The Cardinal Of The Kremlin (1989) - Plot & Excerpts
The Cardinal of the KremlintThe Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy recounts a fictional story of political intrigue and espionage between the United States of America and the United Soviet Socialist Republic (U.S.S.R.) during the Cold War era. The book is 547 pages long, and was published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons in 1988. The plot revolves around the two nation’s development of a program akin to the Strategic Defense Initiative originally proposed by Ronald Reagan, which was devoted to serve as an aegis to the country in the event of nuclear war. The main characters are Jack Ryan, a United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counter-espionage data analyst, and Colonel Mikhail Semyonovich Filitov also known as the Cardinal, a highly placed spy in the Soviet Defense Ministry. The Cardinal of the Kremlin is predominantly in the point of view of Jack Ryan, however it does change to encompass Colonel Filitov, the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnasti (KGB) Chairman Gerasimov, and various lower stationed officials. Tom Clancy utilizes characterization, point of view, and setting to present the audience with the full story in a convoluted plot around the clandestine art known as espionage.tTom Clancy breaks through the traditional “secret agent” archetype in order to present the audience with memorable and relatable characters. The main character, Jack Ryan, is not a clandestine, silver-tongued agent, but rather a wealthy ex-marine who spends most of his time analyzing data at a desk at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Likewise, Colonel “Misha” Filitov is not a dapper young American sympathizer, instead he is an aged Soviet war hero that fulfills a role akin to secretary to the defense minister. With the plethora of spy novels available, Clancy’s characterization of these key figures sets his novel apart. As with any spy novel, The Cardinal of the Kremlin is full of unforeseen plot twists, many of them uncontrollable, and many of them facilitated by these characters themselves. Clancy’s deep and personal characterization allows the reader to understand why characters made the choices that they did.tThe way of espionage is “to know” without allowing one’s enemies “to know”, therefore it would not be logical if one character with a single allegiance knows all of the facts. Tom Clancy expertly utilizes point of view to present readers with the full story in a realistic fashion. Usually, Jack Ryan or a lesser functionary is used to convey the United States’ plans and knowledge, while Misha Filitov or Chairman Gerasimov fulfills a similar role for the U.S.S.R. As is true in reality none of these characters, no matter rank, have the full picture. To remedy this, Clancy uses perspective changes to give the reader the entire story while still maintaining realism. Utilizing point of view in this fashion allows for dramatic irony, however given the context it is usually fairly somber. ttThe Cardinal of the Kremlin is set predominantly in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However, Clancy also utilizes various locations in the United States and the Afghan-Pakistani border. Due to the sparsely populated nature of the U.S.S.R., the upper echelons of military and civilian society inhabit Moscow, the capital. This means that most of the state decisions are made in Moscow, therefore the majority of politics and intrigue occur there. At this time the Soviet Union is fighting a war against the United States-backed Muhajideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan. By incorporating this location Clancy is able to add action to the novel, without which he would lose many of his reader’s attention. While much of the political machinations take place in Moscow, the United States, particularly Washington D.C. and New Mexico are also settings. These places are where the United States agents and functionaries meet and voice their thoughts and plans. Whereas doing so in Moscow would be committing the unthinkable. Throughout the novel, Clancy maintains a sense of realism which is continued in the setting as all of the locations were important during the Cold War. tTom Clancy masterfully manipulates characterization, point of view, and setting to present a realistic espionage novel that shatters typical archetypes. Rather than the common furtive, clandestine, spies who typically inhabit “spy” novels, Clancy’s characters are each unique and resemble an everyday person one may meet. Clancy also makes successful use of point of view in order to present the audience with the full story while still making the book believable. His choice of setting serves both to hold the reader’s attention while not detracting from the other facets of the story. The Cardinal of the Kremlin is an engaging espionage novel that breaks the usual boundaries while still maintaining the sense of realism that is eminent in all of his publications.
