1940s 1950s action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-fueled adrenaline-rush adultery adventure aerial aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force airborne aircraft airplane airplanes ambition american-dream american-literature army army-life atmospheric aviation aviators beautiful-prose bestseller betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie captivating character-development character-driven character-study christianity classic combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict corruption courage danger dangerous-missions death destiny determination dogfights drama dreams duty elite emotional emotions endurance escapism espionage evocative excitement exhilarating exhilaration existential existentialism fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilot fighter-pilots fighter-planes flying forbidden-love friendship friendships grief gripping grit gritty haunting hawaii hawaiian-islands heroes heroism historical-fiction history honolulu honor hunters hunting infantry infidelity intense intensity introspection introspective james james-salter japanese-attack korean-war life literary literary-fiction literature loss love love-affair love-affairs love-story love-triangle loyalty lust machismo male-bonding male-friendships manhood masculinity military military-fiction military-life moral-dilemmas morality mortality narrative novel obsession pacific-theater passion passionate pearl-harbor perseverance philosophy pilot pilots poetic poignant post-war power power-dynamics prose psychoanalysis psychological psychological-exploration psychological-impact psychology pulitzer-prize pursuit racism redemption relationships religiousaspects resilience risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry romance sacrifice salter self-discovery skill soldier soldiers squadron strategy struggle success survival suspense suspenseful teamwork tension testosterone the-hunters thrill thrill-seeking thriller thrillers thrilling tragedy tragic training trauma triumph victory vietnam vietnam-war violence visceral vivid-imagery war war-fiction war-novel war-story world-war-ii wwii