What Am I Reading Wednesday (6/20/2018)
It's been a while since we've had a proper What Am I Reading Wednesday. This is the type of post I really want to get back to, now that the final installment of Grave Diggers has been published on the blog.
I actually received my copy of Patriot Games last Christmas, and finished reading back in January. Let's have a chat about it!
Title: Patriot Games
Author: Tom Clancy
First Reading: Yes
Initial Impression: Very glad to start reading the Jack Ryan series! It's been on the TBR for years.
Final Thoughts: There are some serious differences between Clancy's novel and the film made in 1992. Although this happens more often than not with book-to-film adaptions, I was surprised by some of the scenes they chose to leave out of the movie.
I was first drawn to Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series by my eternal love of Harrison Ford, who starred in two movies based on Clancy's work (Patriot Games in 1992 and A Clear and Present Danger in 1994). There have been a few different actors who played the role in other movies, but for me Ford was the perfect choice for this character.
Clancy's writing style is a key part of the quintessential political/military/spy thriller genre that, from what I can tell from my own modest research, saw a significant resurgence in the '80s and '90s. Think of authors like Robert Ludlum (the Jason Bourne series) or Lee Child (the Jack Reacher series) as other examples. (There's a lot of "J" names out there. Possibly a contributing factor to their popularity?) Even if you've never read their novels, I guarantee you've seen one of the movies based on these series.
If anyone has access to a more concrete timeline of the rise and fall of popularity for this genre, I'd be very interested to see it!
My only pet peeve with Patriot Games, while maintaining our strict No Spoilers policy here on the blog, was the characters' corresponding thoughts and actions seemed repetitive at times. For example, a character would say or do something, then turn around and think the same thing they just said or did a couple of paragraphs ago as if it were a new idea. (Or vice versa.) Then again, this was one of Clancy's earlier novels. Maybe as I continue the series this particular writing choice won't happen as often, and if it does I guess I'll just have to get over it, won't I?
Again, without giving anything away, I was pretty surprised by a few of the scenes that were left out of the movie. I wonder how much time it took to pick and choose from the book, just so the movie didn't end up being four hours long? Though, now that Amazon has announced the upcoming premier of a new series based on Clancy's Jack Ryan novels (August 2018), I'm hoping it will provide the opportunity to include some parts of the stories that didn't make it into the films.
Plus, John Krasinski is starring in the new series, so that's a reason to watch all by itself. Will he be able to take Harrison Ford's place as Jack Ryan in my heart? Doubtful. But I'm willing to give him a chance!
About the Author:
Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland
insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had
been an English major at Baltimore's Loyola College and had always
dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October, sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times
bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it "the perfect
yarn." From that day forward, Clancy established himself as an
undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity,
intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. He passed away in October
2013.*
*Official bio provided by www.TomClancy.com
I actually received my copy of Patriot Games last Christmas, and finished reading back in January. Let's have a chat about it!
Title: Patriot Games
Author: Tom Clancy
First Reading: Yes
Initial Impression: Very glad to start reading the Jack Ryan series! It's been on the TBR for years.
Final Thoughts: There are some serious differences between Clancy's novel and the film made in 1992. Although this happens more often than not with book-to-film adaptions, I was surprised by some of the scenes they chose to leave out of the movie.
 |
| Older edition cover. |
I was first drawn to Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series by my eternal love of Harrison Ford, who starred in two movies based on Clancy's work (Patriot Games in 1992 and A Clear and Present Danger in 1994). There have been a few different actors who played the role in other movies, but for me Ford was the perfect choice for this character.
Clancy's writing style is a key part of the quintessential political/military/spy thriller genre that, from what I can tell from my own modest research, saw a significant resurgence in the '80s and '90s. Think of authors like Robert Ludlum (the Jason Bourne series) or Lee Child (the Jack Reacher series) as other examples. (There's a lot of "J" names out there. Possibly a contributing factor to their popularity?) Even if you've never read their novels, I guarantee you've seen one of the movies based on these series.
If anyone has access to a more concrete timeline of the rise and fall of popularity for this genre, I'd be very interested to see it!
My only pet peeve with Patriot Games, while maintaining our strict No Spoilers policy here on the blog, was the characters' corresponding thoughts and actions seemed repetitive at times. For example, a character would say or do something, then turn around and think the same thing they just said or did a couple of paragraphs ago as if it were a new idea. (Or vice versa.) Then again, this was one of Clancy's earlier novels. Maybe as I continue the series this particular writing choice won't happen as often, and if it does I guess I'll just have to get over it, won't I?
Again, without giving anything away, I was pretty surprised by a few of the scenes that were left out of the movie. I wonder how much time it took to pick and choose from the book, just so the movie didn't end up being four hours long? Though, now that Amazon has announced the upcoming premier of a new series based on Clancy's Jack Ryan novels (August 2018), I'm hoping it will provide the opportunity to include some parts of the stories that didn't make it into the films.
Plus, John Krasinski is starring in the new series, so that's a reason to watch all by itself. Will he be able to take Harrison Ford's place as Jack Ryan in my heart? Doubtful. But I'm willing to give him a chance!
*****
About the Author:
Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland
insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had
been an English major at Baltimore's Loyola College and had always
dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October, sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times
bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it "the perfect
yarn." From that day forward, Clancy established himself as an
undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity,
intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense. He passed away in October
2013.**Official bio provided by www.TomClancy.com
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