1950s 1970s a-wild-sheep-chase absurdity action adrenaline adventure aerial-combat aerial-warfare air-combat air-force alternate-history alternate-reality ambition american-dream american-literature americas-pastime army atmospheric aviation baseball betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie career career-ending-injury character-driven childhood childhood-hero childhood-heroes class-struggle classic classic-literature combat coming-of-age competition comradeship contemporary contemporary-fiction courage danger dark-humor death destiny detective detective-story determination drama dream-like dreams duty dystopia dystopian dystopian-future dystopian-society enigmatic escapism evolution existential existentialism exploration failure fame family family-drama family-secrets fantasy father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots flying forgiveness friendship future future-society gripping h.g.-wells haruki-murakami hawaii healing hero heroism historical-fiction hometown-hero honor hope human-evolution human-nature humanity identity imagination injury intense intensity introspection introspective isolation james japan japanese-literature journey justice korean-war legacy literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-story loyalty magical-realism major-league major-league-baseball masculinity metaphysical military military-fiction mind-bending morality mystery mythology nostalgia novel obsession passion pearl-harbor perseverance philosophical philosophy pilots pitcher post-apocalyptic postmodern professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-sports progress psychological quest reconciliation redemption regret relationships resilience revenge rivalries rivalry romance rookie sacrifice salter science-fiction scientific-exploration second-chances secrets self-discovery sheep small-town social-commentary social-hierarchy society soldiers speculative-fiction sports storytelling success supernatural surreal surrealism survival suspense suspenseful symbolism talent technological-advancements technology the-hunters thrill thrilling time-travel tokyo tragedy transformation triumph unconventional underdog utopia victorian-era victory vietnam vietnam-war war world-war-ii youth