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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Clearly his first effort, and whilst all of his later books are better this is well worth the read to know where his writing came from.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
SOLID 4 STARS; HUMAN KNOW-HOW STILL AMAZES ME! I was amazed with the submarines in this book as much as I was with the technical skills to navigate them. The author's impressive level of detail is a lot of what earned the 4 stars. I would read Tom Clancy again. I liked that there were multiple areas of suspense. However, what taxed my brain was the views from SO MANY characters; it was hard to keep track. The movie-watching and reactions toward the end were amusing. I dated a submariner (or "bubblehead" as my aunt calls them) years ago and am surprised this book or movie never came up. I was tempted to message him to get his reaction, although I did see a few reviews by military readers saying it was quite accurate. I'm also curious what Russian readers think, but don't have any to ask. Back to the amazement. I have always been in awe of human capabilities each and every time I take a flight on an airplane. This book gives me the same feel, but you wouldn't ever catch me going under water in a sub (too claustrophobic!) It also made me think of how close my sister lives to the nuclear submarine base for the U.S. Pacific Fleet -- just 2,400 feet from their fence line!!! Nukes = scary.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Rereading this great book from Tom Clancy, really tight story which made for a wonderful movie. I read the new Amazon Kindle version, now that Clancy has been talked into releasing his work into the ebook world (which I am so glad he did).
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"The Hunt for Red October" is the first of Tom Clancy's military/espionage novels, novels that would establish him as the king of suspense throughout the 1980s and 90s. The problem is that this novel is quite obviously his first, and it bears the vices of the first novel. While this novel has a great plot and has lots of twists and turns, plenty of the grit of Cold War intrigue and world politics, Clancy neglected some basic writing skills in writing this novel. For one thing, his characters are cardboard cutouts when compared to great characters in other novels. These characters have no depth and are caricatures of their professions - ie the CIA spy, the old Admiral, the crusty old seaman, the navy wife, etc. There is no character development in this novel. In fact, the Russian characters are even worse than the American characters. They are stereotypical caricatures, not simply caricatures. The lack of believable characters takes away from the novel.
The other thing that brings this novel down is the author's insistence on dwelling incessantly on the technical details of the ships and equipment in the novel. There are certain novels in which the author likes to indulge himself in endless description of the background, the environment, the clothing, the furniture, etc. in his novel. I like to describe this kind of author as "the painter". Clancy is a type of painter. He likes to describe military hardware so much that his descriptions fill pages and pages of the novel, without really contributing to the story. It is said that Clancy researched this novel for years, and when he published it the Navy interrogated him about it because they couldn't believe that a civilian like Clancy who has never served in the military could find out so much about military hardware through open sources. But, while the reader may be amazed by Clancy's knowledge, it would be better if the reader were amazed by other aspects of this novel, such as a great plot, great characters or an amazing ending. If you want to learn all about military hardware, read Jane's Defense Weekly. If you want to read a great story, you should pick up a novel. It's a shame when a novelist feels that he's a contributor to Jane's.
That being said, this is a good book and it's worth reading. If you enjoy military thrillers, you'll like Clancy's "Hunt for Red October."
The other thing that brings this novel down is the author's insistence on dwelling incessantly on the technical details of the ships and equipment in the novel. There are certain novels in which the author likes to indulge himself in endless description of the background, the environment, the clothing, the furniture, etc. in his novel. I like to describe this kind of author as "the painter". Clancy is a type of painter. He likes to describe military hardware so much that his descriptions fill pages and pages of the novel, without really contributing to the story. It is said that Clancy researched this novel for years, and when he published it the Navy interrogated him about it because they couldn't believe that a civilian like Clancy who has never served in the military could find out so much about military hardware through open sources. But, while the reader may be amazed by Clancy's knowledge, it would be better if the reader were amazed by other aspects of this novel, such as a great plot, great characters or an amazing ending. If you want to learn all about military hardware, read Jane's Defense Weekly. If you want to read a great story, you should pick up a novel. It's a shame when a novelist feels that he's a contributor to Jane's.
That being said, this is a good book and it's worth reading. If you enjoy military thrillers, you'll like Clancy's "Hunt for Red October."