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As someone who gets claustrophobic quite easily, and who isn't a big lover of the sea - a knee high paddle is my ceiling, its murky depths out there you can forget it - then this book read like a 570 page panic attack. Its tension at times was like being held in a chokehold, making it by far the most stressed out I've ever been in regards a WWII novel. The writing isn't anything spectacular but its gritty realism - Buchheim’s own experiences as a war correspondent aboard a German U-boat obviously helped - cannot be faulted. It's not really strong in the characterization department, and is focused more on the general day to day life for the crew aboard their vessel, as well as lengthy descriptions of both the weather and the sea - the boat getting thrown about like a toy during a raging storm would be enough to make anyone seasick. I believe apart from the ending which is wholly fictional, and a few other things here and there, a lot of the events captured in the novel are 100% accurate. Buchheim does ramble on in regards the overall environment - from squalid living conditions to the effects boredom had on the men - but this only escalates further just what life was really like on a U-boat trapped out at sea -zero excitement and adventure. If that's what made them sign up then that would only come in dreams. That's if they could actually get any sleep, because I know I wouldn't that's for damn sure. It's too long yes, but then I'd much prefer this to it being too short. Had I already seen the film then I doubt I would have it, so glad I went with the book first.