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Ludlum, Clancy, Crichton... what are your faves?

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crystal_seed
Post subject: Ludlum, Clancy, Crichton... what are your faves?
Posted: Sat 17 Dec , 2005 10:30 pm
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So, what are they?


Reading through the Bourne trilogy now... I'd say as a purist (which I am not....) having read #3 first (Bourne Ultimatum)- my reaction was :scratch:

since I had seen the movies and found characters in the book still very much alive that had been killed off. :help:

Reading through Bourne Identity- the flow of the book became clear

The movies are a fabrication, a good one albeit, but a fabrication!
But I appreciate both for what they are ;)

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TWT
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Posted: Sun 18 Dec , 2005 4:19 am
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I maintain the movies are shit because they had nothign to do with the book and appeared completely plotless. I had to be forced to watch the great plotlessness which was number two.

The Bourne series is a masterpiece of spy fiction. Bourne Identity is an identity unto itself whereas the others are good but not as good. Sigma Protocol was quite good as well. Easy to read, fast plot, rich and interesting plot. I have pretty much every Ludlum ever written, I have not read them all though.

Clancy, as was said on the Simpsons, I would rather be beaten with one of his books than read it. I've read a couple and they are way too political and detailed to be enjoyed on my part.

Crichton is a genius. Timeline was my favorite hands down. The movie was an aboniation once again. I'm told that its hard to get into State of Fear but I'm going to buy it as soon as I finish this Dean Koonts I'm reading at the moment.


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laureanna
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Posted: Sun 18 Dec , 2005 5:00 am
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I liked the Bourne Identity book and was also disappointed by the movie. Other Ludlum books, however, did not spark my fancy. I couldn't get thru the Omega File (don't recall if that is exactly the name).

Early Clancy is good, like the Hunt for Red October. Later Clancy got so violent I gave up on him.

On the other hand, early Crichton is not my cup of tea, but later Crichton is great. I remember reading Jurassic Park with a little movie going thru my head the whole time, thinking what a cool movie it would be, if only the technology were available to creat it on the screen. Timeline was great, too, though the movie was lame. I did like the flaming trebuchets, though.

I'm currently reading George RR Martin's series, some non-fiction by Aaron Beck and Peter Kramer, books on gardening, Wuthering Heights, A Parrot in the Peppertree, Access 2000 for Dummies, and occasionally, my textbook :roll:.


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Holbytla
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Posted: Sun 18 Dec , 2005 5:07 am
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To call the Bourne movies an adaptation is nearly criminal.
The only thing that was adapted was the name.

I did like the movies but they had nothing to do with the books.
Same goes for Sum of All Fears.

And I think that The Icarus Agenda was or The Holcroft Covenant were better books by Ludlum.

And I am becoming scared by how much Crys and I have in common. :Q

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crystal_seed
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Posted: Sun 18 Dec , 2005 11:03 am
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Holby wrote:
Quote:
And I am becoming scared by how much Crys and I have in common. :Q


*cough...hhhmmm,:scratch:... maybe separated at birth?°....cough*

:D




Yes... well, I found State of Fear to be quite good- (except for one rather descriptive stomach turning paragraph...).
TWT-it is worth plowing into it- and scarily 'accurate' when you think of the tactics some corporations and some environmentalists use to sway societal opinion. :neutral:

Crichton does seem to adapt well to a movie format... though I also heard Timeline (the movie) was a bomb... sad really, because the book was so interesting.
Prey- is also a good book and with the right CGI work could be quite an interesting movie.
Laure- I had to laugh... I also can imagine a 'little movie playing' when I read some of these books :LMAO:

I also enjoy John Grisham, but since the other authors tend to lean towards more political /international espionage I didn't add him to the string.
































°...only a year or so later.... must've been a long labor...

:Q :help: :shrug:

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TWT
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Posted: Sun 18 Dec , 2005 1:53 pm
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I read every Grisham book up to The Last Juror with the exception of King of Torts because the grammar was so horrific in the first few pages. I stopped reading Grisham though because his books got horrid and tasteless. I still love A Time to Kill, which I maintain was his best work, not to mention it was his first.


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halplm
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Posted: Wed 21 Dec , 2005 6:03 pm
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I haven't read The Bourne books, but they sound very good.

Clancy, the only one I could get through was The Hunt for Red October... but I like the movies :)

Chricton... I love all his stuff. His sequels to Jurassic park were kind of lame, but I love almost all the rest (Eaters of the Dead and Congo were lame). The Andromeda Strain is still my favorite, and that's ancient. Sphere is a VERY close second, and I loved Jurassic park as well.

I haven't read his last few other than Timeline (which I loved, I even liked the movie), but I will eventually.

And, of course, he gave us ER... although it's gone downhill too...

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TWT
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Posted: Wed 21 Dec , 2005 8:58 pm
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I saw Andromeda strain in the store the other day but didn't get it because I didn't know if it was any good. I'll have to give it a go.

