| Product: |
The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy |
| Date: |
04/07/01 (86 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A lot of detail
Disadvantages: Too much detail
Red October is probably one of Clancy's best novels, and if you have seen the film, you should know the plot by now, but a Russian commander is planning to defect with the Russian Navy's coexistent nuclear submarine. Russia mounts a massive 'scrutiny', in order to destroy the submarine, America thinks Russia is trying to start World War 3 and only Jack Ryan believes that apostasy is the real cause.
There is all the exciting action of the film here, with a lot more characterisation and atmosphere packed in. There are exuberant amounts of technical detail that serves to mesmerizing enhance the realism of the action, without ever causing the book to read as an arid technical manual.
He manages to bring the characters and detail to life. You end up following the torpedoes through the water and feeling the incertitude of exactly where the next submarine is going to appear. Jonesy in the sonar room is one of the best characters and you are able to follow every little technical thing he does thanks to Clancy's clever writing method. Maybe it needs a little bit more of a believable story line - but you only think about that upon reflection, the story is so captivating that you don't notice until the end that, and only at points, it's a little unrealistic.
Captain Ramius of Red October uses his navy tactics to go through the American patrol and also Soviet submarines. Because of a GRU spy who sabotaged the ship, Ramius only had the choice of using a nonsilenced propeller to travel through water and was detected by USS Dallas. Ramius let the crew of Red October out of the ship to the American ship and a few officers stayed aboard. Jack Ryan of CIA and a few officers of USS Dallas entered Red October and drove it to the Norfolk Navy Base. On the way, they met a Soviet Submarine and they end up in a brutal battle. By using Soviet tactics, Ramius easily saved the ship and destroyed the attack submarine.
This book is quite simply a
benchmark against which all thrillers should measured against. The scope is massive, the storyline piquant, and the suspense...it's more of an experience than a book!
This is a really good book with some fantastic plot twists and some very a la mode writing. Even with such great detail in the battle perpetuity Clancy still manages to keep the pace of the overall story going full tilt towards the dramatic ending. Overall, this book was excellent. The plot was complex and had plenty of twists and turns, and all the characters were more than two-dimensional. If I have a specific criticism of the novel, it is that Clancy goes into slightly too much detail about the technical aspects of the Navy, but this is a minor point, as the detail never gets in the way of the story.
Much as Sean Connery is the real James Bond, Harrison Ford is the real Jack Ryan. Anyway, the book is still great entertainment - full of action, a lot of thrilling moments, and an enticing game of mouse-cat between the superpowers.
The Hunt for Red October is one of the most auspicious of Clancy's novels, and as always involves his character Jack Ryan.
A book you won't put down, and don't think because you've seen the film, the book is the same!
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