FATE IS THE HUNTER

Rating:
Summary: Gahn is a true writer
Review: When I was in high school in the early 1960's, I read this bood for the first time. I have never forgotten it, and I reread it for the joy it brings to me.

I love Gahn's style of writing. With underplayed tone, Gahn presents true heroes: Keim, Watkins, O'Conner and more. The characters are rich and alive. What a story this man lived. Perhaps one of the most memorable portions of the book is the tribute to those contemporaries of the author whose..."wings are forever folded."

It is time to read this autobiographical account again.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly writen aviation memoir
Review: Others have comented on the manner in which Ernie Gann brings you into the cockpit. In this book, you smell the oil, see the lightning, feel the cold.

But I would like to add that this work is so very splendidly written! Gann is as much a master of the wonderful English language as he was of the Douglas C-54.

I can only compare him with St.-Ex or with Richard Bach at his best. If you love flight and you love good writing you will love "Fate Is the Hunter".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent example of airmanship, and authorship.
Review: This is my all-time favorite aviation book. It is one of the only books I have ever read more than once. Mr. Gann had a way of putting you right there in the cockpit with him -- no, even better, into his mind -- as he learned the ropes of commercial flying at a time when it was very much a pioneering activity.

The chapter on the severe icing encounter is absolutely spectacular writing. Indeed, it's been reprinted in other aviation anthologies, but taken in the context of the rest of his career, it's a really fantastic tale. I would recommend this book to pilots, aviaiton buffs, and anyone interested in wanting to master the art of the first-person narrative.

Rating:
Summary: ONCE YOU PICK THIS BOOK UP, IT WILL BE HARD TO PUT IT DOWN!
Review: This is, without a doubt, the best aviation related book I have ever read. Gann tells a story about "flying the line" in the early days. If you are an aspiring airline pilot, this is a must read. I have gained a tremenous amount of respect for pioneers like Gann, and learned a lifetime of lessons all in the same book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Reading!
Review: A wonderful story with history and life mixed together. Well written and insightful. Told in a simple manner by a man honest with himself and others. Hard times can make good people. And hard lessons can make good pilots. Buy this book and deliver the mail in icy weather without radar or sometimes even hope. Deliver war material anywhere in the world. A single mistake can be your last. Even if you don't care about airplanes- read this book. He will tell you about people- and yourself.

Rating:
Summary: The best book of them all
Review: Others have said it, I can only confirm it. This is the best book I've ever read. But, I was excited to find out that DOT has historical aircraft accidents reports on their web site in digital form (html & PDF). ...

I've been able to find every single one of the accidents from the book. Beginning with Scroggins & Moore (Pennsylvania Central Airlines 08/31/1940) and ending with Grossarth & Penn (Pan American Airlines 04/29/1952). Fascinating reading !

And, BTW, I think that Dudley's real name (only one altered in the book) is Barwick (National Airlines 01/14/1951).

If You loved the book You'll love the reports. It puts You back there on those DC-3s. As a pilot, I also find them very informative and educative. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Quietly Magnificent
Review: It's strange how little things become passions. After first reading FITH when I was 14, I reread it several time before loosing it. 30 years later I mentioned to my wife that it was a favourite of mine and she found me a first edition.
I was like falling in love again. Other books come and go from my bedside table - Sagittarius Rising, Guy De Mauppasaunt short stories, O Henry - but this beautiful, unassuming, honest little book is the one I keep coming back to.
This isn't a flying book, it is a great book.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: This is my favorite book. It is filled with loads of interesting stories that keep you reading for hours. It is one of the few books that I wished would never end. I think anyone who has ever looked up at an airplane or dreamed about flying would love this book. It is a true masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: The Passion and Pride of Flight
Review: As the son of a WWII Pilot, I was raised with stories of flight. No one has captured the essence of the people and the machines like Ernest Gann. I am on my third paperback version of this book. Never have I had such incredible mental pictures as those conjured up by this book. If I had to choose 5 books to take to a deserted island forever, this would surely be one of them.

Rating:
Summary: A classic "Page-Turner"
Review: I first read "Fate Is The Hunter" around 1970, and have just re-read it again (for about the fifth or sixth time). I found it to be just as compelling a page-turner now as I did more than three decades ago. Ernest Gann was an enormously talented story-teller. He had the ability to pull his reader into the cockpit, to share with him some of the events he experienced and so flawlessly describes. Vicariously sitting beside the author, the reader comes to understand and feel the accuracy of Gann's premise that Fate ever lurks in the mists, ready to crush the unwary---or unfortunate. This is a great book by a great author. A "must read."