Appearance
The Bear and the Dragon
I am not really a fan of Tom Clancy. I saw some of his movies: The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Sum of All Fears, Clear and Present Danger... I chose The Bear and The Dragon because of the topic. I am a Chinese guy living in Hong Kong. When I saw the book, I wondered what Clancy would write about China, considering he is a rightist.I have just finished about half of the book. The two clergymen were just killed in China and the Ryan administration was dealing with it. That means the whole plot has just picked up. But it has already gone for 400-odd pages. The book is full of unnecessary details about characters' thoughts, backgrounds, etc. The book is also full of minor details about the military. A military fan would like it very much. But I am not a fan of it. So I skipped all those stuff. I usually do not skip pages especially if it's a book that I actually bought, not borrowed from a friend. But this book is really lengthy. We're in an era full of TV programs and movies. I think we no long have a lot of time to do reading. And we've got used to quicker plot development. So pls cut the...unnecessary details.OK, besides that, when the plot picks up, it is quite unputdownable. Hope it is still entertaining.Then, as a Chinese guy, I don't like Clancy's attitude towards the Chinese people. The pages are full of hatred. I understand why some Americans would not like the PRC because the government has really done something bad. But pls stop preaching, OK?Someone says Executive Order is the best. Is it true? Should I give Clancy another chance?
The Bear and the Dragon
While not engrossing, this book managed to keep my intrest. Its main flaw was its length (unless you're on the NYC to Cape Town flight) and predictability. It starts with the head of the SRV [KGB]nearly getting blown up by an RPG (who done it, the Russian Mafia, the Chinese, or was it just an accident?) and the resulting investigation. At the same time, gold and oil is discovered in Siberia, Russia; whose military is grossly undermanned. Then it focases on a CIA agent seducing a Chinese Politburo secretary (no detail ommited) and then having her put a bug on her computer, which sends notes of every Politburo meeting straight to the CIA. You also get to see how Jack Ryan does as President, feel free to laugh.The novel then launches into the lengthy process needed for China to invade Russia. For this to happen, the following occers:1. CNN twice films the Bejjing police killing diplomats and beating up Christians.2. This offends the world, who prompltly sever trade relations with China-plunging them deep in dept.3. The Chinese Pulitburo (I hope to God that Tom Clancy made everything he wrote about them up)-as opposed simply to apologizing-decides to invade Siberia and take control of the gold and oil.4. All attempts to dissuade the Chinese fail and they invade.As soon as the Chinese cross the border, a remarkable thing happens. The Russians stop acting like undermanned, undertrained, and ill-equipped ... and start acting American. And speaking of Americans, despite the fact that they deployed a tank division and lots of aircraft to Siberia, I didn't count one American causualty in the whole book.Anyway, the Russians let the Chinese advance unnopposed, then a bunch of B-2 bombers cut their supply lines. The Russians then kick their butts, thanks to the Darkstar drone. I'll leave the ending a mystery, but I'll say it includes a nuclear missle overWashington D.C., Jack Ryan becoming John Wayne, and some renegade Chinese college students.So why did I give this book 3 stars? Because its plot was at least possible (as possible as Rainbow Six's anyway), it had some belated action, and it had what I wouldn't mind seeing, Russia kick China's butt.
The Bear and the Dragon
This is my second Tom Clancy novel. I have read the first 700 of the 1000 pages and expect to finish in a day or two.Tom Clancy is full of interesting information on the operation of the NSA, CIA, KGB and the US, Russian and Chinese military. Very interesting. But the book contains too much small talk that does not contribute to character development. For example, you are told about almost every cigarett that the hero, Jack Ryan, lights up. This book would be much better if it was condensed to 500 pages by eliminating the small talk.Also, even though the book was copyright in 2000, key aspects of the plot related to China are already obsolete. China is now a "most favored nation" for trade purposes. China is also accumulating a huge foreign currency reserve. So, it no longer makes sense for Jack Ryan to deny China "most favored nation". And it no longer makes sense for China to begin a war because it runs low on foreign currency reserves.But the idea of a large find of gold and oil in northern Siberia is still a little romantic and keeps this novel firmly in the fiction/fantasy genre.
The Bear and the Dragon
This was my first Clancy book and was very easy to put down. Perhaps in a few...weeks, months,Pick up another "heart-stopping action " as quoted from the Washington Post, book of his and read what I've been missing.
The Bear and the Dragon
"Not Clancy's best work," is a common reaction to this book. The problem with that is it implies that Clancy "worked" and that conclusion is doubtful. Many reviewers have noted that "The Bear and the Dragon" is full of repitition, that Clancy repeats himself, says the same thing again and again. Others have noted that Clancy is becoming too "preachy." All of this is true.So, only read this novel of you are a true Clancy fanatic; otherwise, re-reading "Red October" or "Without Remorse" would be more rewarding.
The Bear and the Dragon
The Bear and The Dragon was high on my Christmas wish list. Had I known that Clancy's ability to write fiction had declined so much, I might not have been so thrilled to receive this gift. In this effort, Clancy has gone overboard in both the amount of technical information included in the plot lines and his racist remarks against Chinese people in general. As one other reader wrote, it is okay to give us a character to hate but not a whole culture. I also found it very annoying that someone who could write so technical a book could not be bothered with making sure that the proofreading had been done correctly. In the copy I own, there are typo's throughout the text and it proves to be a stumbling block to what is already a slow read. I can normally blow through one of Clancy's novels in a couple of days because of the intensity and the on the edge of your seat excitement. This one lacked in both areas and took me an entire week to complete. On a positive note, it is still a Clancy novel and worth reading.