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Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator
Sam Hynes was a young Marine bomber pilot in World War II. He flew more than 100 missions against the Japanese. He was just 18 when he left home to learn to fly and 21 at the war's end.
In this memoir, he remembers the sensations he experienced in his rites of passage from untrained cadet to war-weary aviator, from innocence to manhood. He presents portraits of his fellow aviators, of the wonder of flying and of the madness of war.
Samuel Hynes is author of "The Auden Generation" and "Edwardian Occasions" and editor of the three volume "Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy"
In this memoir, he remembers the sensations he experienced in his rites of passage from untrained cadet to war-weary aviator, from innocence to manhood. He presents portraits of his fellow aviators, of the wonder of flying and of the madness of war.
Samuel Hynes is author of "The Auden Generation" and "Edwardian Occasions" and editor of the three volume "Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Hardy"
270 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Samuel Hynes
58 books12 followersA scholar and literary critic, Samuel Lynn Hynes Jr. attended the University of Minnesota before serving in the United States Marines as a torpedo bomber pilot during the Second World War. After completing his degree at the University of Minnesota, he earned his masters and doctorate degrees from Columbia University. Hynes taught at Swarthmore College from 1949 until 1968, Northwestern University from 1968 until 1976, and Princeton University from 1976 until his retirement as Woodrow Wilson professor of literature emeritus in 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
October 23, 2024
Coming Of Age During WW II
Samuel Hynes (1924 -- 2019) lived with his struggling family in Minneapolis and attended college for a year before volunteering for the Navy Flight Program in 1943. His memoir, "Flights of Passage: Recollections of a World War II Aviator" (1988) is an account of his WW II experiences. Equally important, it is a story of "Flights of Passage" as a fighter pilot, under 21 years old throughout the War, struggles to reach adulthood. Hynes observes at the outset of his memoir: "Every generation is a secret society. The secret that my generation -- the one that came of age during the Second World War -- shared was simply the war itself." A little later, Hynes described himself as "a true believer in the religion of flight".
The story begins when the eighteen year old Hynes leaves for Navy Flight School at the train station with his undemonstrative father and ends upon his return to the States at the conclusion of the War. Most of the book describes Hynes's experiences in Navy Flight School in the long, demanding attempt to become a Navy officer and pilot. The process is described engagingly and in great detail as Hynes describes the planes, his teachers, military discipline and the course of his progress. He also describes the comradeship that developed among his fellows, some of whom remained with him through the course of the War, while others died.
In addition to the training, the memoir describes a young man's efforts to grow under harsh circumstances. Hynes and his fellows deal, in particular, with sexuality in its personal and commercial forms. With little experience with women, Hynes found himself married at age 19. The book also describes Hynes' and his comrades extensive experience with alcohol which often came to fill the long stretches of tension, boredom, and tedium during flight training. In addition to describing the life of a young aspiring pilot and military life, Hynes describes the trains and rail stations of the day and the cities in the South and West he saw during training and during leaves. The young Hynes struggled unsuccessfully to see himself as an adult. But he found a something he loved and could do well in flight.
Hynes came to the War in its final few months. Before reaching combat, he experienced boredom and tedium on the West coast and on small Pacific islands removed from the front. He describes in great detail his experiences as a dive bomber on Okinawa during this pivotal late campaign. Hynes is also introspective as he discusses his response to the War and his continued search for growth and adulthood.
Hynes describes places I had the opportunity to see during my own working life many years after WW II, including Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, the Marshall Islands, and more. I had never studied WW II in detail, but his book helped me understand the War and my later working life. The book is beautifully written and inevitably reflects the insights of a much older man looking back.
Following the War, Hynes returned to pursue his education, ultimately earning a PhD in English. He taught at Princeton University from 1976 until he retired as Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature in 1990. He extensive writing includes scholarly publications on English literature as well as this memoir and a memoir of his younger life, "The Growing Seasons: An American Boyhood Before the War" (2003) Hynes served as a consultant for the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick 2007 documentary "The War".
This book is available in a Library of America volume "World War II Memoirs: The Pacific Theater" (2021) as well as separately. I was moved to read Hynes's story. It helped me understand our country and its war effort.
