Reviews - The Hunt for Red October

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717 reviews for:

The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy

3.9 AVERAGE

alfnerd's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous mysterious 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

samyukthadinesh's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 50%

Because it bored me to death

jeremy_bearimy's review against another edition

2.0

If I hadn't been reading this book as part of a reading challenge, I wouldn't have finished the darn thing. I'm reluctantly rounding this up from a 1.5. This was my book in the category "Published in the year you were born" (1984), and its age shows. I also found it a grind to keep the head-spinning cast of characters straight, let alone all of the technological details and military/CIA acronyms. Most of the interesting stuff is jammed into the first and (mostly) last quarters of the book. I thought the middle was a total slog that introduced unnecessary minor characters, new settings, and technobabble. (I know that some readers loved the technical stuff, it's just not my cup of tea.) For example, I really didn't need or want to know that this dude, who's only in the story for a few pages, lost his brother to cancer. In short, I felt far from thrilled in this middle section.

As would be expected in a military setting, it is testosterone-packed. While a few wives (and Jack Ryan's daughter who wants a Barbie for Christmas, of course) get shoutouts, only one woman makes a brief appearance across the 500+ pages unless you count the women in the "junk" Russian sailor porn: "The poses were just plain dumb, and the women--well, Jones had grown up in California. Garbage. It was not at all hard for him to understand why the Russians wanted to defect." Ugh. (The same guy also makes an offhand comment earlier about women finding it kinky to listen to recordings of whales mating. Charming.)

I want to watch the movie, partially because I love me some Sean Connery, but also because I'm curious to see where they trimmed to tighten things up. I don't plan to read more Clancy novels, but I can see why people might find Jack Ryan endearing.

sabre7's review against another edition

5.0

Finally got around to reading the book after watching the movie dozens of times. Both great!

ptolemystoned's review

4.0

My favourite book about the minutia of submarines and the bros who work on them.

bea's review against another edition

3.75

informative mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

grownupboy's review against another edition

3.0

Oh great. Now I have to read every damn book with Jack Ryan in it.

This was an amazing read and the technical specifics were impressive to say the least. Actually, now that I think about it I can’t wait to read every damn book with Jack Ryan in it!!