by
Adam Salvo
English 11,
Period 5
Mrs. Bruno
March 14, 1996
"Vampire, Vampire!" The CIC talker said aboard Ticonderoga. "We have numerous incoming missiles. Weapons free."1
Tom Clancy, the best modern fiction writer, and
probably, one of the all time best.
Above was an excerpt from his second number one bestseller, Red Storm
Rising. Tom Clancy is a civilian genius
that knows more about top-secret weapons systems than the men who designed
them. This makes for an explosive, could
be real, story. It is because of his
gripping story lines, and powerful descriptions of battle scenes that have
drawn me, along with millions of other
Americans to his master works of
art. Ironically Mr. Clancys dream of
becoming a writer was not fulfilled until he wrote The Hunt For Red October in
1984. Until then, he was an insurance
salesman whose previous stories had been turned down. That is another thing that I like about Mr.
Clancy, he doesnt give up. Clancy once
said, "In America, there aint no excuses.
You can go out and do anything you damn well please if you try hard
enough."2 Finally, this author, was the only one that didnt put me to
sleep with a warm cup of milk.
Thomas L. Clancy Jr., son of a mailman and
department store credit employee, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in
1947. He attended a local catholic
parochial elementary and secondary school.
Most of his friends were interested in sports, and following their
favorite teams throughout the season, but Tom had more important things on his
mind like guns, tanks, and planes. He
went to Loyola College, a Jesuit college of liberal arts in Baltimore where he
majored in English. While attending
college he joined the ROTC in order to serve in Vietnam, but poor eyesight kept
him from fulfilling his desire. The
first short story he wrote was rejected by Analog Sci-Fi magazine, crushing
another dream of having his name on a book.
In 1973 he became an insurance agent, as he wasnt making any head way as
a writer. Eventually he joined his wifes
fathers insurance agency, and later bought it in 1980 for $125,000. It was an established business with around
1,000 clients. Tom was so effective, and
the business so profitable, that he could accomplish all the work in the
morning and have the rest of the day to devour all sorts of technical journals
and papers.3 After his writing career
took off in 1984, he eventually moved into a 400 acre estate on the Chesapeake
Bay. He has two tennis courts, two
basketball courts, and a full size football field complete with goal
posts. There is a sign that warns of a
tank crossing, then there is the tank, sitting on the lawn. That along with Freddie the family dog, and
an automatic security gate provides a secure home. But if someone were to get past that they
would be faced with Tom, and his arsenal, as he has his own gun range
downstairs.4 Tom Clancy has shown that
though the use of hard work, even writhing books can be profitable.
Up until, The Hunt for Red October, Clancys
only success was the publication of an article that he did on the MX missile
system, which was published by the Naval Institute Press.5 In the seventies Clancy started and shelved 3
plots which would later become Patriot Games, Without Remorse, and The Sum of
all Fears.6 Then he read about the Russian frigate, Storehevoy. The crew aboard the ship, after murdering the
political officer attempted to defect to Sweden. Change the frigate to a nuclear submarine,
and Sweden to America, and there is now a plot for The Hunt for Red
October. It took him 6 months to write
the book, and again, he submitted his work to the Naval Institute Press for
$5,000. A year later, Ronald Regan reads
it, calls it "the perfect yarn," and Clancys career takes off like
the F-14 tomcats in his books. The book
was an immense success soaring to number one in hard cover and paperback. This was the first of many bestsellers Mr.
Clancy wrote. Three of his books have
been made into movies, netting him more than ten million dollars.7 Surprisingly enough, Tom Clancy doesnt care
about awards, only money. "I dont
want to sound commercial," says Clancy, "but Im in it for the money,
not the awards. What do I care if
someone reads my books a hundred years from now? Its hard to make money when your
dead."8 Other then writing, Tom
spends his time playing with the armed forces toys, speaking at the FBI,
dinning at the White House, attending meetings at the CIA, and hosts
fund-raisers for his friend Oliver North.9
The writing style of Tom Clancy should be
studied and taught at all levels of school.
If one would be able to duplicate it, they would be become the next
literary giant. Mr. Clancys style is one
of explicit detail, paired with a gripping story line so real that the CIA and
Secretary of Defense want to know who authorized it. His detail comes from endless hours of
reading and studying technical, and military documents, all of which are not
classified. "The really important
things are never classified," says Clancy.
"Theyre hard to find but never classified."10 As for the plots, just turn on the nightly
news. One could find an endless amount
of information and ideas for plots, anything thing from terrorism to government
black-ops. If something is on the news,
it is most likely to end up in one of Clancys books.
