I've seen several negative reviews of RR scattered around the Web and I think that they are not totally justified. True, the book would have improved immensely had it been edited properly (probably 30% could be lost without damaging the story) and true, I could have done without so many internal ruminations, but what is left is not that bad.
I doubt that anyone would claim that Clancy is a prose stylist, but when looking at the story, it's not too far removed from Le Carre's "Smiley's people" which is as much about defection as it is about anything else.
I think that the book would have been strengthened had the entire 'assassinate the Pope' story been dropped. True, this provides the impetus for the beginning and the story for the end, but to me it was anti-climatic. Had the Russian defector found a different reason to put his life on the line and had the story ended with his debriefing - or even the uncovering of some of the spies he mentions - then I think that the book would have been improved.
I hate to think whether the story about the British eye surgeons leaving in mid-operation in order to have their lunch (with wine) bares any connection to reality.
I started wondering about the taxi driver who takes the Ryans to their railway station every morning; he might have mentioned his clients' travel habits (and the fact that Jack Ryan was away for a few days) to a friend who might have mentioned it to a friend ... and thence to the Soviets. Nothing was made of this - which means that the driver's inner dialogue could have been removed - but it does lead to lax security.
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