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Free Flight
Hardcover book
371 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 2, 2019
I read this one long ago. After looking at the reviews of the Orwell book 1984, the Terman book on an oppressive gov't. out to catch the "free thinker" hero and his escape comes to mind.
It's a theme familiar (trope) to stories. The innocent sought by authorities (and often other forces) out to clear his, almost always a man, name. We see it in the Sherlock Holmes books as the innocent seek justice. We see it in the Hitchcock films where bumbling police chase the "obvious" suspect.
The difference when an innocent is chased by overwhelming powers makes for these thrillers. Whether one calls these novels prescient or paranoid depends on one's sense of personal freedom in a society ever more complex. The vision of somebody being tracked brings easy suspense, and is a popular lure for authors.
Concerning the tracking devices, from cameras everywhere to microchips secretly embedded, we think we personally shouldn't be tracked, but then a crime like the Boston bombings happens and the downtown cameras become a useful tool in searching out the guilty. In that case the innocent weren't jailed, and the guilty were fairly quickly found, thanx to photos and community involvement. If cameras hadn't been recording, worse may have come to pass.
The old film version of 1984 well portrays the chase to capture Smith, and we can feel the evil oppressors closing in. If he were indeed a killer like the Tsarnaev brothers, would we have as much self-identification, as much sympathy? Cameras are a tool, they can be used for good or evil. The tools are the creations of us ourselves and unstoppable technology evolves due to our need to invent.
It's a theme familiar (trope) to stories. The innocent sought by authorities (and often other forces) out to clear his, almost always a man, name. We see it in the Sherlock Holmes books as the innocent seek justice. We see it in the Hitchcock films where bumbling police chase the "obvious" suspect.
The difference when an innocent is chased by overwhelming powers makes for these thrillers. Whether one calls these novels prescient or paranoid depends on one's sense of personal freedom in a society ever more complex. The vision of somebody being tracked brings easy suspense, and is a popular lure for authors.
Concerning the tracking devices, from cameras everywhere to microchips secretly embedded, we think we personally shouldn't be tracked, but then a crime like the Boston bombings happens and the downtown cameras become a useful tool in searching out the guilty. In that case the innocent weren't jailed, and the guilty were fairly quickly found, thanx to photos and community involvement. If cameras hadn't been recording, worse may have come to pass.
The old film version of 1984 well portrays the chase to capture Smith, and we can feel the evil oppressors closing in. If he were indeed a killer like the Tsarnaev brothers, would we have as much self-identification, as much sympathy? Cameras are a tool, they can be used for good or evil. The tools are the creations of us ourselves and unstoppable technology evolves due to our need to invent.
April 4, 2024
The first chapter seems like an alternate ending to a different novel where the heroes fail to prevent the Soviet nuclear seek attack. Would have liked more following that on what happened in the Soviet Union, and more slow reveal on how the Russians (and American collaborators) took over most of the U.S.- and much of the rest of the world?
May 17, 2017
Surprisingly engrossing novel about two men trying to escape from the Soviet controlled US after the first Atomic War.
November 12, 2019
Just finished what I believe is my 3rd. reading of this book. This is unprecedented as I don't usually re-read much. What a gem, a real page turner with real people!
October 5, 2020
Interesting subject. US and Russia nuke each other and it takes place after in the new world. Takes place in the 80s. Can’t say it was fun but it makes u think about what it would be like.
September 5, 2022
4 pluss. Read this in Norwegian. Douglas Terman is an excellent author of suspension with good knowledge about military life and of being a pilot, and a realist. Read it twice. As good now as when it was published. Recommend.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews