Right now I'm in the middle of the Bourne Ultimatum, and I have throughly enjoyed the first 2 books of the series by robert ludlum. Luckily I watched the movie first and I greatly enjoyed it. AsI read the book I was shocked at how different it was from the movie. I don't know how they could even call the movie "The Bourne Identity", loosely based is an understatement. But since the movie is so different I can enjoy it as something completly different from the book. I don't know how they could leave out Carlos the assasin he is such a great bad guy. And I have no idea how they are going to make the sequals into movies, especially the 3rd one.


For those who read the series what are your opinions on the books and what is your favorite book of the series? Its close but I think so far that Bourne Supremacy is the best of them. Also what did you think of the movie adaptation?

I've read the series and loved it. Ludlum was a great writer and the first 2 Bournes are among his best. (The third one was kind of weak as I recall.) Bourne is such a great character.

You might try The Matarese Circle, as it's similar.

excellent series..I also agree that Matrese Circle is good vintage Ludlum as well

I read TBI last spring and then saw the movie in the summer. I agree they are very different. I enjoyed the premise in the book better than the movie. I enjoyed both.

I am a little critical of the book though. I think it could have easily been pared down without losing overall quality.

I just finished the Bourne Identity, and what an excellent book it was! I will definitely be reading the other 2 books in the series. After that I'll check Ludlum's other work out as well, he writes so damn well.

I really enjoyed the movie as well, and although the book and the movie take radically different directions, the movie is still damn well as it captures the essence of the book and Bourne's character.

I got about halfway through the first book. The sex scenes seemed to go on forever. Felt like I was reading a Harlequin romance.

I've read all his books. Most are good but after a while it's almost the same.

Really enjoyed The Bourne Identity and the 2 sequels.

The Holcroft Covenant was his first book I've read and it hooked me to his writings.

I read it twice, years ago. I read probably the first dozen books Ludlum wrote, and I have to agree they all tend to read the same after a while. He's definitely a guy who sticks to his formula.

I didn't see the movie adaptation, but I remember the miniseries with Richard Chamberlain, which I thought was pretty boring.

What is the sequence of the Bourne books?

I bought Identity, Ultimatum and another at a used book sale, but I want to read them in order...

Thanks.

Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum

From the older books, I like The Matlock Paper a lot.

Among the more recent ones, I recall liking The Scorpio Illusion.

For a funnier take, try the Road to Gandolfo.

For similar reads, the Covert One series (conceived by Ludlum, written by other authors) have been enjoyable.

Thanks djmont!

I read this one years ago. Very good book made into a very medicore movie, but thats usually the case.

I think that is his best novel.

The Parsifal Mosaic, The Holcroft Covenant, and The Chancellor Manuscript are all at least very good.

I liked Identity (the book, not the movie) but I gave up half way through Supremacy. Too much of the same thing over and over....

The movie of Identity was weak. Of course few movies can ever be as deep as the book they're based on, but this left out so much as to be barely recognizable. The whole story about Bourne trying to remember where he'd come from was the most interesting thing in the book and just didn't come across in the movie at all.

I have read Ludlum for years and I love his books. He does stick strictly to his formula though, so some of his latter books seem like some of his earlier ones.

I loved the Bourne Trilogy, w/ the first two definitely being the better part. Ultimatum was still an enjoyable read, just not as good as the first one. I loved the film and don't compare it to the book - before I even saw it I read that Doug Liman said that it was a very loose adaptation, so I went into it w/ an open mind. It was one of my favorite films of last year.

The Road to Gandolfo and The Road to Omaha are also excellent reads and both are quite funny, too. They are quite a departure from his other books. Great cast of characters in them.

I always recommend anything the man has written, though I haven't read anything in the Covert One series.

My favourites were

Osterman Weekend
Parsifal Mosaic
Aquitaine Progression
Bourne Supremacy

I used to love Ludlum in the early 80s, but when I reread his novels recently I found that they weren't that great. I dont know why. Maybe it is because they are outdated, or because I am older and more jaded.

On the contrary, I picked up Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "A study in Scarlet" recently. I had enjoyed this book 30 years ago, but even today I find it completely engrossing.

I just finished reading this a day or two ago. Everyonce in awhile I'd keep wondering what the hell Groucho was talking about.

It does seem to be a bit dated, but then it was written in the mid-70's. The twists and turns near the end started to get really good though. I've just started the Supremecy book, and that's been pretty good so far too.

Still, it wasn't what I'd consider a "great" book in that it wasn't as much of a page turner as some other books I've read. Also, I have to wonder if it's worth it for someone who's read a lot of thrillers (I haven't) to go back to something this old...I'd think there would be a lot of "I've read this before" type of feelings.

I started it a couple of weeks ago and couldn't bring myself to finish it. It just felt very..."dated" I guess is the word.