Jack of Harts

Many of you have seen the Jason Bourne movies. I’ve seen them all and loved them. I recently decided to read the books as well, figuring I would like to see that side of them. Well, as often happens in movies, they are nothing like the books. They share some names and some basic ideas, but there are no car chases in the books. Which is something like a third of the movies or something. And Marie is French Canadian in the books. So…you know…there are some major differences.

The books are much more psychological in nature, focused on the duel nature of Jason Bourne and his original identity. He spent years undercover as Jason Bourne, and then got his memory wiped out by a bullet to the head that didn’t take all the way. So the books tend to dwell on him trying to once again become the man he used to be. But since people keep on trying to kill him, he has to keep on becoming Jason Bourne to have the skills to survive. That’s the basic theme of the books. The action moves from Paris, to America, to Moscow, and to other points, much like the movies. It’s just more…personal. More violent in an up close and personal way than the movies. They are also much longer. Robert Ludlum was an author of his era, with books filled with twists and turns that other authors would have split into shorter books. I like that length.

Both the movies and the books are good and enjoyable in their own ways. As with the recent Ready Player One, the books would make bad movies, and the movies would make disappointing books, but they each shine in the media they are designed for.

I like them both and give them both two assassins standing tall…just not too tall. They don’t want to get shot, you know. 😉