Robin Friedman
Samuel Hynes (1924 -- 2019) lived with his struggling family in Minneapolis and attended college for a year before volunteering for the Navy Flight Program in 1943. His memoir, "Flights of Passage: Recollections of a World War II Aviator" (1988) is an account of his WW II experiences. Equally important, it is a story of "Flights of Passage" as a fighter pilot, under 21 years old throughout the War, struggles to reach adulthood. Hynes observes at the outset of his memoir: "Every generation is a secret society. The secret that my generation -- the one that came of age during the Second World War -- shared was simply the war itself." A little later, Hynes described himself as "a true believer in the religion of flight".
The story begins when the eighteen year old Hynes leaves for Navy Flight School at the train station with his undemonstrative father and ends upon his return to the States at the conclusion of the War. Most of the book describes Hynes's experiences in Navy Flight School in the long, demanding attempt to become a Navy officer and pilot. The process is described engagingly and in great detail as Hynes describes the planes, his teachers, military discipline and the course of his progress. He also describes the comradeship that developed among his fellows, some of whom remained with him through the course of the War, while others died.
In addition to the training, the memoir describes a young man's efforts to grow under harsh circumstances. Hynes and his fellows deal, in particular, with sexuality in its personal and commercial forms. With little experience with women, Hynes found himself married at age 19. The book also describes Hynes' and his comrades extensive experience with alcohol which often came to fill the long stretches of tension, boredom, and tedium during flight training. In addition to describing the life of a young aspiring pilot and military life, Hynes describes the trains and rail stations of the day and the cities in the South and West he saw during training and during leaves. The young Hynes struggled unsuccessfully to see himself as an adult. But he found a something he loved and could do well in flight.
Hynes came to the War in its final few months. Before reaching combat, he experienced boredom and tedium on the West coast and on small Pacific islands removed from the front. He describes in great detail his experiences as a dive bomber on Okinawa during this pivotal late campaign. Hynes is also introspective as he discusses his response to the War and his continued search for growth and adulthood.
Hynes describes places I had the opportunity to see during my own working life many years after WW II, including Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, the Marshall Islands, and more. I had never studied WW II in detail, but his book helped me understand the War and my later working life. The book is beautifully written and inevitably reflects the insights of a much older man looking back.
Following the War, Hynes returned to pursue his education, ultimately earning a PhD in English. He taught at Princeton University from 1976 until he retired as Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature in 1990. He extensive writing includes scholarly publications on English literature as well as this memoir and a memoir of his younger life, "The Growing Seasons: An American Boyhood Before the War" (2003) Hynes served as a consultant for the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick 2007 documentary "The War".
This book is available in a Library of America volume "World War II Memoirs: The Pacific Theater" (2021) as well as separately. I was moved to read Hynes's story. It helped me understand our country and its war effort.
Robin Friedman
January 8, 2014
Normally I like my pilot Memoirs to be more literal than lyrical, but in this case Sam Hynes has captured with poetic perfection what it must be like for a young man to go off to war. The author is such a pleasant storyteller that the reader barely notices that over 50% of the book is about training, or waiting for combat orders to come. Hynes experience brings to mind the old quote that "War is interminable boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror"
Sam Hynes was my favorite contributor on Ken Burns series "The War", and I knew about his other books, but this one somehow escaped my attention. I hope it doesn't escape yours.
Sam Hynes was my favorite contributor on Ken Burns series "The War", and I knew about his other books, but this one somehow escaped my attention. I hope it doesn't escape yours.
November 9, 2024
Not a great deal happens in this military memoir. Lots of drinking, waiting and island hopping but not much action. It’s a strange inclusion in the recent Library of America’s Pacific Theatre World War II memoirs.
March 3, 2012
I didn't discover this book until around 2003, I think it was. I'd just read Hynes' other memoir, The Growing Seasons, and wanted to know what happened next. I ordered Flights of Passage and absolutely loved it! I've read it a couple more times since then and even wrote to Sam asking him what happened next? More story, please! He did tell me that he was reactivated briefly by the USMC during the Korean War, but never got to Korea. Said he thinks he may have been the only active duty marine at that time working on a dissertation in English Lit. Sam showed up as one of the principals on Ken Burns' PBS special, The War. His presence and his part of the narration added a special kind of added "class" to the production. He tells me he's been working most recently on a book about aviators from the First World War. Hope he gets it done soon. I know I'll read it. Sam Hynes makes good writing look easy.
February 12, 2011
If you're looking for an exciting WWII memoir, this is not the book for you. Hynes was assigned to fly a torpedo bomber in an area of the Pacific theater where it doesn't seem as though torpedo bombers have much use. There's a lot of waiting around for the next assignment, drinking, waiting around, talking with the buddies on base, waiting and talking, waiting and drinking, talking about waiting, talking about drinking, complaining about waiting, blah, blah, blah. They might as well have been on coastal patrol in New Jersey for all I could tell. I suppose it was interesting to see another side of the War, but this one was tough to get through.
May 9, 2011
This should be required reading for college freshmen. Too few young people have any idea of what life was like for the WWII aviators, or for anyone during that time, for that matter.
I found myself becoming strangely attached to the real-life characters, perhaps because at the time I was searching for anything that would tell me more about what life was like at that time for my father. Samue Hynes and my father were both at the Naval Air Station in DeLand, Florida at the same time, although it turns out they did not know each other.
Anyway, this book goes a long ways toward debunking the history revisionists.
I found myself becoming strangely attached to the real-life characters, perhaps because at the time I was searching for anything that would tell me more about what life was like at that time for my father. Samue Hynes and my father were both at the Naval Air Station in DeLand, Florida at the same time, although it turns out they did not know each other.
Anyway, this book goes a long ways toward debunking the history revisionists.
November 22, 2014
Here is the story of a young man's journey to war, from a Marine aviation cadet from Minnesota to a full-fledged dive bomber pilot flying sorties against the Japanese during the Battle for Okinawa.
October 21, 2007
Hynes, a compelling talking head on Ken Burns's half-baked WWII documentary, was a Marine pilot in the waning days of WWII. He can actually write (he became a distinguished literature professor @ Princeton) and he has some lovely turns of phrase, but the book - a memoir rather than a diary - seems more about the juvenile pranks that he and his peers played that shedding insight into his wartime serivce.
January 11, 2025
I picked this book up on a whim as part of a bundle of other books. I didn’t know at the time, but that choice was one of the best I’ve made in a long time.
This book is simply incredible. It tells two stories—one of war and humanity (are those distinct?). Both are expertly weaved together to create one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The author’s observations on the human experience are incredibly profound. Though my life has little in common with Hynes’, I was shocked by how deeply his observations and struggles resonated with me. The author commands the written word with the same mastery he commands his aircraft. As soon as I put this book down I wanted to restart it to compile my favorite quotes.
This book is simply incredible. It tells two stories—one of war and humanity (are those distinct?). Both are expertly weaved together to create one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The author’s observations on the human experience are incredibly profound. Though my life has little in common with Hynes’, I was shocked by how deeply his observations and struggles resonated with me. The author commands the written word with the same mastery he commands his aircraft. As soon as I put this book down I wanted to restart it to compile my favorite quotes.
April 19, 2022
An personal, but unsentimental memoir of Hynes's service as a Marine aviator in the Pacific in World War II not a military history--a well-crafted and thoughtful work that captures one individual's part in a historical event.
April 3, 2015
The author has such a laid-back style, his retelling rarely changing its emotional low-key, that this book probably has an audience limited to readers interested in aviation and WWII Pacific theatre history. Subtitled "Recollections of a World War II Aviator," Hynes' retelling has remarkable depth of detail (did the author keep a diary or journal?) but his personal reflections stay mostly on the surface.
For reads on a similar topic—wartime aviation—I recommend James Bradley's Flyboys or James Salter's The Hunters. Hynes' book can be a nice complement to Bradley's history. Salter's novel is a very good read and explores the psychological complexities that Hynes avoids.
For reads on a similar topic—wartime aviation—I recommend James Bradley's Flyboys or James Salter's The Hunters. Hynes' book can be a nice complement to Bradley's history. Salter's novel is a very good read and explores the psychological complexities that Hynes avoids.
February 5, 2024
Hynes recounts his World War II days, training to fly and fight for the Marines, eventually joining combat in a dive bomber in the Pacific during the last months of the war.
The melancholy tone from Hynes' first book, The Growing Seasons, returned with this follow-up tome. World War II, he will have us know, was not what the newsreels showed us, not what the generic press releases to local newspapers claimed it to be.
His World War II was one of the temporary friendships forged by war. Friends separated to join the various services. New friends parted during training, as some washed out, and assignments scattered men to all corners of the country for further refinement. Death took more. Camaraderie came with a good bottle of whiskey, in a bawdy song sung at a seedy bar. Morale was at its highest when units formed and solidified, and entered combat together.
Hynes' war was one of tests, with a capital "T." Tests of manhood included the conquering of women, the first shot fired in anger. He constantly wondered whether or not he would pass life's tests. In reality, he was his own harsh grader.
His gently flowing prose leads one from his midwestern home to the Plains to the southeast to California and out to the weather beaten rocks of the Pacific. He pulls the veil off the blankly smiling facade that is pre-Vietnam America. Men chased women, sometimes got them, and talked rudely about their experiences. There were dirty jokes in the 1940s. Young men awash in a sea of alcohol with nothing to do but wait to die will do what we all know young men do: get drunk, fight, womanize.
As a flight officer, though, the nineteen-year-old Hynes learned responsibility. He even got married just before shipping out, accepting the terms of that test, knowing he didn't know if he would come back to support the woman he believed he loved, though he admitted he really didn't even know her that well.
By the end of the war, when he had lost friends, including some very close to him, he experienced the soulless callousness combat bears. Men crashed and died before his eyes, and movies paused only long enough for the darkness to re-envelop the burning crash sites.
Only the survivors could grab that ultimate title of lifelong friend. The men who died during the war had their lives cut short in the many stupid ways men die during times of political upheaval, and never got the chance to let their friendships mature.
The Growing Seasons and Flights of Passage should be read back-to-back and are, in my opinion, destined to be all-time classic works of American history. They are among the best books I have ever read on any subject.
The melancholy tone from Hynes' first book, The Growing Seasons, returned with this follow-up tome. World War II, he will have us know, was not what the newsreels showed us, not what the generic press releases to local newspapers claimed it to be.
His World War II was one of the temporary friendships forged by war. Friends separated to join the various services. New friends parted during training, as some washed out, and assignments scattered men to all corners of the country for further refinement. Death took more. Camaraderie came with a good bottle of whiskey, in a bawdy song sung at a seedy bar. Morale was at its highest when units formed and solidified, and entered combat together.
Hynes' war was one of tests, with a capital "T." Tests of manhood included the conquering of women, the first shot fired in anger. He constantly wondered whether or not he would pass life's tests. In reality, he was his own harsh grader.
His gently flowing prose leads one from his midwestern home to the Plains to the southeast to California and out to the weather beaten rocks of the Pacific. He pulls the veil off the blankly smiling facade that is pre-Vietnam America. Men chased women, sometimes got them, and talked rudely about their experiences. There were dirty jokes in the 1940s. Young men awash in a sea of alcohol with nothing to do but wait to die will do what we all know young men do: get drunk, fight, womanize.
As a flight officer, though, the nineteen-year-old Hynes learned responsibility. He even got married just before shipping out, accepting the terms of that test, knowing he didn't know if he would come back to support the woman he believed he loved, though he admitted he really didn't even know her that well.
By the end of the war, when he had lost friends, including some very close to him, he experienced the soulless callousness combat bears. Men crashed and died before his eyes, and movies paused only long enough for the darkness to re-envelop the burning crash sites.
Only the survivors could grab that ultimate title of lifelong friend. The men who died during the war had their lives cut short in the many stupid ways men die during times of political upheaval, and never got the chance to let their friendships mature.
The Growing Seasons and Flights of Passage should be read back-to-back and are, in my opinion, destined to be all-time classic works of American history. They are among the best books I have ever read on any subject.
July 28, 2020
Flights of Passage is one of two books that fundamentally changed my perceptions regarding WWII, the other being S0ldier from the War Returning. Born in 1949, as a child and a young man I imbibed the then-current literature and media product about the "The War" and idolized the men of "the Greatest Generation" who fought and won the war. Flights of Passage is a wonderfully well-crafted memoir by a former USMC torpedo bomber pilot who at the end of his pilot training program declined his opportunity to become a fighter pilot, the far more attractive choice to many trainees. The author recalls with extraordinary clarity the banality of training and combat. Many inexperienced and naive boys and young men think war will be fun and, perhaps, glamorous, their big opportunity to prove themselves brave and heroic. In reality, of course, modern mechanized warfare, the business of wholesale slaughter, death, and destruction, is anything but fun. It's typically terrifying, mind-numbing, and psychologically damaging to all concerned, especially so to those who serve in combat. Samuel Hynes' Flights of Passage is replete with interesting, compelling, clear-eyed recollections of training and combat that glamorize and glorify nothing while conveying accurately many of the realities of the daily lives of a group of young pilots who fought and in many cases died in the service of their country in the Pacific theater during WWII. There is no fluff, no puffery, no nonsense, no propaganda in Hynes writing. Know this: A writer who can make the banality of war interesting and compelling reading is a master craftsman. Flights of Passage is a mature work written for a mature audience, readers who take, or who wish to take, life and literature seriously.
October 20, 2021
The only reason this book made it 4/5 stars is because it dealt with a topic rarely seen in memoirs about WWII - or at least, that I have seen. It was written by a white male in the 40's, but other than the occasional sexist remark, or the occasional implicit bias written into the story line, it did an amazing job of giving me a glimpse of what it was like to be in the air during the War.
January 27, 2021
I think saying it was a "pleasant read" sums it up. Not compelling but still enjoyable like a low-key friend. I liked it for its normalcy and for the fact that the author was so far from cliche with his storytelling. No bravado or oversentimentality. My father flew transport in WWII and this book most likely helped me to understand some of his experiences.
June 25, 2021
I enjoyed this immensely and was excited to read it after watching Ken Burns' The War. He's a great writer, and I think he perfectly captures what it must've been like for such a young man to head off to war. An honest coming of age narrative.
February 20, 2022
Very good read. I only wish the author shared a few photos. He mentions several times about having specific pictures of various people, but doesn’t show them. One of my favorite things about reading these books is putting faces to the names.
August 28, 2018
Easily the most boring memoir of wartime service I have ever read.
May 29, 2019
Recommended for any hopeful aviator, engrossing and funny.
August 30, 2019
Great memoir, especially if you love flying.
January 1, 2022
I enjoyable read about someone who goes from high school teenager to Marine pilot during WWII. The content at times is humorous and also a bit raunchy; after all Marines will be Marines!
March 18, 2023
Worth a read a coming of age in war.... less combat more about growing up..... I can see why the night fighter pilot who penned Deliverance liked the book,
June 23, 2024
I lost interest slightly before the halfway point. Some of his points were interesting, but Mr. Hynes seemed to write as if it were a journal. The stories were unorganized and difficult to follow.
November 29, 2012
Those of us who have never served in the armed forces know intellectually that teenagers have seen front-line duty in wars, but I’m never really been privileged to hear a veteran talk about the transition from high school student to warrior. In this incredibly accessible, funny, and poignant memoir, Sam Hynes does just that. Shipped off to aviator training right out of school in the middle of World War II, he is two men: a confident, often drunk young man and an officer charged with flying warplanes against the Japanese. His success is surviving both of those challenging worlds largely unscathed.
Hynes relives the ups and downs of military training along with the urgency and boredom of combat duty. He admits to a couple mistakes that, given a stricter commanding officer, could have prematurely ended his flying career. He contrasts his youthful illusions of being indestructable with the real deaths of his comrades. The genius of the account, however, is that he’s able to tell it in the voice of the 18- or 20-year-old he once was. Hynes successfully retells the tale as he experienced it as a young man, not as he might reflect on it as an old veteran.
It’s that voice that allows us to see the bravery and the bravado the pilot needs to enter into battle against unknown odds, confident in himself and his machine. Hynes is able to find in himself the young man who, in the midst of the Pacific war against the Japanese, could bomb enemy airstrips by day and steal Jeeps to go get drunk at night.
Though his is a war memoir, he brings life and gaity to his story. I’m not the sort of person who believes strongly dystopian stories because I think that, somewhere along the line, most people will learn how to have at least a little fun in their lives. Hynes and his fellow pilots certainly did, despite the dire circumstances that brought them together. That humanity shines throughout this memoir, making it much easier for me to understand the transition from teenager to warrior.
Hynes relives the ups and downs of military training along with the urgency and boredom of combat duty. He admits to a couple mistakes that, given a stricter commanding officer, could have prematurely ended his flying career. He contrasts his youthful illusions of being indestructable with the real deaths of his comrades. The genius of the account, however, is that he’s able to tell it in the voice of the 18- or 20-year-old he once was. Hynes successfully retells the tale as he experienced it as a young man, not as he might reflect on it as an old veteran.
It’s that voice that allows us to see the bravery and the bravado the pilot needs to enter into battle against unknown odds, confident in himself and his machine. Hynes is able to find in himself the young man who, in the midst of the Pacific war against the Japanese, could bomb enemy airstrips by day and steal Jeeps to go get drunk at night.
Though his is a war memoir, he brings life and gaity to his story. I’m not the sort of person who believes strongly dystopian stories because I think that, somewhere along the line, most people will learn how to have at least a little fun in their lives. Hynes and his fellow pilots certainly did, despite the dire circumstances that brought them together. That humanity shines throughout this memoir, making it much easier for me to understand the transition from teenager to warrior.
July 12, 2012
Samuel Hynes belonged to that generation of American males who were thrust into the maelstrom of World War 2, straight from high school. By the time he was old enough and eligible to join the Marines, the requirement that all pilots must have 2 years of college education had been dropped. So, at 19, he entered flight school and wound up as a dive bomber pilot in the Pacific.
Pilots are often brash, loud, and cocky. Hynes was different. He went through the training, and through the war, with an introspective attitude, sensitive to the danger he encountered every day, and with a genuine concern and sorrow over his friends that were killed in training or in combat. Another very refreshing feature in a wartime memoir is the way Hynes admits to the insecurities he experienced over alcohol and women.
He takes you through the routine of flying to the target and the sheer terror he experienced during the bombing run, and how he tried to get his racing heart to relax when he found he was once again safe to fly home. As a Professor of English in later life, his prose is very eloquent, yet never over-polished or forced, and his description of the union between man and airplane is nothing short of lyrical.
I recommend this to any fan of wartime aviation, especially those who have read all the fighter jock memoirs (such as Tom Blackburn, Pappy Boyington, or the books of Eric Hammel). This book sheds light on the often spurned team of pilots, the dive bombers, better than any other I have encountered.
Pilots are often brash, loud, and cocky. Hynes was different. He went through the training, and through the war, with an introspective attitude, sensitive to the danger he encountered every day, and with a genuine concern and sorrow over his friends that were killed in training or in combat. Another very refreshing feature in a wartime memoir is the way Hynes admits to the insecurities he experienced over alcohol and women.
He takes you through the routine of flying to the target and the sheer terror he experienced during the bombing run, and how he tried to get his racing heart to relax when he found he was once again safe to fly home. As a Professor of English in later life, his prose is very eloquent, yet never over-polished or forced, and his description of the union between man and airplane is nothing short of lyrical.
I recommend this to any fan of wartime aviation, especially those who have read all the fighter jock memoirs (such as Tom Blackburn, Pappy Boyington, or the books of Eric Hammel). This book sheds light on the often spurned team of pilots, the dive bombers, better than any other I have encountered.
November 7, 2013
While this was in most ways not my grandfather's war - he was in Europe in the Army Air Corps, not a Marine in the Pacific - it gave a strong sense of being a 19 or 20-year-old pilot in WWII. It actually spent a much longer time on the training and waiting aspect, before they got to the war itself, and I would think those would have been similar for the two branches of the military. I wish I was able to talk to him about the book - I wonder how much of it would ring true for him (or did, he was a huge reader so may have read this book since it was published in 1988 originally). I could see a young version of him in some of what this author said, but I also wonder whether my grandfather was actually a Crazy. I don't think so, but it's possible. He certainly survived the war, which lends credence to my sense that he was more likely a Sane.
November 22, 2008
Disappointing, but probably worth a read if you're into military or aviation memoirs. Telling fact #1: Hynes flew with two enlisted crewman during his entire campaign yet we learn virtually nothing about them. Telling fact #2: Hynes flew the lumbering TBM topedo bomber during combat. He had a chance to fly the F6F Hellcat, the Navy's frontline fighter, and was unimpressed.
Not sure I trust either Hynes' personal relationships or his aviation judgment.
Not sure I trust either Hynes' personal relationships or his aviation judgment.
November 18, 2009
This book disappointed me, especially after seeing Samuel Hynes interviewed at length in Ken Burns' miniseries "The War." It has a kind of listless quality that seems as if the author was severely depressed when he wrote it. Hynes did a superb job of capturing telling details and describing them vividly, but it's hard to detect any enthusiasm for the story of his own life. When I finished it I found myself thinking, "Is that it?"
March 18, 2010
Compelling reading, and coincidentally just finished watching the Ken Burns' 'The War' when I started reading this book and said 'Hey that's the same guy.'
Often the veteran's memoir is a bland read, though I still like them for the history, but this is more of the life of a 19 year old, especially when still in the States. Course Haynes had an advantage, he became an English prof after the war.
July 18, 2012
I really liked this account of a World War 2 pilot at the beginning. It was very poetic when he was describing what it was like to learn to fly. He gave a lot of details about the different kinds of planes he learned to fly and why it was great to fly but more than half the book was about his training. Much of the training seemed to revolved around heavy drinking and how to have sex with girls. By the time he actually got to the war, I had stopped caring.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews