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A review by kurlybitz
The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester
4.0
"Very well".
I had to read "The Good Shepherd" after seeing "Greyhound" and I'm very glad I did!
I did not realize that Forester was the one and the same author of the Horatio Hornblower series. I've been aware of the series for some time now but I'm not a fan of the Napoleonic era so I never considered it. I have to give the first book a chance after reading "The Good Shepherd" to be sure. Forester also wrote "The African Queen".
This novel really brings home "The Greatest Generation" in seeing the devotion to honor, duty, and sacrifice that Captain Krause portrays. The good captain sacrifices relentlessly to protect his "flock" from the slavering Nazi Wolf Pack. He's on his feet for 48+ hours and the author really makes you feel the physical pain that Captain Krause endures in his feet and legs from lack of sleep and constant vigilance. I can feel it myself while I'm writing! Being middle aged, I can commiserate with the captain!
You can feel the care and dire responsibility he has for the merchant vessels. He's a very caring man and is conflicted with his responsibility as a naval captain and not showing emotion while being the consummate professional military officer...one of the difficulties of military leadership, I'm sure.
I enjoyed the naval nomenclature and the descriptive narrative of earlier anti-submarine warfare. I've seen the term "K-gun" and this novel encouraged me to look them up to see just what they were and learn a little more about them. Forester accurately describes the "hope" and guesswork that went into early ASW tactics and rapid expenditure of precious munitions in the chance of a lucky placement of a depth charge to kill a Nazi sub. I got a grin from the term "unload through the muzzle" that was used in a post-battle narrative. I won't go into details...you'll have to read it.
I found the movie different from the novel in several ways. The novel went to extremes in the details of orders and the monotony that was present in these crossings which probably doesn't make for good visual entertainment. It was monotonous reading but it also is part and parcel of many aspects of the military...hours and hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror and dread. The book also really let's you see and experience the conflicts, doubts, fears, devotion, and personal sacrifice that Captain Krause personifies that is lacking in the screen portrayal...the depth is just difficult to portray on the screen, I believe. Additionally, there was no dialogue between the Nazi navy and the Allied convoy in the novel...and I don't believe that was historically accurate from the movie, but makes for good entertainment in presenting an evil villain!
I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it as a nice intro to the Battle of the Atlantic, to experience the harrowing, nerve wracking crossing of a trans-Atlantic convoy. The downside of the book was that it got a bit repetitive but I believe that was pretty much true to life.
"Very well."
I had to read "The Good Shepherd" after seeing "Greyhound" and I'm very glad I did!
I did not realize that Forester was the one and the same author of the Horatio Hornblower series. I've been aware of the series for some time now but I'm not a fan of the Napoleonic era so I never considered it. I have to give the first book a chance after reading "The Good Shepherd" to be sure. Forester also wrote "The African Queen".
This novel really brings home "The Greatest Generation" in seeing the devotion to honor, duty, and sacrifice that Captain Krause portrays. The good captain sacrifices relentlessly to protect his "flock" from the slavering Nazi Wolf Pack. He's on his feet for 48+ hours and the author really makes you feel the physical pain that Captain Krause endures in his feet and legs from lack of sleep and constant vigilance. I can feel it myself while I'm writing! Being middle aged, I can commiserate with the captain!
You can feel the care and dire responsibility he has for the merchant vessels. He's a very caring man and is conflicted with his responsibility as a naval captain and not showing emotion while being the consummate professional military officer...one of the difficulties of military leadership, I'm sure.
I enjoyed the naval nomenclature and the descriptive narrative of earlier anti-submarine warfare. I've seen the term "K-gun" and this novel encouraged me to look them up to see just what they were and learn a little more about them. Forester accurately describes the "hope" and guesswork that went into early ASW tactics and rapid expenditure of precious munitions in the chance of a lucky placement of a depth charge to kill a Nazi sub. I got a grin from the term "unload through the muzzle" that was used in a post-battle narrative. I won't go into details...you'll have to read it.
I found the movie different from the novel in several ways. The novel went to extremes in the details of orders and the monotony that was present in these crossings which probably doesn't make for good visual entertainment. It was monotonous reading but it also is part and parcel of many aspects of the military...hours and hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror and dread. The book also really let's you see and experience the conflicts, doubts, fears, devotion, and personal sacrifice that Captain Krause personifies that is lacking in the screen portrayal...the depth is just difficult to portray on the screen, I believe. Additionally, there was no dialogue between the Nazi navy and the Allied convoy in the novel...and I don't believe that was historically accurate from the movie, but makes for good entertainment in presenting an evil villain!
I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it as a nice intro to the Battle of the Atlantic, to experience the harrowing, nerve wracking crossing of a trans-Atlantic convoy. The downside of the book was that it got a bit repetitive but I believe that was pretty much true to life.
"Very well."