THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

• by Tom Clancy
• [rated by pbs readers as #43]
• 656 pages

THANK GOD FOR PULP FICTION!

I’m totally serious. Two books ago, I got well and truly stuck on Eye of the Wheel or Wheel of Time or whatever the fuck it is. I read 500 pages and was halfway through. I put it down and couldn’t, it seemed, pick it back up.

Months went by and I had to come to grips with the reality that if I didn’t put it aside, I might not finish this project.

So I went first to Frankenstein and slogged through some academic reading. Not a bad book and certainly an important one historically, but let me put it this way. I noticed I had 20 pages left and wondered if that would take me one or two more readings to finish. Not exactly a garden variety barnburner.

All the while, I have no idea why I decided it but I knew I would be following that up with Red October. I’d seen the movie years ago and liked it. And it seemed like a fun story.

Oh man! I feel like I’m on vacation! I started it yesterday and have already read 100 pages of the 600. But most importantly, I AM DRAWN TO READING IT!

It seems like eons since a book in this project has pulled me in like that. I’ll put it down. No, I’ll read another 20 pages. It feels great!

I’ve appreciated a lot of the books. And I will read them all in time, even Eye on the Wheel of Time or whatever the fuck that is.

But there’s a reason why guys like Tom Clancy are gablillionaires. They pull you in!

I love the scope of this. He includes about 1 – 2 dozen worldwide vignettes, all of which will weigh in as it gets going. That feels like very ambitious writing and the excitement builds in a subtle way.

Clancy is known for his extensive military knowledge and I like that he pulls those of us along who have no idea what technical thing he is going on about – not talking down to us but keeping us in the loop at the same time.

Very impressive – and captivating – and interesting – and fun! Praise God!

DONE! Just for giggles, it should be noted that I read this 641 page book faster by weeks than the 140 page

Frankenstein. Isn’t that amazing?

Shows what good writing can do. Sure, this was a huge opus about submarine warfare. Not my usual fare, that’s for sure! But it is a tale told incredibly well. And I just

kept feeling so privileged to be able to be entertained to this extent.

In the interest of fair reporting, I did feel the need to read the second half at a steady clip to get through a bunch of the technical stuff that, with a slower reading, might have slowed me down. But who cares? It was completely entertaining, so the read was great.

Maybe in months from now, I’ll connect to this book with deeper truths. But for now, a great read is a great read. I ate it up and came back every night for seconds. I feel so lucky to have experienced a fun read like this. It makes me feel a little guilty if I read another like it, leaving all the boring books to the end. But maybe that

finish in the end will be full of surprises. I know the rest of this journey certainly has.