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Pacific Interlude: A Novel
During the last days of World War II, a young officer braves enemy fire and a maverick crew on the open waters and in the steamy ports of the South Pacific
Twenty-five-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant Sylvester Grant, a veteran of the Greenland Patrol, has just been given command of a small gas tanker, running shuttle and convoy duties for the US Army. Sally, his wife of three years, is eager for him to get back to Massachusetts and live a conventional suburban life selling insurance—but Syl longs for adventure and is bound to find it as the captain of a beat-up, unseaworthy vessel carrying extremely flammable cargo across dangerous stretches of the Pacific Ocean.
As the Allies prepare to retake the Philippines, the only thing the sailors aboard the Y-18 want is for the war to be over. First, however, they must survive their mission to bring two hundred thousand gallons of high-octane aviation fuel to shore. From below-deck personality clashes to the terrifying possibility of an enemy attack, from combating illness and boredom to the constant stress of preventing an explosion that could blow their ship sky high, the crew of the Y-18 must learn to work together and trust their captain—otherwise, they might never make it home.
Based on Sloan Wilson’s own experiences, Pacific Interlude is a thrilling and realistic story of World War II and a moving portrait of a man looking toward the future while trying to survive a precarious present.
Twenty-five-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant Sylvester Grant, a veteran of the Greenland Patrol, has just been given command of a small gas tanker, running shuttle and convoy duties for the US Army. Sally, his wife of three years, is eager for him to get back to Massachusetts and live a conventional suburban life selling insurance—but Syl longs for adventure and is bound to find it as the captain of a beat-up, unseaworthy vessel carrying extremely flammable cargo across dangerous stretches of the Pacific Ocean.
As the Allies prepare to retake the Philippines, the only thing the sailors aboard the Y-18 want is for the war to be over. First, however, they must survive their mission to bring two hundred thousand gallons of high-octane aviation fuel to shore. From below-deck personality clashes to the terrifying possibility of an enemy attack, from combating illness and boredom to the constant stress of preventing an explosion that could blow their ship sky high, the crew of the Y-18 must learn to work together and trust their captain—otherwise, they might never make it home.
Based on Sloan Wilson’s own experiences, Pacific Interlude is a thrilling and realistic story of World War II and a moving portrait of a man looking toward the future while trying to survive a precarious present.
397 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1982
About the author
Sloan Wilson
34 books32 followersSloan Wilson (May 8, 1920 – May 25, 2003) was an American writer.
Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Wilson graduated from Harvard University in 1942. He served in World War II as an officer of the United States Coast Guard, commanding a naval trawler for the Greenland Patrol and an army supply ship in the Pacific Ocean.
After the war, Wilson worked as a reporter for Time-Life. His first book, Voyage to Somewhere, was published in 1947 and was based on his wartime experiences. He also published stories in The New Yorker and worked as a professor at the State University of New York's University of Buffalo.
Wilson published 15 books, including the bestsellers The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) and A Summer Place (1958), both of which were adapted into feature movies. A later novel, A Sense of Values, in which protagonist Nathan Bond is a disenchanted cartoonist involved with adultery and alcoholism, was not well received. In Georgie Winthrop, a 45-year-old college vice president begins a relationship with the 17-year-old daughter of his childhood love. The novel The Ice Brothers is loosely based on Wilson's experiences in Greenland while serving with the US Coast Guard. The memoir What Shall We Wear to This Party? recalls his experiences in the Coast Guard during World War II and the changes to his life after the bestseller Gray Flannel was published.
Wilson was an advocate for integrating, funding and improving public schools. He became Assistant Director of the National Citizens Commission for Public Schools as well as Assistant Director of the 1955-56 White House Conference on Education.
Source: Wikipedia
Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Wilson graduated from Harvard University in 1942. He served in World War II as an officer of the United States Coast Guard, commanding a naval trawler for the Greenland Patrol and an army supply ship in the Pacific Ocean.
