The Dog Stars

[gkainz]

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Anyone read this yet? I read it this weekend and then opened up the latest AOPA mag only to find a review. Author is from Denver, his plane, a '56 C-182 (edit - fixed the iphone fat thumb) N6333A (featured in the book) is based at Erie (also the central location in the book).
As soon as I read the tail number I checked out the registration info on google and it kind of made me chuckle when I saw it was his. Made me think of a joke line like Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck"
"If you google tail numbers you see on tv or in books ... You might be an aviation nut."

Thoughts on the book?

 

[denverpilot]

Well, anything written by a 182 driver, I may have to buy a copy, just to keep him in AvGas.

Premise looks entertaining... post-apocalyptic world, some dude wandering around in a 182... probably not very realistic, but it's fiction...

(Just how big is the fuel tank at Erie, anyway? )

Will pop it into the "wanted" list for the Kindle. Hadn't heard of it before your post. Thanks.

Will be a little bit until I get to it. Over the summer I plowed through Selby Foote's venerable Civil War Narratives Volumes I and II, and now I'm trying to plow through the last of the three. Plow may not be the right word... they're just huge, but good reads.

Not quite as bad as trying to get to the interesting stuff in War and Peace, but they're big.

I do wish he'd partnered up with a better and/or more prolific illustrator for maps to go along with his lovely descriptions of all the skirmishes and battles... the maps are the weak point.

First heard of Mr. Foote, like most other folks, watching his interview sections in Ken Burns' Civil War documentary -- he completely steals the show with his mellow southern accent and encylopedic knowledge of the topic. His narratives, you can easily imagine him speaking the words he wrote. RIP Mr. Foote.

Will let ya know what I think of this one when I get to it... thanks for the heads up on it to make it part of the never-ending reading queue.

 

[flightwriter]

I just finished "The Dog Stars" last evening. It took awhile (two weeks) for me to get through most of Book One; the narrative style and sheer bleakness of the setting was hard for me to warm to at first. However, after pushing through the first part, I didn't put it down until the end.

I'm glad I read it... but I'm even happier that I'm done with it. This is a tough, brutal read, and I mean that in a good way. Once you warm to the clipped sentence and thought structure, it's apparent that Heller is one hell of a writer. He paints the scenes of bleak, utter chaos and violence very well. On a happier note, it's refreshing to read an aviation-related work of fiction that was clearly written by someone knowledgeable about the topic.

My only real complaint is that the third and final part seems rushed, as if even Heller wanted to get the story over with. Following the buildup of tension throughout the first parts of the book, some more extrapolation and actual conflict during the climactic scene would have been appreciated.

 

[VargaDriver]

I got the book for Christmas 2012 from a good friend. Although I love flying I'm not a big fan of aviation books....they all seem pretty much alike to me. That said I loved this book. Like Rob, the first part was a little tough. By the time he takes his hike into the mountains I just couldn't stop reading and at that point finished it in the next two days. The writing style is unique and different...sometimes you're left to assume how a sentence ends...but I did get used to it. I found the writing style really made me pay attention. I know I've read a good book when I continue to think about it for weeks afterward. The premise and plot seem very realistic...I'm not a paranoid type or prepper by any means but a pandemic that destroys most of the population is completely believable...as well as what the end result may be when lawlessness and survival go hand in hand. The flying part was very realistic and from reading above I'm not surprised Heller is truly a pilot. This one is worth reading...go get it.