As most who follow this blog know, I’m an avid reader, having been so since my earliest years and the gift of a first library card from my mom. And when it comes to reading, I’ve been a lover of books written in series, continuing stories of repeating characters.
The first series of books I remember reading was the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, though young I was when I read them. Other series I’ve enjoyed were written by W. E. B. Griffin, who has written six series involving the military, spies and police. Then there’s the great series of books written by the late Tom Clancy involving Jack Ryan, initially a CIA operative who went on to become President of the United States. This line of work led to a number of great movies, just as the James Bond series did.
My latest reading journey led me to Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. What led me to begin this journey was having seen all the movies based on these books, having now led to a great deal of disenchantment with Hollywood.
I realize, a book cannot be totally portrayed into a movie without some elemental changes. In no way can the words and visions of an author be turned into flickering images on a screen. Still, a basic plot line is just that: the essence of the story. In the instance of the Bourne series of movies, the screenwriters imagination got a little carried away for they imagined things that never occurred in the novels, and important events and characters were either misportrayed or totally left out. Granted, the movies were exciting, good entertainment but…picking up the books afterwards made the movies a disappointing experience because the books were much more exciting.
This past weekend we went to see the newest movie in the series, simply called Jason Bourne. Once again, it really had not much at all to do with the original books. And at that, there were only three original books in the series, The Bourne Trilogy. The author, Robert Ludlum, died in 2001. All three of the movies based on the trilogy were made after his death, therefore, he unfortunately had no say or input into the scripts. As for the newest movie, it’s entirely a screenwriter’s creation for there was no book to use as a basis; the story is just a continuation and rehashing of the first three movies, totally straying away from the original concept created by the author.
Another thing that bugs me is the new idea of continuing a book series after the death of the original author. In the instance of Jason Bourne, there have been ten additional books written by Eric Van Lustbader, done with permission from the estate of Robert Ludlum. I have no idea if he’s stayed within the original plot line of Ludlum’s vision for I’ve not read one of them, though I did see the movie based on Van Lustbader’s first contribution, The Bourne Legacy. I do, however know, that the movie continues the path of the first three, straying from the original ideas of Ludlum. But that was a freebie on cable; didn’t have to pay for it.
My full collection of the ten Jack Ryan novels by Tom Clancy.
Ironically, this concept of continuing a series after the original authors death isn’t new. There have been several James bond books created since the death of Ian Fleming and there’s been a continuation of Tom Clancy’s work by a couple of authors. But I won’t go there. My continuing devotion is to the original authors. Yeah, I may be old school, but that’s who I am!
My husband loves the Jason Bourne series!!! I had no there was so many different types of spin offs like this, it’s hard to improve the original sometimes
I’ve always loved to read and have always struggled with how books and movies differ so much. I too agree that there is no way to perfectly mesh the two but I’m so often discouraged and disappointed after seeing a movie when the book has spoken so deeply to me.
I have read many TEd Clancy books but never the Borne series! I think I ‘ll give it a try! AFTER Harry Potter! 😉
Books are definitely always better than the movie!! I haven’t read the Bourne series books yet but I need to!
I’ve seen all the movies but never read the books, which is weird because I ALWAYS read the books first. I’m definitely going to have to go pick them up now.
I have never read any of the Bourne series. I have watched the movies and enjoy them. I have never seen any of them in the theater though. Its sort of one of those rent or wait until its on the movie channels type of movies.
I found this post interesting and I am going to have to read the original series now. This new movie Jason Bourne is one we have been wanting to see too. I really don’t think it is right to continue a series without the original author. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
We love the Bourne series nd we can’t wait to see Jason Bourne. I did not know that there is also a book you can read about the series.
My son is a really big reader. He refuses to see any movie that is based on a book. His feeling is that every movie he has ever seen based on a book ruins the book. He is much happier reading books and going to movies not based on books!
A good and very wise son you have.
I’ve never watched the Bourne movies! I’ve been meaning to… Just haven’t gotten around to it yet
I haven’t seen Jason Bourne movie yet, but have seen the rest. It’s on our list of movies to watch, mostly because once you’ve seen the others you kinda feel pressured to round it all out. I love reading and need to do more of it.
We love the Jason Bourne series’ around here! They’re so great and entertaining, I’m looking forward to the newest movie for sure!
I have not read any of the Jason Bourne books but have seen several of the movies. However, when reading I do like to read original stories usually.
I loved these movies! I didn’t know they had books as well. I’ll have to check them out. Those movies were certainly good, so I’m sure the books will be too.
I have never read the Jason Bourne series. I did not know they continued the story after the death of the author. I thought it was strange when VC Andrews passed and all the new books were coming out.
My grandmother’s rule was that I always had to read the book before she would let me go to the movie theater and see the movie. Drove me nuts sometimes because the books had a lot more detail so I felt like the movies were always missing something.
Yeah I do not like the idea of someone continuing a book series after the author is dead. I just wouldn’t want to read them.
I love reading when I get the chance to and these sound like books my dad would love reading too
I use to be an avid reader! Then I had kids 😉 I don’t remember the last time I read a book for pleasure. Thanks for the motivation!
This happens so much! The movie made from novels are never in my eyes as good as the original book it was based on. I like how you said you have accepted the movie could never be as good as the book, I’ve had to do the same when it comes to that. I do hope one day though there will be a movie series that was based on a book, held up to the standards any book has set. Harry Potter for instance was a great try in my eyes but the book exposed so much more of the characters than the movies could have, although the movies are still amazing and I will still binge watch the entire series whenever possible.
Yeah, I have a hard time with the idea of continuing a series when someone else starts writing it. It almost seems more like fan fiction than a continuation.
I used to be an avid reader of a few authors before I became a mom and got busy with life. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again so I just catch the movies…
You have quite an impressive book collection here. I haven’t read any of these books, but it is definitely something for me to consider. In fact, I cannot even remember the last time I read a book that didn’t involve photos (i.e. reading the kids a bedtime story lol).