Pacific Interlude

Sloan Wilson will always be best known for The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, and that's a shame. Towards the end of his career he wrote two books, fiction yet clearly based on his own experiences, taking place during World War 2, which are his finest works. Pacific Interlude is the second one, and it is one of my favorite books. It tells the story of the latter part of the Pacific war seen from the unlikely location of a small gas tanker, and particularly the perspective of the young 24 year old captain who finds himself in command. The book manages to attain total credibility, giving the reader a true feeling of what it must have been like living aboard that tanker. The ups and downs, matters petty and great, tragic and comic, all are mixed in a completely believable way. The book gives an excellent feeling of time and place, and while reading the novel a reader can almost feel like a silent crewmember of the ship. Everything from fear of fire and explosions from the flammable cargo, to fear of enemy warplanes, to fear of each other, is captured at various points. Wilson builds an interesting crew of fellow officers, each with differing strengths -- and definitely weaknesses -- during their forced voyage together. What I think really puts this book into the top tier in addition to the fact that it is a natural adventure story is the portrayal of the captain, Sylvester Grant. He is always conscious of feeling that he must play the part of captain, though he is never exactly sure what that is. His adjustments, uncertainty, and, despite living in extremely crowded quarters, loneliness, is portrayed perfectly. The first and last parts of the book take place on land -- Brisbane, Australia and the Philippines, and add to our understanding of the personalities of the people involved. Interspersed with the action of the story is the thinking, and musings of the captain. At various points of the novel, particularly the parts taking place on shore, the Captain's ambivalent views about his future post-war life, and his marriage and civilian career are highlighted. In a very natural almost subtle way, the book weaves together a great adventure story with an equally fascinating story of personal growth of the generally appealing but very human captain of the gas tanker. Sloan Wilson is clearly a writer of unusual talent, and combined with his vivid ability to put us into the situation, his ability to portray people in an interesting and realistic way sets this book apart from many other "war" stories. My sole complaint with the book is the ending -- it stops before the end of the war, and we never find out answers to various questions about Captain Grant, his crew or his ship. It could have at least used a postscript. But that is a small complaint regarding one of the best stories that I have ever read. This book may be hard to find, but it is worth the effort.