"The Bourne Identity"

I suspect everyone reading TYWKIWDBI has seen this movie.  The book came out 30 years ago (!), and I remember reading it late into a night because it was - literally - one you couldn't put down.  So I decided to give it another try, thinking I could just whip through it since I've seen the movie recently.

To my surprise, I discovered that the book is quite different from the movie.  In the novel, Jason Bourne is trying to dodge Carlos the assassin and his minions, as well as the authorities; Carlos isn't even involved in the cinema version as best I can remember.  And there's surprisingly little high technology.  Witness this sentence:

"Jason kept his eyes on his watch, the infinitesimal jumps of the thin, delicate sweep hand too agonizingly slow."

I picture a whole new generation of readers asking "Daddy, what's a 'sweep hand'?"  Except the "new generation" won't read the book; they'll only see the movie. 

It's still an excellent book.  Even if you've seen the movie.