Mark Helprin
The Oceans and the Stars by Mark Helprin tells the exploits of Stephen Rensselaer, a Navy captain nearing the end of his accomplished career. Called upon to speak in front of the president of the United States, Rensselaer annoys the president by brazenly defending a new type of warship. The president humiliates him by assigning him to command this prototype warship, the Athena. Rensselaer recognizes this assignment for what it is—a demotion. But he takes it in stride and embraces the challenge.
His adventures unfold when he is deployed to the Middle East, sinks an Iranian battle ship, and rescues tourists on a French cruise ship who have been captured by Isis-affiliated Somalis. But before any of this transpires, he meets and falls in love with Katy Farrar, a lawyer whose given name is Penelope. Rensselaer’s determination to overcome challenges and to return to his beloved “Penelope” sets up the obvious comparison with Odysseus.
The story line is interesting and can be exciting, at times. But the narrative gets bogged down with excessive technical information about military equipment, Athena’s navigation and structure, and how she differs from other ships in her class. These technical descriptions are tedious and can go on for several pages.
The novel suffers from weak characterization. Although men are more fully developed than the few female characters, their dialogue is unnatural and stiff. This is especially true of Rensselaer who tries too hard to sound erudite, comes across as pompous, and seems intent to baffle his crew with his literary allusions. The few women who are mentioned, including Katy, are described almost exclusively by their ravishing appearance. They are all so beautiful that men can’t help fawning all over them.
And, finally, the existence of rampant stereotyping is troublesome. The navy men suffer from a strong dose of male machismo, and the bad guys are described in such a way as to fuel Arab stereotypes. They are barbaric, undisciplined, savage, uncouth, and smell badly. There is no ambiguity or nuance in their portrayal. The lines of conflict are clearly drawn and depicted as a case of angels versus devils; good versus evil. This is unrealistic because in the real world, conflicts can seldom be so simply and so clearly delineated.