A well planned Muslim attack on the Soviet
Unions largest oil refinery begins World War III in Red Storm Rising. With the Soviet Unions oil economy crippled
the politburo decides to invaded the Middle East, but first in an attempt to
destroy NATO, they will invade Europe.
The book explodes into a race of U.S. intelligence against the Russians war plans. Fortunately the U.S. has numerous intelligence
experts who catch on to the plan. In
addition to that, a Spetsnaz commando is captured and forced to reveal the
plans to cripple strategic NATO sites in Europe. With that threat out of the way, the Air
Force uses F-19 stealth fighters(Frisbees) to take out strategic bridges and
Russian AWACs aircraft that give NATO air supremacy. Then the ground war begins. It is all based on NATO supplies vs. Russian
oil reserves. This becomes the main
focus of the book, with specific detail to NATO convoys from America to
Europe. Early on the aircraft carrier
Nimitz is badly damaged from an air attack that results in a major
setback. While this is going on, the
Russians invaded Iceland in order to cut off the NATO SOSUS line. This line is an anti submarine sonar that
alerts NATO forces of enemy subs coming into the northern Atlantic from there
northern Russian bases. One man and a
handful of marines manage to escape capture on Iceland, and set up
surveillance. Finally after all these
setbacks, the U.S. scores some victories.
First a group of U.S. submarines penetrate deep into Soviet territory
and blow up their long rang bombers that were harassing convoys. Second, a reinforced task force from the
Pacific Fleet manages to escort a convoy nearly intact to Europe thereby
changing the course of the war. Finally,
as an indirect result of the submarine attack, some of the senior members of the Politburo seek to
use tactical nuclear weapons. This leads
to a successful takeover of the Russian government by more sensible
people. These new leaders, realizing
defeat, call a cease fire to the war in Europe, shortly after U.S. forces
recapture Iceland. The book ends with
the war over but many loose ends are not covered. This provides Clancy with the opportunity to
start World War IV.
With every great literary work, there are
critics looming around ready to tear the book apart for better or worse. There is no exception when it comes to Red
Storm Rising. Most of the critics agreed
that the book was an exceptional piece that captured the true spirit of
war. One said, "He didnt write
about soulless machines clashing on the battlefield of the future, he wrote a
vary human story that is surprising apolitical without being naive."11 Another said, "[it] explores themes of
change on a personal a societal level."12
Finally Martin Greenberg said, "In the final analysis, Red Storm
Rising must be judged a huge success.
The story is powerful and inspiring, suspenseful and fast paced."13 Unfortunately for Clancy, others were not so
pleased. Most of the negative remarks
said the story was untrue and written as propaganda. "Some critics accuse Clancy of
Sanitizing war."14 Though heads
being blown off, men drowning and sinking to an icy grave, being burned alive,
and blown out of the air by an unseen aggressor were common responses to that
remark. Other critics believe the weapon
systems used in the war were too perfect and Clancys story was a fairy tale and
propaganda for Ronald Regans arms build up.
Clancy dismisses these claims and
claims to downgrade all weapon performances fifty percent from the manufactures
specs.15 All in all the critics were
mostly supportive of Red Storm Rising.
Red Storm Rising is one of the best books I
have ever read. The technical detail, is
one to rival classified military documents.
The characters are developed just enough for you to get a feel for them,
yet not too much as to put you to sleep.
The opening chapter of the book hooks the reader into reading though the
mildly slow introduction. In addition to
that, Clancy turns the book into a mystery in the form of the U.S. trying to
figure what the Soviets are up too. Clancy
tries to let the reader in on what is happening, which keeps them guessing how
the U.S. is going to figure out the hideous Warsaw Pact plan. After the first hostilities commence, Clancy
gives NATO a little success in the form of stealth fighters and the capture and
destruction of Spetsnaz troops. Then
reality hits when the Russians successfully cripple the USS Nimitz and capture
Iceland. From there its all about
kicking Russian butt back to Moscow. The
action scenes are vivid and descriptive enough to be more entertaining than a
movie. I like the characters as well as
the machines. To me they are the new
John Wayne, James Bond, or any of the figures from all those World War II
movies Ive seen. Overall I have to give
the book two thumbs up. I hope they make
the book into a movie, God knows it would sell at the box office.
Most people would think selling insurance would
be an extremely boring job, where one would sell insurance to old even more
boring people. Then there is Tom
Clancy. He compressed his work into the
first half of the day, then had the afternoon to read technical documents or
write. He has been a fan of war and
technology since a child16, and has expanded his hobby to computers with the
war games Harpoon and Convoy 84. In fact
the designer of Harpoon, Larry Bond has become a great friend, and co-author in
some of Toms books. Now
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