The Bourne Identity
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| Author | Robert Ludlum |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Jason Bourne |
| Genre(s) | Thriller, Spy novel |
| Publisher | Putnam |
| Released | 1980 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 544 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-553-26011-1 |
| Followed by | The Bourne Supremacy |
The Bourne Identity is a 1980 spy fiction thriller novel by Robert Ludlum about an amnesiac who must discover who he is and why several different groups, including an assassin and the CIA, are trying to kill him. It is the first in a series of novels written by Ludlum, and later Eric Van Lustbader, featuring Jason Bourne.
The Bourne Identity has been adapted into a 1988 television mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith, and a 2002 movie starring Matt Damon and Franka Potente.
[edit] Plot summary
- For a more in-depth background of the character Bourne, see Jason Bourne.
The protagonist is found floating in the Mediterranean Sea with several bullet wounds, including a head wound which has given him amnesia. The doctor treating him finds a message surgically embedded in his hip that contains details of a Swiss bank account, presumably anonymous.
In Zürich, the protagonist learns that his name is Jason Bourne and, while attempting to retrace his steps on his previous visit to the city, attracts the attention of several people who either fear him, warn him of danger, or try to kill him (but all unhelpfully assume that he already knows why). He begins to suspect, on the basis of circumstantial evidence, that he may have been a professional assassin prior to losing his memory. He also meets a woman named Marie St. Jacques in Zürich and on the spur of the moment, uses her as a sort of hostage to escape an attempt on his life in a crowded convention hotel. Realizing that he has put her life in danger as well, he risks his own life to prevent her from being executed. This is the first clue that there may be more to the protagonist than a cold-blooded killer.
As the evidence and the double-crosses mount up, it appears at first that Jason Bourne is an associate of, then a competitor to, the infamous terrorist Carlos. In the end, however, it is revealed that the protagonist is actually a CIA agent in deep cover as a fictional assassin, Jason Bourne, in order to get close to Carlos, and that he received his injuries after blowing his cover trying to prevent an assassination. Jason Bourne goes by many names, such as Cain and Delta. His real name, however, is David Webb. In a dramatic finale, he faces Carlos—alone and unaided as the CIA believes that he's gone rogue.
The 1988 miniseries is reasonably true to the plot of the novel, but the film was changed to exclude the subplot about assassin "Carlos" and, equally or more significantly, the fact of Bourne's innocence — it is maintained that he actually was an assassin (though of CIA employ).
[edit] Sequels
Ludlum penned two sequels, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. In addition, after Ludlum's death, Eric Van Lustbader continued the story of Jason Bourne in a sequel titled The Bourne Legacy. He is also currently writing the fifth novel in the series tentatively titled, The Bourne Betrayal.
[edit] See also
- XIII is a Franco-Belgian comic series that has many similarities to the character of Jason Bourne as well as the novel The Bourne Identity.
- The 1987 Tamil movie Vetri Vizha starring Kamal Haasan is a loose adaptation of this novel.
| Jason Bourne | |
|---|---|
| Robert Ludlum novels: | The Bourne Identity (1980) | The Bourne Supremacy (1986) | The Bourne Ultimatum (1990) |
| Eric Van Lustbader novels: | The Bourne Legacy (2004) | The Bourne Betrayal (2007) |
| 20th century films: | The Bourne Identity (1988) |
| 21st century films: | The Bourne Identity (2002) | The Bourne Supremacy (2004) | The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) |
