Greyhound (Movie Tie-In): A Novel

It will be interesting to see what the filmmakers do with the source material because the narrative is very dry, very dated, very nautical, very Navy, very tactical, very repetitive, very first person, and very internalized. There is scant dialogue or character development beyond that which pertains to the main character. And the biblical, religious aspect -- so central to Captain Krause and the story -- might not fly with today's younger audiences. Tom Hanks is not unfamiliar with playing heroic, loner characters dealing with war, ships, danger, leadership, etc. (Castaway, Scully, Saving Private Ryan, Captain Philips) so I suspect he will be up to the task. However, there is just no way any movie will capture what C.S. Forester captured with his novel, a vivid and accurate depiction of what it was like to be captain of a US Navy destroyer while serving as Comescort of a thirty-seven ship convoy across the North Atlantic. The realities of the time and place, and the personality of the main character, while being perfectly true, honest, and appropriate to the story, are not the most compelling for a novel, and even less so for a movie. This is an interesting book for a naval tactician or historian, and I enjoyed it for that reason. I suspect the movie will take huge liberties with the source material, and for that reason, it will be less watchable for fans of the book, and a lot less accurate as a meaningful piece of relative fiction.

Me ha gustado mucho una descripción de la guerra en el mar. No sé si encontré algo malo, pero me pareceque no. Creo que bien merece las 5 estrellas.

This review is based on my experience of reading the ENTIRE kindle version of this story. Although I read a variety of genres and have absolutely no military or naval experience I was COMPLETELY ENGROSSED in the story and finished it within a few days. I relished the intensity of the story and appreciated the complexities (and near impossibility) of tracking and attacking a submarine from above the water. I learned quite a bit while simultaneously being absorbed in a story.....can't say that about every story!!!! My takeaway thoughts:1) IMAGERY- Not only did I feel that I was in the pilothouse observing and hearing the officers work collaboratively, the reader has the added benefit of truly understanding the reasoning behind each tactic as the author reveals the inner thoughts of the captain. I truly felt like I was an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in the story which gained my interest and motivated me to continue reading.2) PERSONALIZATION- Throughout the story the author provides tidbits of background information on the captain as well as his spiritual thoughts that reference his upbringing as a pastor's son. I was able to EMPATHIZE with the character and felt that he was cunning in his command of the destroyer without feeling like he was callous and ruthless to the consequences of his decisions.3) VISUALIZATION- ***This technique could be a MAKE-IT-OR-BREAK-IT for some readers. Individuals who can easily create a mental picture from a description will have no problem "navigating" the scenes in this story. But there is a lot of detail, especially in understanding the heading of each ship and how they are turning in relation to each other. It can be complicated and somewhat frustrating to maintain a visual idea of what is happening.4) RECOMMENDATION- Based on my description of visualization (above) I would recommend that the kindle version contain a few illustrated figures during some of the major parts of the story. For instance an illustration would be beneficial to show the relative placement of the ships within the convoy AND as the Keeling works with the Dodge and Viktor to attack the U-boat it would be helpful to show their converging paths in relation to the sub.

This movie presents the most authentic picture of real time Navy experience at sea . It is the closet depiction of the function and crewing of a destroyer during WWII. CIC, audio , bridge scenes are very authentic.Another observation shows to US Navy's segregated system. Notice both Stewards are black. I attended OCS in 1967. During my four month class, one class graduated every month. So during my four months, I saw 800 candidates. In the final month, the incoming class included one black person . The ratio was 1:800 or 0.125% were of color. Serving three years of active duty only 2 sailors were black.

C.S. Forester was a truly outstanding author. He knows the sea and seamanship as well as quite a lot about fighting ships. I truly didn't want to put this book down. You experience the story in the mind of the captain during a days long battle at sea against impossible odds. You see him acting decisively despite his self-doubts. He's on the bridge the whole time, unable to go off watch because of the burden of duty and responsibility. This stuff really did happen during the WWII Battle of the Atlantic (which went on for years, not days or months). This book is as good as the Hornblower Saga, another of Forester's series that I grew up on. That's the highest praise I can give. That series is a classic, an outstanding saga. I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie once I can get my hands on it. I can't imagine anyone better to play the captains role than Tom Hanks.

I had no idea what to expect when I purchased this book. I'm an avid reader and have many favorite authors. This one knocked it out of the park. It is an unusual book because it is mostly action based with relatively little character development. It is just enough to be satisfactory but the minute by minute account of the crossing is what grabs your attention and keeps your attention. The action is non-stop. While I was certainly aware of the convoys in WWII this book paints an incredible picture of what those brave sailors went through to save Europe and help win the war. I only found this book because Tom Hanks made a movie. So thanks Tom.

A very human story that gives the reader a sense of what it was like for a destroyer on North Atlantic convoy escort duty during WW2. Feels very real and honest. I've read most of Foresters books and this is one of my favorites.

Love history

The first chapter seems to be awesome British taste English. So I skip and try to read the second chapter, from here, generally, author could change an American taste, with British tint. With both sides, destroyers and submarines having stayed unseen, with only primitive acoustic devices and mental readings on each other, having been allowed the way of battle, and with DVD been unavailable, I would try to read for awhile.文字が、大きくて、読み易い。

I read this years ago, loved it and was exhausted when I finished it. However, I had forgotten about all the biblical references which made the original title far more appropriate than the inane and meaningless "Greyhound".Also, didn't remember the last chapter and not surprised, utterly pointless and should have been left out. It's the reason I knocked a star off my rating.

I’m a big fan of the Hornblower series by CS Forester and I also watched the Apple movie Greyhound - However, I have not enjoyed the book as much as The Cruel Sea

I am sure the movie will be visually fantastic, however in written form, turn to course 305 and then change to course whatever gives you nothing to visualize, and the book is full of these orders. I believe that this will be far better on screen, so you can actually see the results of the orders!