Talk:The High and the Mighty (novel)

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The plane was mechanically questionable and the novel deals with the humorous aspects, not the fear and suspense depicted in the movie (The High and the Mighty; San Francisco instead of Portland), as well as the psychology of flying and mechanics of commercial aviation.

It's been a while since I read the book, but was my sense of humor malfunctioning when I did? I thought it dwelt especially on the fear and suspense - I recall being on the edge of my stool when I read it. I suppose the passenger line-up and associated stories could be humorous (the atom bomb scientist and aging model travelling to meet a creepy fan stand out), but I really enjoyed the passenger's stories, reactions to the crisis, and how the crew interacted with them. I also thought it was charming how the captain familiarized himself with the passengers and especially with his crew, much like one would imagine the captain of a seacraft of old would do.

Perhaps I approached it from the wrong perspective. I come from an airline family (grandfather and grandmother were pilots, father was pilot, mother was stewardess), and The High and the Mighty really reinforced in me the importance of having humans behind the wheel, even though it also exposes the vulnerability of the human element. My grandfather flew a very similar flight (coming out of Honolulu, multiple engine failures and everything); my grandmother still has newspaper clippings documenting it. In fact, he thought the story was based on this because of the remarkable likeness (though ego probably had something to do with it), but that obviously wasn't the case.

I'd love if another reader could comment. Was this a predominately funny book? Tsowell 06:47, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I saw the movie first, which probably taints my opinion somewhat, but I feel it was not a predominately funny movie. It was a character study of all those aboard, with the element of suspense. I was 4 years old the first time I saw the movie and it was my favorite movie and once I had it on VHS I watched it over and over. When I was older I read the book and was shocked at how little the two differed. I was very happy when the film was released finally, and once again read the book too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.180.188.183 (talk) 21:36, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Not an actual flight
This was not based on an actual flight. Gann flew this route many time for Matson airlines and Transocean airlines, which inspired the idea for the novel, but it is purely fictitious. It was a suspense-drama, in no way was it a comedy. The "Airplane" and "Airport" movies were inspired by "The High and the Mighty", as it was the first airline disaster novel/film. The "Airplane" movies were definitely comedies. As per the first comment, both the novel and the movie were in San Francisco. KlausVonVilver (talk) 01:31, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

The last section " Factual Basis for plot" should be removed. This section makes assumptions from his book Fate is the Hunter and then incorrectly applies them to The High and the Mighty. i.e. Pilots are forced to retire at a certain age by the government, they don't come out of retirement. Having a flight control issue (Fate is the Hunter) is not the same as having an engine issue (The High and the Mighty). How does this editor factually know that the characters are made of composites of pilots Gann had flown with? Maybe...maybe not? Maybe one of the characters personality was based a a childhood friend, or a neighbor, etc. Regardless, this section strays from the topic of the article which is the novel (not memoir) 'The High and the Mighty'. If there are no objections, I am going to take this section out.

Also, the one and only reference goes to "American Journal of Topical Hygiene" for the book "Liberia" and apparently has to do with the foundation of Liberia and its economy. This should be removed as well. KlausVonVilver (talk) 08:18, 30 November 2020 (UTC)