Robert Ludlum's 'The Bourne Betrayal'. Eric Van Lustbader. Uk:Orion. 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7528-8213-0
Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is a haunting presence in this book. One sees not Bourne but Damon. We do not read but see frame by frame the action unravelling itself visually as in the celluloid. There is no depth to this Bourne of the book unless one imagines Damon imparting dimension with his level, penetrating gaze and the everpresent agonising puzzle about his identity glimmering through his eyes.
Even the stunts are described in such detail that there is very little left to the imagination. Enough of this...Fadi comes across as a terrorist with a crazed mind and ideals conveniently tailored to suit his personal agenda of revenge.
Soraya, the CI agent is a perfect counterfoil to Bourne as they move from one narrow escape to another. Tyrone, surprisingly, comes as a gernuine character with his streetsamrt ways.
The car and bike chases, the moles, the prosthetic 'face-offs', the double-take by the scientist, Katya, the girl with a golden heart who dies to save Bourne, the timer that has to be defused, the heart-stopping indecision of the hero as he has to decide which wire-green or red- to pull out to disarm the miniaturised nuclear device - doesn't one get the feeling of de javu?
There is no subtlety, there is too much of predicability and yet, one reads because of the action that follows one after the other and inevitably one wants to know how this is going to end.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
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Problem with Ludlum is that he takes nearly 300 pages to introduce all his characters. One needs lot of patience to read Ludlum novels. Amongst his Bourne series, best is "The Bourne Identity". Rest of the series are mediocre
some novels are freely available online at the following URLs. U can download them if u want
http://www.masalatalk.com/masalaboard/showthread.php?t=208649
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
www.ebooknook.com
http://www.ebooks-ms.com/pages_pdf/pdf_fictions_ian_fleming.php
http://www.truly-free.org/
Dear Devil's advocate, I did not realise that there were readers for this blog, 'cos the notice for moderation of comments has never appeared and till today when I went into the "edit'section, I was not aware that there were comments that had been posted long back. Sorry about the delay. And, yes, thank you for the URLs. How do you find time!!!
If u have clout in ur library purchase, pl get lots of books in english fiction. Tirunelveli has full set of PG Wodehouse books!!!!. such incentives play a major role in students becoming proficient in English
time!! Reading Englsih Novels(mostly thrillers, very few non thrillers) has been my hobby from my PUC days. I read Ian Fleming's Dr NO long before he became popular, by the movie Dr No. I have read Edgar Wallace(no one knows who he is now), Alexander Dumas(who can forget his Count of Monte Cristo), Agatha Christie,Ian Fleming,Erle Stanley Gardner(he had 2 more pen names also; AA fair and another one), James Hadley chase, Alistairs Maclean,Fredrick Forsythe( rememeber The day of the Jacakal book & movie),Robert Ludlum,etc etc.
By the way, u might procure Volume 13 Selected works of Nehru edited by S.Gopal. Its appendix (about 60 pages) giving Nehru's letters to Padmaja Naidu may be a useful resource to college boys in improving thier communication skills.
I shall cerainly suggest this to the librarian. Thank u. P.G.Wodehouse is another favourite of mine. I've asked a young aunt who has this entire collection to will them to me. Shocking? But, I do love them so. Right now, I'm reading Summer Lightning, as usual a hilarious tale of the adventures at Blanding House.
YOUNG(!!!) aunt making a will? she will outlive u mam. PG Wodehouse novels are freely available in the folloing websites
1) http://www.readbookonline.net/fictionNovel/
This has 12 titles in it
2) http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
This has most og PGW books freely downloadable.
If i locate any more websites containing PGW books i will inform u.
I agree that reading a hard copy gives a satisfaction incomparable to reading soft copies
i located the following website from which u can freely download 31 Wodehouse titles in pdf/txdt/html formats.
http://www.ebooktakeaway.com/p_g_wodehouse
I know...that is why I know I will never get her collections! Thank you for the websites.
I even thought of suggesting taking hard copies after downloading from the free websites. but i think it might be costlier than buying the book itself.It is tempting to me to ask ur aunt to gift me all her novels except PGW books. I have some remarks about the clasics also. Jane austen's Pride and Prejudice more interesting than her Sense and Sensibility, though the latter seems to get more praise. May be it is becaause of the movie than the book itself. I also felt te two novels have tooo mcuh of theme similarity.
Sorry. I think I should do more careful editing in future blogs. I find too many mistakes speling wise and grammar wise in my blogs.
I am glad there are people to give me company in the act of committing typographical errors. As for Jane Austen, I am doing the unforgivable crime of confessing that she was not on my reading list in the earlier formative years of reading and so I've read them more because I am expected to ...that old world of hers did not fascinate as Charles Dickens' did. An English teacher..not an Austen fan??? Irredeemable criminal!
Must an Englsih teacher be familiar with Jane Austen's writings? I thought mastering Shakespeare was the benchmark.
What did surprise me was that a teacher in an Engineering college reads novels at all.
Needless to say I download every novel of my favourite authors. Did you know that almost all novels of Alistairs Maclean are available on the internet freely and that too in pdf format(easier to read)? Did you like "The Satan bug" under the pen name of Ian Stuart?
Since you are an Englsih teacher, I am sure you would have told the students about the various FREE online dictionaries. I have bookmarked almost all of them (Websters, Cambridge,Chambers,etc,etc)and the attraction for me is availabilty of the pronunciations. I never mastered the art of understanding the pronunciations from the hard copy of the dictionary.
Read "Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire" by Alex von Tunzelman, published in 2007 by Henry Holt and Company,Newyork. Add it to your College libraray also. It is the best non fiction I have read.
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