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New Guinea
Book by MacK, William P.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 1993
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December 2, 2024
This is the fourth out of six US destroyer themed novels written by William P. Mack. Mack served on destroyers as an executive officer and then captain during the last two years of World War II. As such, his writing is detailed and carries with it a feeling of authenticity. He's not another naval enthusiast writing paperback war novels.
With that said, New Guinea has less substance regarding life on board a US destroyer during WWII than his first two novels in the series. Mack falls into what I would characterize as a command perspective. Reding this book, one would think that life aboard a destroyer stops at the wardroom and its officers. The ship simply moves through the water by the voice commands of the captain. Virtually invisible are the scores of sailors that actually fulfill those commands and the scores of humans that live under the captain's reign.
The novel takes on a monotonous pattern. The captain is ordered from "Point A" to "Point B" during which some "Action C" takes place, then the same thing happens again in the next few chapters. Mack’s fictitious destroyer, the USS Carson, did not have a very important role in pacific campaign and its probable that Mack wanted it that way so that he could focus on the characteristics of command.
The captain is the main focus of this novel. But even then, I think that Mack’s naval conditioning limited him in fully defining Captain Sorenson as human. Instead, we have a terse, to-the-point, exchanges with his junior officers and his human issues are kept at a hand’s distance. The captain’s concerns with racism in the navy are quietly underplayed and his relationship with his new wife is stiff and, true-to-form, devoid of public displays of affection (PDAs). And that is as human as this human becomes.
Mack is also known for his professional writing for naval officers. His final command was as Superintendent of the US Naval Academy. It may be that this book is intended to be a behavioral guide for junior officers rather than a depiction of life on board a US destroyer during times of war. If that was his intent, then he succeeded in the finest traditions of the United States Navy.
With that said, New Guinea has less substance regarding life on board a US destroyer during WWII than his first two novels in the series. Mack falls into what I would characterize as a command perspective. Reding this book, one would think that life aboard a destroyer stops at the wardroom and its officers. The ship simply moves through the water by the voice commands of the captain. Virtually invisible are the scores of sailors that actually fulfill those commands and the scores of humans that live under the captain's reign.
The novel takes on a monotonous pattern. The captain is ordered from "Point A" to "Point B" during which some "Action C" takes place, then the same thing happens again in the next few chapters. Mack’s fictitious destroyer, the USS Carson, did not have a very important role in pacific campaign and its probable that Mack wanted it that way so that he could focus on the characteristics of command.
The captain is the main focus of this novel. But even then, I think that Mack’s naval conditioning limited him in fully defining Captain Sorenson as human. Instead, we have a terse, to-the-point, exchanges with his junior officers and his human issues are kept at a hand’s distance. The captain’s concerns with racism in the navy are quietly underplayed and his relationship with his new wife is stiff and, true-to-form, devoid of public displays of affection (PDAs). And that is as human as this human becomes.
Mack is also known for his professional writing for naval officers. His final command was as Superintendent of the US Naval Academy. It may be that this book is intended to be a behavioral guide for junior officers rather than a depiction of life on board a US destroyer during times of war. If that was his intent, then he succeeded in the finest traditions of the United States Navy.
Displaying 1 of 1 review