After the war, Wilson worked as a reporter for Time-Life. His first book, Voyage to Somewhere, was published in 1947 and was based on his wartime experiences. He also published stories in The New Yorker and worked as a professor at the State University of New York's University of Buffalo.
Wilson published 15 books, including the bestsellers The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) and A Summer Place (1958), both of which were adapted into feature movies. A later novel, A Sense of Values, in which protagonist Nathan Bond is a disenchanted cartoonist involved with adultery and alcoholism, was not well received. In Georgie Winthrop, a 45-year-old college vice president begins a relationship with the 17-year-old daughter of his childhood love. The novel The Ice Brothers is loosely based on Wilson's experiences in Greenland while serving with the US Coast Guard. The memoir What Shall We Wear to This Party? recalls his experiences in the Coast Guard during World War II and the changes to his life after the bestseller Gray Flannel was published.
Wilson was an advocate for integrating, funding and improving public schools. He became Assistant Director of the National Citizens Commission for Public Schools as well as Assistant Director of the 1955-56 White House Conference on Education.
Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 7, 2023
My library recommended this book, and the description sounded interesting. I know the author wrote A Summer Place and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, both made into popular movies, which I haven't watched. Sloan Wilson wrote this maritime novel based on his wartime experiences in the South Pacific during the 1940s. The shipboard section is bookended by the protagonist's shorter times spent on land. I liked the shipboard section a lot more. (Do we really care if he has three orgasms while he's on shore leave?) At any rate, I immensely enjoyed reading Pacific Interlude. If you like World War II narratives, this one is a real corker. The prose is smooth, and the pace excellent.
November 15, 2017
Third and last of Wilson's WW II novels, Lt. Syl Grant is billeted to an Army gasoline tanker that had almost been destroyed by a Japanese plane. After being refitted (more or less) she is sent to refuel assorted airfields, usually acting as a shuttle between the larger tankers and fuel barges tied to the shore connected to tanks on shore. A random spark could send her skyward and the crew is a collection of misfits. Tankers had their own special dangers: "... but the men of a tanker had to live on top of thousands of gallons of gasoline almost all the time for a year or more. The fighter pilots and the marines feared only the enemy, but the tanker men also had to fear themselves and each other … one moment of carelessness or a suicidal impulse could blow them all up. Most people would never understand that, but other sailors treated the crews of gas tankers with sympathy and respect. The poor devils who ran the gas tankers had a right to swagger a little when they went on liberty."
Wilson again touches on racism as he did in Voyage to Somewhere although this book was written some thirty years later. Another theme is the relationship of men to each other, their wives, and the girls they meet while in port. Whether the wives at home at any understanding of the dangers faced by their husbands during the war is problematic.
I would read Ice Brothers first, then Voyage to Somewhere, and finally this book even though that's not the order in which they were written.
Wilson again touches on racism as he did in Voyage to Somewhere although this book was written some thirty years later. Another theme is the relationship of men to each other, their wives, and the girls they meet while in port. Whether the wives at home at any understanding of the dangers faced by their husbands during the war is problematic.
I would read Ice Brothers first, then Voyage to Somewhere, and finally this book even though that's not the order in which they were written.
August 30, 2016
For myself as a former Naval person on ships the book was outstanding. The book takes place on a small non-nondescript vessel sailing in the Philippine waters during the WW 2 invasion. Many of the actions, problems, and personnel are reminiscent of my times on three "Tin Cans" In essence I enjoyed the book immensely especially of all the memories it brought back. To the books credit it brings forth the total futility war has the young people who have fight/serve.
February 26, 2021
The era of this story and of the time in which it was written, are different than today. Taking that into consideration, I still feel the author is a bit morose. I have read numerous stories and accounts from WW2, and though the clear message of, "war is hell", come through in most of them, little spots of joy could be found. And not just moments of sensual gratification, but the thoughts of the characters or the people portrayed, showed a bit of light in those moments. It seems for Mr. Wilson, his characters didn't experience any of that. Their thoughts and impressions, even in quiet moments always seemed to reflect on the darkest things. It may be that was his experience in the war. If so, I hope things got better, after.
