“The Hunt for Red October” by Tom Clancy

“The Hunt for Red October” by Tom Clancy is the novel which tells the story of the mutiny of the Soviet submarine “Red October” under the command of the captain Marko Ramius. The novel reveals the tragic life of the main character in the USSR, whose position becomes unbearable as he loses his wife, who dies because of the incompetence of a doctor. The death of the wife is particularly painful because her life could be saved if the doctor, who was a son of one of the Soviet apparatchiks, was competent enough, but he was not and it was actually him, who the captain Ramius should blame. However, the captain understands that the death of his wife reveals only a part of the problem. He perfectly understands that he lives in a totalitarian state where people are deprived of their rights and liberties. At the same time, his position of a navy officer is particularly difficult because his status makes him even more oppressed by the bureaucratic, totalitarian machine of the Soviet regime.

In such a difficult moment, he is appointed to be the captain of a new, secret submarine “Red October” equipped with new technologies which allow the submarine overcome radars and approach the coast of any country, including the US, unnoticed for the nuclear missile attack. However, Marko rebels against the Soviet regime and convinces his officers to escape from the USSR and bring the submarine to the USA. His plan is successfully implemented but the US Navy are too suspicious and ready to destroy the submarine but the interference of the CIA agent, Jack Ryan saves the submarine and its crew.

Furthermore, Jack Ryan convinces Marco not to destroy the submarine. Instead, an American submarine is destroy and presented to the Soviets as the remnants of “Red October”. However, such an ending is a bit miraculous and the more complicated the ploy grows the more unrealistic it becomes. At any rate, it is hardly possible to believe that the Soviets could be so easily convinced that their super-new, almost invisible submarine was so easily destroyed.

Moreover, the appearance of the agent of GRU is almost fantastic. Anyway, I would not introduce this character in the novel at all, because he could destroy all the plans of Marco Ramius. Naturally, without the agent of GRU the book would be less adventures and the myth about the almighty secret services of the USSR shaken.



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