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Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:Don't Miss the Original Series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Starring John Krasinski! The #1 New York Times bestseller that launched the phenomenal career of Tom Clancyâ??a gripping military thriller that introduced the world to his unforgettable hero, Jack Ryanâ??nominated as one of Americaâ??s best-loved novels by PBSâ??s The Great American Read. Somewhere under the freezing Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision. The Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. The chase for the highly advanced nuclear submarine is onâ??and thereâ??s only one man who can find her... Brilliant CIA analyst Jack Ryan has little interest in fieldwork, but when covert photographs of Red October land on his desk, Ryan soon finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek played by two world powersâ??a game that coul… (more)
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I surprised myself by somewhat enjoying it, too. Oh sure, there are tons of military acronyms and terms that flew right over my head (and under it, too, in the case of submarines), but Clancy does try to explain things without becoming too cumbersome. A friend of mine who has been in the armed forces and who enjoys Clancy's books recommended that I read with Wikipedia standing by to help with the more obscure terms, but I'm just not that motivated. I don't know if looking things up would have improved my experience or if it would have bored me.
There were some slow parts in the book where it seemed nothing much was happening except complicated explanations of submarine history and warfare. And there are a lot of minor characters. It's hard to know who to bother remembering for future reference and who it's safe to forget. But once you get the main people down, it's not too bad. I enjoyed getting into the heads of submarine commanders. I confess it's not an occupation I've given much thought.
The movie version starring Sean Connery is also fairly good, though I did catch myself thinking there's a lot of setup and dialogue, with much less action than you might expect in such a film. The film does streamline the original story quite a bit.
Overall, I found the book a worthwhile read, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy more Clancy books. If they fall serendipitously into my bag at a library booksale, that's quite another matter. This won't be a favorite of mine, but it was tolerably entertaining, and I'm glad to have read it.
This book is excellent at capturing the threat of nuclear armageddon that cast a dark shadow on Americans and Soviets alike throughout the latter half of the 20th century. I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in the Cold War. The in-depth analysis of of the US Navy, CIA, and submarine technology of the US and Soviet fleets might bore some readers, but you will be hardpressed to find any novel that captures these more realistically. The Pentagon itself has commended Tom Clancy for his accurate depiction of the US Navy, and has agreed to help research every novel Clancy has written since.
Captain Marko Ramius is arguably the novel's main character as well as it's most interesting character. He is the person who is at the center of every plot twist the novel takes, and it is his actions that dictate the pace of the story. Captain Bart Mancuso, the no-nonsense yet likeable commanding officer of the USS Dallas, a US attack submarine, makes for a worthy foe for Ramius in the novel, as Jack Ryan, the lone CIA agent convinced of his idea, acts as the go-between the reader and the other characters. Despite him being surrounded constantly by the upper echelons of the US Government, he is never seems to fit in, which makes him more relatable in the eye of the reader.
The action is unique, and Clancy succeeds in creating great tension in an ultimate clash of submarines at the climax of the novel, a feat that is very difficult to accomplish.
The novel reads like an itinerary of the American military prowess. A serious joke of a book.
Next up was the addition of the American side of things. First, the American submarines tasked with keeping an eye on the Russian subs, tracking them and noting their capabilities. The first inkling of the difficulties tracing this sub comes when the Russian sub "disappears" from their scopes. The questions continue as Jack Ryan travels to CIA headquarters with clandestine photos taken of the Red October and a plan to get some answers. The intensity ramps up when the CIA receives word that Ramius is trying to defect, and the whole Russian navy is out to stop him.
The cat and mouse game kept me glued to the pages in spite of the fact I knew how it turns out. Each time I read it, I seem to pick up something new or am reminded of something I forgot. Jack's discomfort with being a "field agent" is evident, but he is determined to succeed. I loved seeing how his mind worked as he tried to anticipate Ramius's moves. Ramius's determination to avoid detection by both Russian and American subs kept everyone on their toes. My favorite parts are the ones with the sonarman, Jonesy, from the sub Dallas. I love his humor, his intensity, and his dogged determination.
The tension ramped up as all the moving parts came together to hide the defection of the Red October. But just when it looked like all was well, an unexpected player entered the game. The intensity of this part, with the difficulties posed by rules of engagement and the need to not start a war, had me on the edge of my seat until it was all over.
One of my favorite things about this book was after Ryan and the men from the Dallas joined Ramius on the Red October. Seeing these men, who had been enemies for so long learn about each other and see the similarities is a lesson that everyone should pay attention to. I especially liked seeing Jonesy and his Russian counterpart.