July 3, 2010
I got this book because I liked another book by the author Sloan Wilson, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. I didn't like this book much. Parts of it were interesting -- the very dangerous work of being deployed on a gas tanker which carries gasoline for other boats in the Pacific in WWII. The little tanker has been heavily damaged and while undergoing repairs a new captain is assigned to it -- a 24-year-old man named Sylvester Grant. While all this was very interesting I became increasingly exasperated at how Grant lets his men get away with so many shenanigans. Certainly some laxity had to take place during war but again and again he lets them have their way and not always with a good outcome. It was maddening. Also, I GET IT that during war men have affairs, and I did gain some insight that it's because they think they are going to die so live for today, but I got tired of Grant jumping into bed with any woman he could throughout the book. By the end he begins to question his own new marriage to the wife who is waiting at home and who writes him a letter every single day. Of course she is not perfect, but I was highly annoyed that he was so unfaithful to her and towards the end didn't even read her letters. Yes, war is hell and I'm not discounting that. But I feel that Sloan is trying to excuse some very bad behavior.
February 17, 2017
I nearly didn't read this book, I have so many, I am so pleased I did. Sloan Wilson, what an amazing writer, I will now have to read his other books. This story is so realistic as Mr. Wilson served in the Pacific during WWII and he brings to life the story of our amazing men, as they fought in the Navy during WWII. Their life, on board, and how it felt. With a little love thrown in, all sailors have a love story, Mr. Wilson's book about fighting in the pacific comes to life in these pages. Unfortunately, Mr. Wilson, a WWII vet, like so many others, has departed. Sorry I didn't get to say thank you Sir, for everything.
February 22, 2020
A first-rate story about a small ship in WW-II.
February 27, 2021
Was an ok story involving the non fighting Navy/Coast guard part of WWII In the Pacific About a Tanker supply ship and her Captain and crew. As an old sea dog my self it was pretty realistic. Had to sneak in a little sex in the end but it was ok. Gave it 4 stars
November 28, 2022
OK story...
I didn't know about the relationship between the Coast Guard and the Army in WWII so that part of the story was informative, as was the day to day duties of sailors on a small tanker in the Pacific late in the war.
I didn't know about the relationship between the Coast Guard and the Army in WWII so that part of the story was informative, as was the day to day duties of sailors on a small tanker in the Pacific late in the war.
December 5, 2021
Great war story about the Coast Guard in WWII.
July 16, 2023
As I have written in previous reviews of the novels I’ve read by Sloan Wilson, he has been among my favorite authors. Writing at about the same time as such authors as Hemingway and Faulkner, Shaw and Mailer, he excels at telling a story while exhibiting a smooth, unencumbered style. Wilson is one of those writers that sets you so at ease that his style creates its own suspense. You sort of hang onto every sentence as you pay attention to the story.
In “Pacific Interlude” a young but not inexperienced US Coast Guard officer moves from tension at home to conflict in the Pacific with a crew who has just lost their old captain. He now has a captaincy on a tanker full of gasoline bound for the combat zone in the Pacific. Of the main dangers they would encounter were suicide planes.
The Interlude part of the novel also gives us a love story that is intense. Sloan Wilson has always handled love scenes in his novels in a dignified way. Things happen but adult readers have enough experience that an author like Wilson doesn’t have to detail the nitty-gritty of how lovers express their feelings for each other.
Racial conflict is also handled in a truthful way. You can feel the hate that some feel and the fear it causes. Friendship is another theme deftly handled in Interlude. So, with combat as the background, Sloan Wilson weaves these other themes in a very satisfying way, as he does in all his novels.
I’ve said this before, too, that all seamen and in fact middle managers on up would benefit by reading not only the present novel, but also Voyage to Somewhere, Ice Brothers and his classic, Man in a Gray Flannel Suit and its sequel. Sloan Wilson will make you feel welcomed as you board his ship.
