The Bourne Identity, Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Bourne Identity. 

What did you think about the beginning of the book? Are you enjoying the story so far? It's a really intense story, right from the get-go!

I don't think I've ever read a book before in which the main character doesn't know who he is. It's hard to connect to a character that's such a mystery. I think that's why I had a hard time getting into the story. I struggled getting invested in Bourne because we didn't know enough about him. Everything about Bourne is so shadowy, so I can't decide if he's a good man or a bad one. I feel like the book is setting him up to be some sort of James Bond type hero, but at this point, he doesn't seem to be very good. He kidnapped an innocent woman to protect himself, and he doesn't seem to have any problem killing people in his way. I cant figure out if I should be rooting for him or not. I can't wait to find out more of his backstory and to find out who he is working for. That will help me know how I should feel about him.

What do you think about Marie? I struggled a bit to believe that Marie could go from wanting to be away from Bourne because he kidnapped her to wanting to be with him romantically in such a short time. I understand that she changed her opinion of him after he saved her life. And, I've obviously never been kidnapped or almost murdered like Marie was, so I don't understand her emotions, but it seemed a little odd that she switched so quickly to romance. Especially after she was attacked so brutally by the docks. She didn't seem to have any trauma from that encounter. It was all just a bit unbelievable to me. What did you think of her change in feelings? 

There were several different scenes in this section in which Bourne attempts to figure out a piece of information about his past and gets identified by a tertiary character. Why are there so many people on the lookout for Bourne? What do you think he has been involved in in the past? Do you have any guesses about why he's so interesting to so many different people? What do you think will finally help unlock all of his memories so he can finally come to grips with who he is? 

Carlos is another big character that is mentioned a lot in this section. He's an assassin and is also incredibly powerful. How is he related to Bourne? He keeps saying that he needs to find a man called Cain. Is this Bourne? 

At the end of this section, Marie's former boyfriend, Peter, is killed. Is this because Carlos knows that Marie is connected with Bourne? All we know is that he got some phone calls and ended up heading towards the airport. I hope we hear more about this murder and that we can connect some dots to how all of these characters go together. 

What were your favorite scenes from this section? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapters? 

Before you go, check out this video in which author, Robert Ludlum talks about his writing process. What do you think of his writing style? 

Thanks for following along this week. I hope you're able to read through chapter 24 before checking back next week. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the first section!