“At Quantico he was taught to read maps, evaluate terrain, call in air and artillery strikes, maneuver his squads and fire teams with skill – and here he was, stuck in a … steel pipe three hundred feet under water, shooting it out with pistols in a room with two hundred hydrogen bombs!”
Jack Ryan, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
Tag: Quick Quotes (Page 3 of 7)
“What about political education?” Kamarov asked.
Lieutenant Kamarov and Jack Ryan, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
Ryan laughed. “Lieutenant, somewhere along the line somebody will take you aside to explain how our country works. That will take about two hours. After that you can immediately tell us what we do wrong – everybody else in the world does, why shouldn’t you? But I can’t do that now. Believe this, you will love it, probably more than I do. I have never lived in a country that was not free, and maybe I don’t appreciate my home as much as I should. For the moment, I suppose you have work to do.”
“Commander Ryan,” Ramius said, drawing himself to attention, “my officers and I request political asylum in the United States – and we bring you this small present.” Ramius gestured toward the steel bulkheads [of Red October].
Captain Ramius and Jack Ryan, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
Ryan had already framed his reply. “Captain, on behalf of the president of the United States, it is my honor to grant your request. Welcome to freedom, gentlemen.”
“We have our differences, gentlemen, but the sea doesn’t care about that. The sea – well, she tries to kill us all regardless what flag we fly.”
Dr. Tait, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
“He decided that the Russians were on some sort of fishing expedition. His job was to show them that the fish in these waters were dangerous.”
Commodore Zachary Eaton of the USS New Jersey, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy
Ramius chuckled. “Remember the incident on Lenin?” He referred to the nuclear-powered icebreaker that had spent two years tied to the dock, unusable because of a nuclear mishap. “A ship’s cook had some badly crusted pans, and a madman of an engineer suggested that he use live steam to get them cleaned. So the idiot walked down to the steam generator and opened an inspection valve, with his pots under it!”
Melekhin rolled his eyes. “I remember it! I was a staff engineering officer then. The captain had asked for a Kazakh cook – “
“He liked horsemen with his kasha,” Ramius said.
” – and the fool didn’t know the first thing about a ship. Killed himself and three other men, contaminated the whole… compartment for twenty months. The captain only got out of the gulag last year.”
“I bet the cook got his pans cleaned, though,” Ramius observed.
“Indeed Marko Aleksandrovich – they may even be safe to use in another fifty years.” Melekhin laughed raucously.
Captain Ramius and Engineer Melekhin, The Hunt for red october, Tom Clancy
This led the doctor on board to wonder at this phlegmatic conversation.
“After the clock had struck thirteen – ever since Sholmes gave it a wash and brush up it had worked overtime – the conversation turned on New Year’s resolutions.”
Dr Jotson, “Pinkeye’s New Year Resolution”, The Complete Casebook of Herlock SHolmes, circa 1921
“The violin under the lean, capable hands of my famous friend [Herlock Sholmes], was emitting the strains of that well-known Christmas carol “Rest you merry gentlemen”. Unfortunately the lodgers in the flat above refused to be rested. They stamped their hob-nailed boots, they dropped enamel plates and started an atrocious gramophone in opposition. But then they weren’t gentlemen.
Dr Jotson, “The Mystery of the Mince-Pie”, The complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, circa 1920
I really like it when I can tell the meaning of a word from the context in which it is found. But I was really in luck when this passage from The Hunt for Red October not only gave me two words, but also defined them for me too. Mutiny and Barratry.
“Judge, we are not dealing with mutiny or piracy,” Foster noted. “The correct term is barratry, I believe. Mutiny is when the crew rebels against lawful authority. Gross misconduct of the officers is called barratry.”
Admiral Daniel Foster, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy, 1984
Here is a conversation between Sonarman Second Class Ronald Jones and Lieutenant Thompson aboard the submarine USS Dallas that struck me as funny. Just like Sonarman Jones, I usually prefer classical music over modern, popular music.
“Got something, Mr Thompson.”
“What is it?” Thompson leaned against the bulkhead.
“I don’t know.” Jones picked up a spare set of phones and handed them to his officer. “Listen up, sir.”
[after listening and discussing what the sound could be, the conversation continues]
“Irregular,” Thompson said.
“Yeah, it’s funny. It sounds regular, but it doesn’t look regular. Know what I mean, Mr Thompson?”
“No, you’ve got better ears.”
“That’s cause I listen to better music, sir. That rock stuff’ll kill your ears.”
The Hunt for red october, Tom Clancy, 1984
This made me laugh when I read it. It’s just a quick exchange, but as the book progresses, Jones will break the sound down, slowing it to try to figure out what he heard. His discovery will result in a promotion. Never underestimate the guy who “categorized his [Bach] tapes by their flaws, a ragged piano temp, a botched flute, a wavering French horn”. He definitely had “better ears”.