Pacific Interlude was Wilson’s final novel; but he also wrote short stories for the New Yorker and Harpter’s. I would like to read these next.
In “Pacific Interlude” a young but not inexperienced US Coast Guard officer moves from tension at home to conflict in the Pacific with a crew who has just lost their old captain. He now has a captaincy on a tanker full of gasoline bound for the combat zone in the Pacific. Of the main dangers they would encounter were suicide planes.
The Interlude part of the novel also gives us a love story that is intense. Sloan Wilson has always handled love scenes in his novels in a dignified way. Things happen but adult readers have enough experience that an author like Wilson doesn’t have to detail the nitty-gritty of how lovers express their feelings for each other.
Racial conflict is also handled in a truthful way. You can feel the hate that some feel and the fear it causes. Friendship is another theme deftly handled in Interlude. So, with combat as the background, Sloan Wilson weaves these other themes in a very satisfying way, as he does in all his novels.
I’ve said this before, too, that all seamen and in fact middle managers on up would benefit by reading not only the present novel, but also Voyage to Somewhere, Ice Brothers and his classic, Man in a Gray Flannel Suit and its sequel. Sloan Wilson will make you feel welcomed as you board his ship.
Pacific Interlude was Wilson’s final novel; but he also wrote short stories for the New Yorker and Harpter’s. I would like to read these next.
October 13, 2012
This is the fourth Sloan Wilson book I have read for a second time. Wilson’s books, especially his WWII books, are somewhat autobiographical. He was in the Coast Guard commanding a icebreaker in Greenland and then was transferred to command a small gas tanker that transferred gas to airfields and larger ships at sea. In both books (Ice Brothers and Pacific Interlude) his main character is a married 25 years old surrounded by a mix of crew members. In Pacific Interlude he finds his ship unseaworthy and close to an explosion at any moment. The clarity and descriptions of the ship and its operations give evidence that Wilson experienced it sailing for real.
Here the story revolves around how Captain Grant manages his officers. One (Mr. Simpson) is a rigid, by the book religious fundamentalist who has no people skills, another (Mr. Buller) is wishing to pad his resume for his hoped for future political career. Buller also has the love of the crew by stealing beer, granting relaxed rules, renting a party house while docked in Australia. And lastly (Mr. Wydanski) who is an older engineer in charge of the ship engine’s maintenance and repair and who wants nothing to do with taking sides in the clash of temperaments between Simpson and Buller. They all are charged with taking gas to those in need during the Battle for the Philippines.
I enjoyed this book during this second reading. It is not quite as good as the Ice Brothers or Wilson’s iconic Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. One of my other favorites is A Sense of Values. If you have not read any of Sloan Wilson’s books I suggest you try and discover this excellent writer.
Here the story revolves around how Captain Grant manages his officers. One (Mr. Simpson) is a rigid, by the book religious fundamentalist who has no people skills, another (Mr. Buller) is wishing to pad his resume for his hoped for future political career. Buller also has the love of the crew by stealing beer, granting relaxed rules, renting a party house while docked in Australia. And lastly (Mr. Wydanski) who is an older engineer in charge of the ship engine’s maintenance and repair and who wants nothing to do with taking sides in the clash of temperaments between Simpson and Buller. They all are charged with taking gas to those in need during the Battle for the Philippines.
I enjoyed this book during this second reading. It is not quite as good as the Ice Brothers or Wilson’s iconic Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. One of my other favorites is A Sense of Values. If you have not read any of Sloan Wilson’s books I suggest you try and discover this excellent writer.
August 30, 2015
Sloan Wilson is best known for his 1950's novel "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit". In "Pacific Interlude" he writes of the experiences of a Coast Guard crew aboard a WW II gas tanker during the U.S invasion of the Philippian Islands. The story's plot and characters are well written but the book still lacks the action and emotion that makes for a great war novel. It's still a reasonably good book however for war history buffs.
October 24, 2009
This is in my book log, but I don't remember any of the details.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews