1950s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdist absurdity action action-packed activism adrenaline adrenaline-rush adventure aerial-combat aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft alternate-reality ambition american-literature american-southwest american-west arches-national-park arid atmospheric aviation aviators beauty betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie character-driven chase colorado-plateau combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conservation contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature courage danger dark-comedy dark-humor death desert desert-ecology desert-flora-and-fauna desert-landscape desert-landscapes desert-life destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story determination drama dream-like dreamlike dreams ecology emotional enigmatic environment environmental-activism environmental-ethics environmental-philosophy environmental-writing environmentalism exhilarating existential existentialism exploration fantasy fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots flying folklore friendship gripping haruki-murakami heroism hiking honor identity intense intensity introspection introspective isolation james japan japanese-culture japanese-literature journey korean-war landscape literary literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-affairs love-story love-triangle loyalty magic-realism magical-realism masculinity memoir metaphysical military military-fiction mind-bending moab mortality murakami mystery mythology national-park national-parks natural-beauty naturalist nature nature-writing non-fiction nonfiction nostalgia novel obsession outdoor outdoor-adventure outdoor-exploration outdoor-living parallel-universe parallel-worlds passion perseverance personal-narrative personal-reflection philosophical philosophy pilots pop-culture postmodern postmodernism preservation psychological pursuit quest redemption reflection relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalry romance sacrifice salter self-discovery sheep solitude southwest southwest-united-states spirituality struggle supernatural surreal surrealism survival suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolism the-hunters thrill thriller thrilling tokyo tragedy transformation triumph unconventional urban urban-fantasy utah victory vietnam vietnam-war war wilderness wildlife world-war-ii