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jeanneq's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the narrator and the characters were interesting too. I had no previous knowledge of airships like the Hindenburg, so it was very enlightening.
pianorunner421's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this book so much I didn't even get super annoyed that I was reading it on my tablet instead of real paper. That is VERY high praise from me. I read lots of historical novels, and novels based on real people and read events, but the premise and delivery of this one was so fresh and different. I, like many, have been intrigued by the story of the Hindenberg ever since I heard of it as a child. The complete imagination Ariel Lawhon has used to portray what happened prior to those well-known, mere minutes, of history of the demise of the zeppelin is incredible. Grab this book!
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
3.0
It was a bit unsettling to read about how big a part of the Hindenburg the Third Reich was. Not that I knew much about the zeppelin, apart from oh-the-humanity and the Mythbusters segment on why it went up so quickly. In the video, the tail section is already gone, so I never saw the fifty-foot swastikas painted there.
I also never realized the scale of the thing, thinking of it more like an airplane, when it might have been more comparable to a cruise ship. It was a kind of marvelous thing. The food was haute cuisine, and "You could buy a car for the price of a ticket on the Hindenburg." Some of the windows opened for circulation and to allow people to better enjoy the view. On earlier voyages there was a piano specially made for the ship. It was huge: "Twenty-five cabins with two berths each, a dining room and promenade on the port side, and on the starboard side, the lounge, reading room, and a second promenade"; there were hand-painted murals on three walls of (I believe) the lounge.
There were children on board. That threw me for a loop.
I guess I never registered, either, that the disaster occurred at the end of a voyage from Germany to New Jersey, as the Hindenburg approached the mooring mast. (How very much worse it might have been if they had planned to use the mast at the top of the Empire State Building…)
The book is written in the present tense, which I have always hated but have become resigned to. It suits some books very well … but I didn't think it was so successful here. For me a success is when I stop noticing, when it becomes just the story, and the writing disappears altoghether. Throughout Flight of Dreams, I noticed the "is" and "says" and so on. The writing also tends toward sentence fragments, which I also found distracting – I kept stopping to wonder why the style choice had been made, and rewriting it in my head.
Which doesn't mean it was all bad. Some was nicely done:
“Have you seen my brother?”
…
…
Emilie enters holding the hand of a tear-stained young boy who has lost his mother.
But some of it was simply awkward. There is mention of Emilie's technique of making a name stick in her memory, by repeating it to herself in every language she knows… but … a name is a name. Also, the using the simile of a balloon to describe the launching of the zeppelin was a little … obvious. There was homonym misuse, use of "lay" for "lie" (*sigh*), and sometimes simply rather clunky phrasing and overall deep need for an editorial pass-through – but the author did do a good job of building the story, stringing out suspense in the face of a foregone conclusion, and of characterization – though the latter was spotty – vivid in places, confusing in others (sometimes the cabin boy came across as a very young boy, and at other times older than his fourteen years) … and a bit uncomfortable, given that these were all real people. But the author acknowledges this: "That is the risk I took, and it is sobering to say the least. I know from experience how the loved ones of real people may read a fictionalized account of an event and then feel compelled to contact the writer. So I did my best to be honest and honorable on these pages."
I do wonder about the nameless American who looms over the story; I find it hard to believe that he could manage the whole voyage without revealing his name, even an alias, to anyone, and that there was nothing to identify him in the manifest.
One other difficulty I had with the characters was the idea that there was a dog dumped in its cage in the cargo hold and left there without food or water, to live in its own filth for the duration of the voyage. How was I supposed to like any of the crew with that in the background?
I found the details of the Hindenburg fascinating – why it was filled with hydrogen instead of helium, the politics of it, and the day-to-day life within it. It's always good to fill in gaps in my knowledge, and there was a big zeppelin-shaped gap in it before this. But in the end I didn't entirely buy it. No one knows how and why the blaze aboard the Hindenburg started. The conclusion drawn by the Mythbusters was that the fire spread so hideously quickly because the paint (dope) used on the zeppelin's skin was highly flammable. It seems that this author took the detail of a pistol found among the wreckage and ran with it … but it's just one of many possibilities.
All in all, it seemed like it took longer to read than it ought to have. It was not terrible, by any means – but I wish it had been tighter – as streamlined as the zeppelin herself.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
I also never realized the scale of the thing, thinking of it more like an airplane, when it might have been more comparable to a cruise ship. It was a kind of marvelous thing. The food was haute cuisine, and "You could buy a car for the price of a ticket on the Hindenburg." Some of the windows opened for circulation and to allow people to better enjoy the view. On earlier voyages there was a piano specially made for the ship. It was huge: "Twenty-five cabins with two berths each, a dining room and promenade on the port side, and on the starboard side, the lounge, reading room, and a second promenade"; there were hand-painted murals on three walls of (I believe) the lounge.
There were children on board. That threw me for a loop.
I guess I never registered, either, that the disaster occurred at the end of a voyage from Germany to New Jersey, as the Hindenburg approached the mooring mast. (How very much worse it might have been if they had planned to use the mast at the top of the Empire State Building…)
The book is written in the present tense, which I have always hated but have become resigned to. It suits some books very well … but I didn't think it was so successful here. For me a success is when I stop noticing, when it becomes just the story, and the writing disappears altoghether. Throughout Flight of Dreams, I noticed the "is" and "says" and so on. The writing also tends toward sentence fragments, which I also found distracting – I kept stopping to wonder why the style choice had been made, and rewriting it in my head.
Which doesn't mean it was all bad. Some was nicely done:
“Have you seen my brother?”
…
…
Emilie enters holding the hand of a tear-stained young boy who has lost his mother.
But some of it was simply awkward. There is mention of Emilie's technique of making a name stick in her memory, by repeating it to herself in every language she knows… but … a name is a name. Also, the using the simile of a balloon to describe the launching of the zeppelin was a little … obvious. There was homonym misuse, use of "lay" for "lie" (*sigh*), and sometimes simply rather clunky phrasing and overall deep need for an editorial pass-through – but the author did do a good job of building the story, stringing out suspense in the face of a foregone conclusion, and of characterization – though the latter was spotty – vivid in places, confusing in others (sometimes the cabin boy came across as a very young boy, and at other times older than his fourteen years) … and a bit uncomfortable, given that these were all real people. But the author acknowledges this: "That is the risk I took, and it is sobering to say the least. I know from experience how the loved ones of real people may read a fictionalized account of an event and then feel compelled to contact the writer. So I did my best to be honest and honorable on these pages."
I do wonder about the nameless American who looms over the story; I find it hard to believe that he could manage the whole voyage without revealing his name, even an alias, to anyone, and that there was nothing to identify him in the manifest.
One other difficulty I had with the characters was the idea that there was a dog dumped in its cage in the cargo hold and left there without food or water, to live in its own filth for the duration of the voyage. How was I supposed to like any of the crew with that in the background?
I found the details of the Hindenburg fascinating – why it was filled with hydrogen instead of helium, the politics of it, and the day-to-day life within it. It's always good to fill in gaps in my knowledge, and there was a big zeppelin-shaped gap in it before this. But in the end I didn't entirely buy it. No one knows how and why the blaze aboard the Hindenburg started. The conclusion drawn by the Mythbusters was that the fire spread so hideously quickly because the paint (dope) used on the zeppelin's skin was highly flammable. It seems that this author took the detail of a pistol found among the wreckage and ran with it … but it's just one of many possibilities.
All in all, it seemed like it took longer to read than it ought to have. It was not terrible, by any means – but I wish it had been tighter – as streamlined as the zeppelin herself.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
mary_elizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
notesonbookmarks's review
3.0
this is a fictionalized account of the Hindenburg disaster, based on the lives of the real people who died in and survived the explosion. I liked the story well eggnog, although it did drag at points. I thought Lawhon did a good job not letting her research take over the story. The final author's note kind of irked me a bit. She took the actual details of the real people's lives and then crafted a story about what may have happened on the ship you cause it to explode, crafting their personalities, the things they said and did, and the day to day events from her own imagination. I a sense that's fun and lovely, but I wish she would have given them pseudonyms, different from those of the actual passengers and crew, in order to not conflate the story with historical accounts. it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
suvata's review
4.0
The Hindenburg disaster occurred on May 6, 1937. It caught fire while trying to land in New Jersey after a long flight from Frankfurt, Germany. There were 97 people on board the Hindenburg (36 passengers and 61 crewmen). There were 35 fatalities, 13 of them passengers. Of course, I had heard of this disaster and had seen newsreels in the past. I've even read a few books about it before.
What makes this different is that many of these passengers and crewmen were humanized. Much of the narrative, although fictionalized, gave a personality and a story behind you those who perished. So now, rather than just being a story about an incident that happened well before my birth, I care about these people and almost feel like I could have known them. And the dogs ... OMG ... the dogs. Someone needs to save the dogs!
This book is also a classic mystery tale. Since it was never conclusively determined what caused the Hindenburg to catch fire, the author presents a story that leaves the reader wondering whodunnit, or whatdunnit? Brilliant!
Oh, and did I mention there are a few love stories going on during this trip as well?
Needless to say, this book hooked me quickly and never let go. It just came out a few days ago so I hesitate to recommend it to book club because of the cost. But, believe me, as soon as it comes out in paperback I know some ladies that will be reading this book. I'm talking to you, Treasure Coast Book Club!
Inside pictures of the Hindenburg can be found here:
http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/interiors
Pictures of the passengers and crew can be found here:
http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/?m=1
What makes this different is that many of these passengers and crewmen were humanized. Much of the narrative, although fictionalized, gave a personality and a story behind you those who perished. So now, rather than just being a story about an incident that happened well before my birth, I care about these people and almost feel like I could have known them. And the dogs ... OMG ... the dogs. Someone needs to save the dogs!
This book is also a classic mystery tale. Since it was never conclusively determined what caused the Hindenburg to catch fire, the author presents a story that leaves the reader wondering whodunnit, or whatdunnit? Brilliant!
Oh, and did I mention there are a few love stories going on during this trip as well?
Needless to say, this book hooked me quickly and never let go. It just came out a few days ago so I hesitate to recommend it to book club because of the cost. But, believe me, as soon as it comes out in paperback I know some ladies that will be reading this book. I'm talking to you, Treasure Coast Book Club!
Inside pictures of the Hindenburg can be found here:
http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/interiors
Pictures of the passengers and crew can be found here:
http://facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com/?m=1
byashleylamar's review against another edition
4.0
If you missed out on reading The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon a few years ago you need to grab it up right now. I've followed Ariel Lawhon closely on Twitter (@ArielLawhon) watching for the updates on her follow-up novel, Flight of Dreams. As soon as I realized the digital ARC was available on Edelweiss I grabbed it up and got to reading. It definitely didn't disappoint!
Flight of Dreams is Lawhon's take on the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. There are so many theories about what happened in the final minutes of that flight that caused the airship to go up in flames, killing 35 people. In this historical fiction novel, Lawhon presents her theory on what could have happened and tells it by incorporating the people that history confirms were actually on board the airship. Those who died in real life, die in the novel. Those who survived in real life, survived in the novel. Admittedly, I did a quick Google search before I started reading the novel to find out who was going to live and die but knowing this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel.
While the source of the explosion is pretty clear from early in the novel (if you pay attention) I still loved this book. Lawhon is just a great writer and it's tough not to love everything she releases. Flight of Dreams is a book you're going to hear a lot about; I recommend picking it up asap.
Flight of Dreams is Lawhon's take on the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. There are so many theories about what happened in the final minutes of that flight that caused the airship to go up in flames, killing 35 people. In this historical fiction novel, Lawhon presents her theory on what could have happened and tells it by incorporating the people that history confirms were actually on board the airship. Those who died in real life, die in the novel. Those who survived in real life, survived in the novel. Admittedly, I did a quick Google search before I started reading the novel to find out who was going to live and die but knowing this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel.
While the source of the explosion is pretty clear from early in the novel (if you pay attention) I still loved this book. Lawhon is just a great writer and it's tough not to love everything she releases. Flight of Dreams is a book you're going to hear a lot about; I recommend picking it up asap.
mimima's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
Many years ago, we went to a Titanic exhibit which gave you a card as you entered with the name of a passenger and as you exited, you were tasked with checking to see if that passenger survived the disaster. Lawhon uses the historical record in deciding the fate of her characters and it was well done. While some of the parts of the voyage itself dragged, the ending, as well as the lingering thoughts about being German in 1937 and the usage of blimps in their army was fascinating. For the strength of these items, I rounded up to 3.5.
pnelson384's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoyed this book! The author did so much research and used real world events and people in a way that brought them to life, sprinkled with ideas about what might have happened aboard the final voyage of the Hindenburg. I didn't know really anything about the Hindenburg before reading this book, and I didn't need to. At it's heart, this is a story about three days in the lives of a set of people, including love, intrigue, mystery, kindness, work troubles, politics, and more, all woven together with wonderful writing. The book reads as a story where you want to turn the page to find out what happens next. It is told through many viewpoints, but done in such a skilled way that it feels natural, like a shift in perspective and voice in a movie. There is much to discuss about the book, from theories over what really happened on board and how the Hindenburg blew up (which is officially unknown), the world in 1937, the role of women at that time, even the animals that were on board.
feliciar33ds's review against another edition
5.0
Best book I read in 2022. Each chapters peels away another layer of a character. Fascinating historical fiction.
2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge #31 & #42
2022 Popsugar Reading Challenge #31 & #42