#34: The Good Shepherd (book) & Greyhound (movie)
My dad's birthday was in early August and one of his favorite things to do is go to the movies and enjoy a good flick with an Icee. With movie theaters closed, I thought it would be fun to get him some push-pop Icees from the grocery store and enjoy a movie at home. As a lover of the "Dad Movie" genre, I knew the WWII drama Greyhound starring Tom Hanks would be right up his alley. He loved the Icees and enjoyed the movie. Happy birthday, dad!
In the movie, Hanks plays Ernest Krause, captain of a Navy destroyer that is shepherding a convoy of merchant ships across the North Atlantic at the height of World War II. He is not only in charge of his own ship and crew but the entire convoy, including escort battleships from Poland, Britain, and Canada. A German wolf pack of submarines is in hot pursuit.
While not a true story, the movie is based on a heavily researched novel that accurately depicts the intensity of a North Atlantic crossing during the war. The Good Shepherd, written by C.S. Forester and published in 1955, is chalk full of additional details, many of which were not depicted in the movie.
I liked the movie just fine. I'm always game for Tom Hanks captaining something. He brought his signature gravitas to the role and I was immersed in all the suspense and frustration of navigating dangerous waters with unreliable equipment. It did a good job conveying the cat-and-mouse game of anti-submarine warfare.
I really liked the book. It took about 50 or so pages to get in rhythm with its unique cadence, but then I was hooked. Much of the dialogue is blunt orders, repeating those orders, and calling out headings and ranges as they hunt U-boats. It's very procedural. While I found it hard at times to get my bearings and visualize where things were relative to one another, it was strangely immersive too.
Aside from the battle at sea, the book is about the battle going on inside Krause's head. While fighting mental and physical fatigue, he strains to maintain emotional indifference and self control. His self-chastisement, his mental criticisms of the crew, his thoughts briefly wandering to his failed marriage or his training as a fencer round out the character in a satisfying way. Sure, with the movie you can see Tom Hanks' face and understand that his current expression means "the brain wheels are turning" or "I am conflicted." But the book character is much more complex. He goes from never seeing action to a combat veteran in just over 200 pages. You may find him too stoic or too Christian, but he worked for me.
If you decide to read, expect quotes like this:
He imposed self-control upon himself; Annapolis might have taught him that, or perhaps his much-loved father in his boyhood. He forced himself to think as coldly and as scientifically as ever.
And this:
He had to be a machine that did not know emotion; he had to be a machine that did not know fatigue.
And my personal favorite, this internal debate about whether he should replace his shoes with slippers after nearly 48 hours on his feet:
He had to - he simply must. It might be the first step down the slippery path of complete moral disintegration, yet even so he could not hold back.
Any fan of WWII history, Naval history, or asceticism will enjoy the book :). I learned a lot about military leadership and found plenty of applications to modern life, such as being calm under pressure, thinking on your feet, being precise with speech, taking emotion out of the equation, and restraining yourself from lashing out at perceived incompetence. So hey, in a way it's a parenting book!
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you're excited about these days.
Kyle