Of the 7 or so Tom Clancy novels I've read in the course of my life, I think this one may be the best (and seeing as it's one of his better rated books on Amazon, it's obvious a lot of his fans feel that way as well). His fourth novel (though, chronologically speaking, it is in fact the 5th novel in the Ryanverse), it's perhaps best known among his fans for introducing a number of new characters who would go on to play major roles in future books of the series, such as the husband and wife spy team of Ed and Mary Pat Foley and also the mysterious spook known here only as Mr. Clark, the so-called "dark side" of Jack Ryan and a fan favorite (and who would go on to star in the novels "Without Remorse" and "Rainbow Six"). While on some level the plot is somewhat similar to "The Hunt for Red October" (in that Jack Ryan once again finds himself taking part in a mission to help a highly-placed Soviet spy to defect), I found this book did away with the technical mumbo-jumbo of "October" and the over-emotional melodrama of "Patriot Games" to focus on a much more swift-moving story. The first half of the book deals with spy vs. spy espionage in 1980's Moscow, with various subplots involving the race between the American and Russian governments to create a breakthrough in the "Star Wars" space defense industry: there's also a character known as The Archer who is leading a band of rebels in a fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. As usual with most of Clancy's books, the seemingly disparate plot threads all come together in the last few chapters, making for an exciting ending. One thing that differentiates this novel from Clancy's later (and even some of his earlier) books is that there's no clear villain to root against here. The Archer is a violent terrorist who kills Russian soldiers in Allah's name, but at the same time he's a complex character with motivation for his crusade (the Soviets killed his family), and Clancy obviously sees him as a noble figure. Most of the Soviets he's fighting against are just men and women with families of their own who are only doing their job and following orders. The head of the KGB (and perhaps the closest thing the book has to a bad guy) is power-hungry and ambitious but at the end of the day still cares about his wife and daughter. Even the American lesbian traitor (a character that, thankfully, only appears in less than 30 pages) betrays her country less out of maliciousness and more out of loneliness and a misguided attempt to bring about world peace. Because we get at least one glimpse into the minds of many of the novel's main characters and are thus privy to their inner thoughts and perspectives, the reader is never quite sure who they should be rooting for: even the Cardinal character, who has been spying against the Soviet Union for the USA for years, feels great guilt over his treason. As a result, the novel has a sort of gray and moral ambiguity one doesn't often associate with Clancy's work. Of course, there are the usual flaws at work (trivial characters who appear then disappear just as fast, chronological inconsistencies, and so on). But here they don't distract one from the story as much as in some of Clancy's other books.
What do You think about The Cardinal Of The Kremlin (1989)?
I will not deny it - I am a massive fan of Tom Clancy. He is a master storyteller and his knowledge of politics and political departments is astounding. This Jack Ryan novel follows on from "The Hunt for Red October" and is set in Russia, Afghanistan and America. It starts quite slowly and my advice to anyone reading it for the first time, pay attention to the characters even in the slow parts because it gets fast-paced later and you find yourself getting mixed up, especially with the Russians.The story is set towards the end of the Cold War and it describes the race to develop lasers as weapons, or indeed destroyers of weapons, in both the USSR and the USA. What this novel details beautifully is the nuances of espionage, and hiw easy and prevalent it was. For all we commoners know, still is. Miniscule signals that everyday people would miss. And Jack Ryan, the CIA analyst who keeps surprising everyone, especially the Russians, who really don't know how to handle him.Great story, slowish start but if you wade through the first 5 chapters or so which set the scene, it becomes harder and harder to put the book down. If you are planning on reading further Jack Ryan novels, a word of advice - remember the characters because you WILL meet them all again later!
—Pearl
So, thanks to a coworker, I was a bit of a Tom Clancy kick. I watched Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. Then I read this novel, which picks up right after Hunt for Red October ends. The book gives an amazing vertical slice of the cold war, from as low as guerilla conflict in the middle east to as high as the President of the US and the General Secretary of the USSR. There's a large cast of research dudes, military dudes, spy dudes, and politicians.The strongest parts were definitely the military characters, and the tangled web of intrigue. The plot line involving the US arming the Mujahideen remains relevant to more recent history. And missile defence tech is still relevant too, I would imagine. The weakest parts were the somewhat preachy digs at communism and the Soviet people. And the female characters. Trying not to spoil anything, but the point at which the lesbian character decides to "make her move" was just... cringe worthy.I really liked the two main themes of the book though. Which is that military dudes from all countries are all comrades, and the real assholes are the politicians. And that tough old Soviet war heroes are bad-ass.
—Ches
The CIA’s most highly-placed agent, codenamed CARDINAL, is Colonel Mikhail Semyonovich Filitov a 3 time hero of the Soviet Union. He begins passing information to the US but is compromised so Ryan leads a CIA operation to extract him. The information includes anti-satellite lasers and other SDI-type weapons, and the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Ryan successfully flips Gerasimov the head of KGB, who has seen the writing on the wall, and fetches Filitov from his confinement using his power as the KGB Chairman. They then stop at Sheremetyevo Airport, awaiting the departure of the American delegation. Unfortunately, two security officers are clued into the operation: Klementi Vladimirovich Vatutin, a Colonel of the KGB's Second Chief Directorate who had arrested and interrogated two cutouts in Filitov's courier chain. and Sergey Nikolayevch Golovko, an officer of the KGB’s First Chief Directorate (the “Foreign” Directorate). As the pair pursues Gerasimov and Filitov, Ryan falls from the aircraft to the tarmac, and is taken into custody by an enraged Golovko, who points an (unloaded) gun at Ryan's head. Ryan orders the plane to depart, banking on his diplomatic status to protect him from harm. This is the occasion on which Golovko gives Ryan the Russian-style patronymic Ivan Emmetovich (John, Son of Emmet), which is used in later novels.
—Brian