The author has an incredible talent for description that frequently made me feel as though I were right in the middle of the action. The descriptions of life onboard a submarine were especially vivid and often made me very happy I could look out a window while I was reading.
Ah, one of my favorite authors of all time. The incredible Mr. Clancy. I
The Hunt for Red October is his first novel, published in 1984 (I wish I could read when I was three). It is also deemed by many as one of his best works. I fully concur.
The plot is magnificently built, the characters (besides the famous Jack Ryan) are awesome, the accuracy is so genuinely believable, and what I like most is perhaps the submarine warfare and all those stuffs. (FYI, Das Boot is one of my all time fave war movies).
“Conn, sonar, the enemy bearing is one-nine-two.”
“Preparing to fire. Flooding tubes. Outer torpedo tube doors are open.”
“Recheck firing solution!”
“Torpedoes in the water port side!”
“Left full rudder! Prepare countermeasures!”
“Brace for impact!”
HELL YEAH!
Totally riveting! Breathlessly exhilarating! I bet you’ll find difficulties to put it down.
PS: The movie (starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin) is kinda good. But I still recommend the real thing, since it’s far more complex and exciting.
~Captain First Rank Marko Ramius of the Soviet Navy was dressed for the Arctic conditions normal to the Northern Fleet submarine base at Polyarny~
I don't know how realistic this book is but it certainly seems to be a realistic depiction of what life might be on a nuclear submarine. The
Having said all that, I think that I liked the movie better than the book. And it takes a lot for me to say that I liked a movie better. I almost always like the book best.
I have not read anything else by Tom Clancy but perhaps I will pick up another. He really seems to know what he is doing!
I really enjoyed this book and the next few. However, though I was religiously picking up each book as it came
I think stopping around Clear and Present Danger is the best.
I found the situation believable as written, the characters believable and engaging and I found myself
I found the technical language and naval slang used in the book very easy to follow as written and felt it added to the story without excluding someone like me who normally has no idea about things like this.
Clancy singlhandedly made me grow to enjoy the whole military government espionage genre. The Hunt For Red October is one of my favourite.
Somewhere under
THis is a non stop adventure ride filled with suspense. As enjoyable read now as much as it was over 20 years ago.
What the "buzz" was about was
So I went down to the bookstore and bought what must have been a second or third edition hardback of the book, and remember being truly impressed by the sheer quality of the book itself. From the dustjacket to the stitching to the sheer . . . tightness of the book, it was clear Naval Institute Press put out a fine product.
The now familiar plot goes that the Soviet Union launches a new submarine named the Red October that ostensibly, because of new cavitation technology, is inaudible to Americans, thus making it a potential game-changing "first strike" weapon. A young naval commander named Jack Ryan has a theory that the commander of the new sub might very well be planning to defect to the United States, taking his sub with him.
In terms of the book, yes, the plot intrigued me, and yes, I liked the Jack Ryan character. But what had so impressed all those folks in D.C., all those details about submarine technology, those I found a little . . . boring. Just thought it was too much, is all.
When he put out his next book, Red Storm Rising, I immediately went out and bought it in hardback, brought it on a plane, tried to get into it, and just could not suspend my disbelief that there could be ANY scenario in which the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. would ever fight a conventional, non-nuclear war. I put it down not even half-read, and never read another Clancy. Enjoyed the hell out of the movies, though.
At any rate, I hadn't at all intended to leave my thoughts on this book, or on Clancy, however hearing the news today that Tom Clancy had passed, I thought I'd jot a few things down.
And of course, it turned out Tom Clancy had no special access to classified information while writing The Hunt for Red October. He simply did his homework.
RIP, Mr. Clancy. You certainly did something right.
I always have a feeling when I pick up a Clancy that at some point he went to someone in the military and said, "What's your nightmare scenario?" and then picked and poked
But again, the real draw is the descriptions of the technology. The way the sonar man first finds the sub; operations on board fighter jets and destroyers; all of it rings with such authenticity that you feel you're really there and that these guys are really pros.
What you lose for this, of course, is that the characters are way underdrawn. Offhand I can think of exactly one highly-placed member of the military in a Clancy who was a jerk - surely there are more in real life - and the rest all appear to be more or less supermen.
But that's ok, there are other books to read if you want Insight Into The Human Condition. Read this one for the action and suspense, because it's a page turner. Don't be surprised if you stay up way later than you planned to finish it. I did.