Official Review: One Chance for Glory--first nonstop flig...

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 05 Feb 2015, 13:18

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "One Chance for Glory--first nonstop flight across the Pacific" by Edward T Heikell, Robert L Heikell.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Charles Lindbergh, Anne Morrow, Spirit of St. Louis. These are names which are etched into the collective American, and perhaps world, consciousness. New York to Paris, ticker tape parade, fame. Who hasn’t heard of the brave young aviator making the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1927? Movies made, countless books written. History 101, right?

Okay, who has heard of Clyde Pangborn, Hugh Herndon, or Miss Veedol?

Who?

Exactly. That’s why my interest was piqued to read One Chance for Glory – First Non-Stop Flight Across the Pacific by brothers Edward T. and Robert L. Heikell. It’s an offering in the historical fiction genre, and relates the story of Pangborn and Herndon’s conquest of the Pacific in 1931, a full 2,000 miles farther than Lindbergh’s little jaunt four years earlier. The book is available for Kindle from Amazon and in hardback and paperback from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

From the outset we are thrust into the barnstorming world of the early aviators, when traveling air shows were growing in popularity in the heady days of postwar America, and many people had yet to set eyes on an actual, honest-to-goodness airplane. “Flyboys,” the young, daredevil pilots, were the shining knights and heroes of the air, with more than a little celebrity attached. It's 1923. Meet Clyde Pangborn, one of those fearless, dashing young pilots, as he performs a daring rescue of a young woman whose hundreds-of-feet-in-the-air stunt goes terribly wrong.

We follow Pangborn’s flying career through the rest of the 1920’s, and learn of his dream to set a new speed record in circumnavigating the globe in an airplane. He partners with Hugh Herndon, son of a moneyed New York family, who also has an interest in the endeavor. More importantly, Herndon’s mother is willing to put up the tens of thousands of dollars needed to finance the venture.

Preparations are made, and finally, from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, our brave barnstormers roar off into the troposphere in pursuit of securing a place in aviation history. The remainder of the book covers this remarkable aerial peregrination through England, Berlin, Moscow, Siberia, and Japan. Not all goes according to plan, of course, and how the duo copes with these unanticipated episodes is a significant part of this singular story. There are occasional glimpses of the home front, as we see how their respective mothers and Clyde’s love interest, Diane, deal with the knowledge that their boys are hop scotching around the world in a single-engine plane – named Miss Veedol - chasing a pie-in-the-sky dream.

Firstly, I applaud Messrs. Heikell for tackling such a story. This is a ready-made adventure tale with ample fodder for books and movies, and arguably much more interesting than Lindbergh’s little jump across the pond in ’27. But writing historical fiction is inherently difficult, and there are decisions which must be made: How much fact, and how much fiction? How much effort should be made to achieve historical accuracy, even in ancillary details? In this, I found some aspects of the book to be problematic.

We are told that “parking was a nightmare” at an air show in 1923. Was this really a problem, when only about half of all American households owned a car? In a side story, Pangborn’s girlfriend, a nurse, cares for a young child in ICU (the year is 1931). However, the first ICU’s didn’t emerge in hospitals until the late 1960s. We see people making and answering frequent telephone calls in their homes, but in the early 1930s, very few people actually had a telephone. A young boy reads a Superman comic in 1931, when Superman didn’t make his first appearance until 1938! Along with these, much of the dialogue feels out of place, employing words and expressions that have become part of the vernacular only in recent decades. Expressions such as is that doable?, this airplane is one heavy dude, it's all adrenaline, you’re sh*tting me, get paranoid make one feel that, to quote Hamlet, “the time is out of joint.”

Maybe I’m a stickler for accuracy, but these anachronisms are, for me, like gnarly, exposed tree roots flung across my path. I may see and step over them, yet they are still unattractively there, salient, and impediments to a smooth, unencumbered journey. There are more than a few errors with punctuation and spelling and, while the narrative is anchored solidly in past tense, at times an extraneous present-tense verb pops us. I’m okay with breaking the rules for literary effect. In fact I admire it. But these are simply mistakes that a capable editor would have caught.

Often the writing is flat and lifeless. The dialogue feels stilted, bookish, and unnatural at times. For a ready-made story of this caliber, there are many missed opportunities for creating excitement, suspense, and drama. The romances between Pangborn and his girlfriends (two!) aren’t stirring, involving, or terribly believable. The potential is simply not realized. From a block of beautiful marble we get, not a Michelangelo, but a half-finished sculpture: recognizable, but missing the master’s chisel which would elevate it to a work of art.

