The Hunt for Red October

The Hunt for Red October

By Tom Clancy

In 1982, an insurance salesman from Maryland sat down to write a novel. Having grown up fascinated with both the military and history (enough so that he enlisted but was rejected due to his poor eyesight), he chose to take his interests and craft a novel which incorporated as much factual detail as possible to give readers a glimpse inside the subject he was writing about.

With numerous publications from a variety of news sources, books on Naval history and science, and even civilian museum tours of Naval vessels given by retired and reserved personnel, he ended up finishing the book within only four months of starting. Wanting to do his subjects proper justice, he asked someone in the navy to give it a read before publication to see if it seemed plausible enough to make readers believe in the story.

A few weeks later, an admiral called a meeting with him to block publication on the grounds that the novel contained classified material sensitive to the security of the United States. The two spent five hours in a room together with the admiral demanding to know who leaked the sensitive information and the dumbfounded writer insisting that no one leaked anything. Adamant that the novel was not written to compromise national security.

Finally, in his desperation, the writer promised that he would delete whatever classified information was included if the admiral just told him what to delete. Without missing a beat, the admiral replied, "If I told you, it wouldn't be classified, dumbass!"

Still, the writer persisted, and at the end of the lengthy debate, the writer and the United States Navy reached an agreement that publication would proceed since the book was fiction and the writer was able to name every source used in its creation. This agreement would release the novel in 1984 with Ronald Reagan listing it as one of his favorite books and would start a lifetime relationship with the military where the writer would eventually obtain the highest level of security clearance a civilian may possess. That writer's name was Tom Clancy, and the book that started it all was The Hunt for Red October.
Having watched a few taped speeches Clancy gave (my favorite being the one from CIA headquarters in Langley), I stumbled upon that origin story and thought it was probably one of the best writer origin stories I've ever heard. Having just finished reading the novel, I can say that The Hunt for Red October definitely lives up to its hype.

While Clancy definitely struggled with some of the first novel difficulties (such as pacing, sometimes overwhelming the reader with technical information, and playing a bit too close to the vest with thematic passages), he succeeded in pulling off a wildly entertaining story that was more than believable enough to draw the reader into the book.

The beginning beautifully introduces Jack Ryan and allows his characterization to unfold without coming across as directed while the overall arch builds enough momentum that the ending is a regular whirlwind of excitement.

If there was a structural point of the book that lagged at all, it would be the middle where a variety of ships are moving across the Atlantic like chess pieces and the reader has to keep track of all of them. But Clancy packs enough action and intricately weaves them together enough that while it slows it's still more than interesting enough to keep the reader invested.

The overall result supported interesting themes of tragedies in war and government greed, as Clancy shows us that while the USA is flawed there are always other nations in worse shape than we are-- ones that are even hungrier for success and domination. And with a civilian character as the protagonist, he tells us that we all have the capacity as everyday human beings to do the right thing and to look upon others from around the world as equals rather than enemies.

It's no wonder this novel started a series, and it only makes me curious what the next Jack Ryan adventure has in store. Perhaps, I'll take that one on after I finish my research books. Till then, I'd like to recommend The Hunt for Red October to anyone who wants a confidence boost that literally anyone can become a writer and/or if someone just wants a hell of a good read.