Read Bourne as soon as you can. Best spy-novel series hands down.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that there's a 4th Jurrasic Park coming out then. :D


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Lidless
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Posted: Wed 21 Dec , 2005 9:10 pm
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Clancy up to, but not including, Rainbow 6 I loved.

Most Crichton is excellent - I have State Of Fear but haven't got around to reading it.

I have almost everything by Ludlum. The Bourne series are by far the best, and the rest tend to be the same solo-man-versus-incredibly-large-secret-organization-whilst-getting-a-new-girlfriend-in-the-process.

I would include Frederick Forsyth - though not so much the latter books. The highlights for me were The Day of the Jackal and The Devil's Alternative, closely followed by The Fourth Protocol and The Negotiator.

I remember the British Government trying to ban The Fourth Protocol because it had details on how to make a portable nuclear bomb. They only gave way when Forsyth pointed out he got all his information from books in the library.

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TheMary
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Posted: Wed 21 Dec , 2005 10:54 pm
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I mentioned in another thread that I didn't read books over again but I remembered that I have indeed read Jurassic Park multiple times and will probably read it again sometime in the future :)

Faves as in authors or just those listed in the title? I haven't read any Clancy or Ludlum but I will get around to it.

One of my fav authors of all time is Roald Dahl :love: (I've also read Matilda, Charlie and Chocolate Factory, and Georges Mavelous Medicine multiple times as well, so now I don't feel like a freak).

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Alatar
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Posted: Wed 21 Dec , 2005 11:14 pm
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State of Fear is really, really dreadful. One of the worst books I've read. I really struggled to keep up enough interest to finish it. The worst thing about it is that it's preachy. Everyone you're supposed to sympathise with is initially sceptical of the "facts" presented but comes around in the end. Everyone who does not is an idiot, a sycophant or an evil control freak. The whole book is an excuse for Crichton to evangelise. It's really thoroughly crap.

But I hate to sit on the fence... anyone else read it?

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ToshoftheWuffingas
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Posted: Thu 22 Dec , 2005 12:46 am
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I always liked the Adam Hall/Elleston Trevor Quiller series. The rationale for the plots (what Hitchcock called the Mcguffin) don't always stand up to scrutiny and the situations are often similar but nevertheless the pacing, tension and wit compensate.
One line I have always treasured. The hero is bundled into a taxi in Hong Kong by abductors. He cooly notes of one heavy, 'He spoke Mandarin with a Shanghai accent.'

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Posted: Thu 22 Dec , 2005 1:37 am
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I've heard State of Fear is great but dreadfully hard to get into...


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None_Elf_Ear
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Posted: Fri 23 Dec , 2005 9:51 am
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I haven't got the occasion to read anything except Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, which I enjoyed pretty much (this was happening some while ago) and I remember that I used to sign at the time my letters to mom as "velociraptor cub" :LMAO:

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crystal_seed
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Posted: Fri 23 Dec , 2005 1:18 pm
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[b]Alatar wrote:[/b] wrote:
State of Fear is really, really dreadful. One of the worst books I've read. I really struggled to keep up enough interest to finish it. The worst thing about it is that it's preachy. Everyone you're supposed to sympathise with is initially sceptical of the "facts" presented but comes around in the end. Everyone who does not is an idiot, a sycophant or an evil control freak. The whole book is an excuse for Crichton to evangelise. It's really thoroughly crap.

But I hate to sit on the fence... anyone else read it?

:LMAO: Leaning fence sitting ;)


As I said before- I actually enjoyed it- okay- you have a point, it might be preachy- but it is the premise that got me to thinking, the idea of swaying the public's opinion with tweaked information. This happens quite alot. It is something I could envision basing a novel on (as Crichton did with the environmentalists vs. the industrialists theme). The rest of the stuff (character plotlines, situation dramas) is the decoration giving the story color. Anyhow, I got quite a kick out of his disclaimers at the end of the book... I take it with a grain of salt- it IS fiction after all :D

Of course... the two who seem to survive not one BUT FOUR life threatening experiences makes me think a bit of McGyver... some people are just 'lucky' I guess :P

TheMary- I listed the first three because they write about similar things (I like the spy, espionage-thriller genre). As long as there isn't already a thread open for your fave authors (or favorite genre ) then come on in, pull up a chair and tell us about 'em. :cheers: I am an avid reader and I buy books often because someone has mentioned them or I have read a review somewhere. One day I'd really like to get my hands on Roald Dahl's Fairy Tales (not sure even what the book title would be -might be 'Revolting Rhymes', but I have heard much about it ):)

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MariaHobbit
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Posted: Wed 18 Jan , 2006 8:03 pm
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I read all of Clancy's stuff, except whatever that Op Center thing is.

They are OK. I admit I skim over the technobabble sometimes. Otherwise, I like them. :)


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