"Cain is for Charlie and Delta is for Cain"

If the title doesn't make sense to you, that's how I felt throughout a good portion of the book. Robert Ludlum did his homework before writing The Bourne Identity. There was endless government/CIA jargon and descriptions of people, actions, and operations that I got lost from time to time.

I did enjoy the read, however, and it all seemed to make enough sense at the end for me to draw conclusions.

I particularly liked the characters of Jason and Marie that Ludlum developed. As you probably know from the movie, Jason Bourne is an amnesiac that is trying to peice his life together, while Marie is his love interest. I was intrigued by the fact that Jason was innocent the whole time (this fact is slightly different from the assassin in the movies), yet he denies his innocence and assumes the worst possible explanation - that he is a killer. It sort of reminds me how we humans sometimes underestimate the goodness in ourselves. Despite all the kindness he shows post-accident, he still doubts these instincts.

And I loved Marie (if you picture Marie as the girl from the movie, don't. She is a much brighter, more respected individual in the book). She showed enormous sacrifice and love for Jason, and was the only one to see the decency in him. Even though Jason took her for hostage, he saved her life and for that, Marie became loyal to him. She is extremely wise and risked her life for a man she believed in. "[Marie] would be destroyed, imprisoned, perhaps killed, for an act of faith that became an act of love" (465). There's no better way to put it.

The ending was sort of expected, however I did find a quote on the very last page of the book that I enjoyed:

"In a way, [Jason is] is a functioning microcosm of us all. We're all trying to find out who the hell we are, aren't we?"

I'll say Amen to that.

Along Came a Spider

...and then along came a movie that had absolutely nothing to do with the book.

Okay, I know I broke the rules of seeing the movie before I read the book but I didn't know it was based on a book at the time and the movie is what made me want to read it in the first place.

So here's what I decided: I liked the movie. It wasn't spectacular, but I enjoyed it. I liked the story-line and I really like Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross. I just wish that I had heard about the book before I watched the movie. I had many expectations of the book, and they failed me, because of the stupid movie.

For one, I had the character Alex Cross held up on a pedestal. Morgan Freeman is such a graceful and charismatic actor and he portrayed Cross as this competent, knowledgable detective. In the book, Cross is not like this at all. He is young and inexperienced. He is a good detective, yes, but he is not yet respected.

I also could not get the picture of Morgan Freeman out of my head. I pictured Cross as this older man in his 60s, not a young man in his late 20s/early 30s. So when Patterson described Cross and Jezzie's relationship, it was extremely uncomfortable for me to read, and I felt this way throughout most of the book.

And I'm not going to even begin about the plot. Where did the plot for the movie even come from? AHHH

I really think I could have liked this book... if I hadn't seen the movie first. It's sad, really. I would much rather hate a movie than a novel.

Word of Advice: If you can manage to read the book before you see the movie, do it.

A Challenge Indeed!

Fifty-two books in fifty-two weeks.
For me, that's a lot of books. I like to read, but I normally do not read that much nor do I read that fast.

It definately will be a challenge, but I'm excited.
At least it will motivate me!!