
| - Reviewed By Darrell E. Fisher from Lincoln, Nebraska |
Another excellent book, provided to my mailbox by an excellent company committed to customer service. Your packaging is outstanding and the book arrived without damage!
Many thanks.
Darrell Fisher |
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| "Absolutely Riveting" | 2009-08-02 |
| - Reviewed By The Perusal from Saint Louis, Mo |
| I'm going to keep this review concise, but I must say that this book is impeccable. I've never read such an entrancing and poignant novel, ever! This book literally beguiles you from any tedium present, and it's almost impossible to put down. Also, the movie is a complete travesty to this book--actually, it has nothing to do with this at all. The characters are splendid, and the scenes are exquisite. In addition, this is the type of book where your world perishes once you've finished it because of its greatness. The bottom line is this: Read the book, thus, you will enjoy it immensely--I guarantee you will. |
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 "Not nearly as good as "Identity"" | 2009-07-13 |
| - Reviewed By Connecticut Yankee from Connecticut |
I just finished Bourne Supremacy, having read Identity a few months earlier. Identity was excellent; a rare book that rises above the genre, while Supremacy was too forced; not written out of inspiration, but a sequel written due to lack of inspiration, maybe.
The whole premise (gov't officials coming up with a complex scheme to coerce Bourne into tracking down another assassin because that assassin is their only link to some Chinese fanatic) is far fetched - both the actions of the government and the supposed lack of other options.
While the "big picture" is silly, the chapter-to-chapter actions taken by Bourne and some of the other characters are more interesting (some are still silly) and keep you reading.
About 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through, you can predict the scene where Marie shows up to let Bourne know she's ok and he doesn't have to destroy everyone, but you wouldn't predict it being so utterly ridiculous (i.e. a woman and a crippled old man jumping into the middle of a war zone between two assassins and a bunch of marines, complete with explosives, and somehow defusing the situation without getting themselves shot).
Despite all the anger Bourne should feel for having been manipulated so badly in two consecutive novels, he decides to help the government out by going after the bad guy even when he doesn't have to ... he's compelled to get revenge for another former medusan and because he can't shake the images of Sheng's evil deeds ... they're so caricaturish, who would ?
OK. To put it simply, Bourne Identity was an engaging novel for people who like to read. Bourne Supremacy is a script for an action movie. It's almost as if Ludlum went on autopilot or handed the task of writing it over to an intern. You wouldn't guess it was by the same author. It's an ok read, but nothing more. I have no interest in reading Bourne Ultimatum. |
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 "Out MacGyver's MacGyver everywhere but the polls!" | 2009-05-26 |
| - Reviewed By Todd Stockslager from Raleigh, NC |
Jason Bourne, Ludlum's resourceful superhero, out MacGyver's MacGyver in the middle book of the Bourne trilogy. It takes the story a while to get going, as Ludlum establishes a bucolic scene of academic retreat for Bourne (now going by his real name, David Webb) and his red-headed Canadian companion and now devoted wife Marie. And, like the first book, there are too many talky interludes to push the complicated plot forward.
But when Marie is kidnapped by US Government, Jason Bourne snaps back into the forefront of our hero's psyche, and he turns tricks of resource and cunning that only the 80's TV superhero could match. In fact, in a 2007 poll MacGyver easily outpaced Bourne as the preferred hero of the voters (27% to 8%), and Bourne even finished behind Indiana Jones and John McClane (of the Die Hard series). I'm not sure why, because the action in "Supremacy", once Bourne is on the trail of Marie and her captors in Honk Kong, is faster and more furious than The Bourne Identity (Bourne Trilogy, Book 1). Marie now holds her own as a superheroine in her own right, and the interplay between the two story lines as the separated couple fight for the lives makes the middle section of this book supreme.
On one hand, if Ludlum cut the chit chat by about a hundred pages or so, these books would boil along at an insane pace. But then again, Ludlum writes with an old-fashioned and almost gentlemanly pace, so like a classic car that could use a little touch up to be perfect but would lose its charm in the detailing, Ludlum's style is best left alone and enjoyed for what it is. |
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| "not as good as the movie" | 2009-04-03 |
| - Reviewed By holia from TX |
| My husband was very disappointed with this book. He says is's very different than the movie, and is not nearly as good. |
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