1950s achievement action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-fueled adrenaline-junkie adrenaline-junkies adrenaline-rush adventure aerial aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft airplanes alpine alpine-climbing alpinism alps ambition american-literature atmospheric aviation aviators beautiful-prose betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie challenge challenges character-driven character-study climbers climbing climbing-culture combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict conquering-fears conquest courage danger dangerous-missions death desire destiny determination drama dreams duty eiger emotional endurance escapism espionage excitement exhilarating exhilaration existential existentialism expedition expeditions exploration extreme extreme-conditions extreme-sports fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilot fighter-pilots fighter-planes flying friendship grief gripping heroes heroism high-altitude high-altitude-climbing hiking himalayas honor human-spirit hunters hunting inspiration inspirational intense intensity introspection introspective james james-salter korean-war literary literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty machismo masculinity memoir military military-fiction military-life morality mortality mount-everest mountain-climbing mountain-ranges mountaineering mountaineering-culture mountaineering-expeditions mountaineering-history mountaineering-literature mountaineers mountains nature non-fiction novel obsession outdoor outdoor-activities outdoor-adventure outdoor-adventures outdoor-exploration outdoor-pursuits outdoor-sports outdoors passion peak-bagging perseverance personal-accounts personal-growth personal-narratives pilot pilots poetic post-war power-dynamics psychological psychological-exploration psychological-impact pursuit redemption relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry rock-climbing romance sacrifice salter self-discovery skill squadron storytelling strategy struggle success summit survival suspense suspenseful swiss-alps switzerland teamwork tension the-hunters thrill thrill-seeking thriller thrilling tragedy trauma triumph true-stories victory vietnam vietnam-war visceral vivid-imagery war war-story wilderness world-war-ii