The book is, essentially, the story of Clyde Pangborn. He emerges as the undisputed hero. It is told from the third person perspective, but the narrator, while omniscient, is not without his biases. The chronicle is quite sympathetic and friendly to Pangborn, but not at all to his partner, Hugh Herndon. While Pangborn is a born aviator and mechanic with an in-depth knowledge of all things aeronautic and big-as-the-sky ambitions, as well as being an all-around nice, down-to-earth gent, Herndon is a spoiled rich kid who is lazy, distracted, and almost costs them their lives on more than one occasion. (In historical fiction, it’s hard to discern how much of this is really true.) This partiality is transferred to their mothers as well: Pangborn’s mother Opal is portrayed as the humble, rural motherly type who loves her son like no other, and, despite her concern, remains calm, reassuring, and supremely confident in his abilities. Alice, Herndon’s mother, is an arrogant rich women who looks down on those who do not move in the same social set as her. She gives her son far too much credit for his part in the adventure, when, in fact (we are told), it is Pangborn’s intelligence and skill that give the venture any hope of success. Both mothers are somewhat one-dimensional and drift into stereotype.

Now for the rating. Once again, I find myself wishing we had a five-star rating system, or could rate by half points under the present arrangement. Were that the case, I would comfortably settle on three stars out of five, or two and a half out of four. Given that this is the first foray into literature for Messrs. Heikell, and historical fiction is certainly not the easiest genre in which to write, I will applaud more loudly than criticize, and give One Chance for Glory – First Non-Stop Flight Across the Pacific 3 out of 4 stars. The story itself recommends this book, even though it could have been told more skillfully. This book will appeal to aviation buffs, those interested in the triumph of the human spirit over adversity, and those who enjoy true-to-life adventures and can look past a mediocre presentation.

******
One Chance for Glory--first nonstop flight across the Pacific
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Like PashaRu's review? Post a comment saying so!

gali · Post by **gali** » 20 Feb 2015, 10:02

Thank you for the great review. I saw this book when it was offered, but I thought it will be too technical for me. I am glad you found it interesting.

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 20 Feb 2015, 10:31

gali wrote:Thank you for the great review. I saw this book when it was offered, but I thought it will be too technical for me. I am glad you found it interesting.

Thanks! It actually isn't terribly technical at all. There are some details regarding airplanes and things aeronautical, but these are minimal and not too complicated. Even if it's not 100% understandable (it wasn't for me, either), it doesn't severely impact the telling of the story. It's mainly the story of the two principles and the highlights of their around-the-world flight.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 23 Feb 2015, 08:51

This sounds interesting! Historical fiction about a real event. I'm not much for modern history (ancient history is my thing) but you make this sound pretty interesting. And I love how you took the time to notice the inaccuracies (the Superman one made me giggle).

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 23 Feb 2015, 09:46

Thank you! Yeah, that one made me

a little. Some of the inaccuracies could have been cleared up with a simple Google search. I would have preferred a straight non-fiction account of this, but I'm glad the authors took on the story. Most of it seemed to be well-researched (Superman notwithstanding and such).

TammyO · Post by **TammyO** » 23 Feb 2015, 12:31

Great review, Pasha. It sounds really interesting. The title really grabbed my attention; I agree with you, a non-fiction account of this would have been really great.

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 23 Feb 2015, 12:41

Thanks, Tammy! I think it actually suffered a bit because it was fictionalized. It takes a very experienced writer to pull that off and make everything work. Even so, it's a remarkable story and I'm glad I had a chance to learn about it.

Post by **bookowlie** » 24 Feb 2015, 19:27

What an excellent review! You brought up several good points. I particularly found the part about the inconsistencies very interesting.

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 24 Feb 2015, 19:45

Thank you! The anachronisms certainly don't overshadow the entire book, but I found them somewhat distracting.

ejcogan · Post by **ejcogan** » 24 Feb 2015, 20:09

WOW! What a great review PashaRu! Your passion for reading and technicalities really comes through in this review. This is not really the type of book I would read, but I love to read the reviews because often I come across little gems I wouldn't otherwise have known about. That and there are some awesome reviewers on this sight that are entertaining to read.

TLGabelman · Post by **TLGabelman** » 24 Feb 2015, 20:14

Nice review!

PashaRu · Post by **PashaRu** » 24 Feb 2015, 20:28

ejcogan wrote:WOW! What a great review PashaRu! Your passion for reading and technicalities really comes through in this review. This is not really the type of book I would read, but I love to read the reviews because often I come across little gems I wouldn't otherwise have known about. That and there are some awesome reviewers on this sight that are entertaining to read.

Thank you! I agree, we have some great reviewers here, and I sometimes read reviews for books that I know I won't read. It supports the review team, and I like to see other styles and perspectives.