Read this one a while back before I joined GR. Learned a lot about how planes are built. Good book for airplane geeks.

Чудно трилърче - “Летище” на борда на самолет, изгълтах го на един дъх.

Крайтън си знае работата и мята читателя в бесен полет, с много обрати и терминология. Каква е цената на глобализирането на самолетостроенето, какво се случва по време на полет, битката с европейските конкуренти, бюджетните съкращения, отслабващи контрола над безопасността, дезинформацията и ниската компетентност на медиите са само част от засегнатите теми, и проучването им е на ниво.

Естествено, да живее Америка! Крайтън го удря на икономически патриотизъм отвсякъде, но това си е неговата страна в крайна сметка. Чудих се доста възможно ли е медиите да са толкова зле и дали не е прекалил с презрението си към тях и с пародията в книгата - но, като гледам телевизията днес, май има известно основание...

A typical Michael Crichton action thriller novel. Not the best of his work. Has much less action compared to Congo, less philosophy than Jurassic Park, and much lower stakes. But there was plenty of corporate espionage, suspense and action to keep you entertained.

Had this sitting on my bookshelf for awhile decided to give it a read, wish I would have left it on the shelf. I found this book boring with no suspense what so ever probably my last Crichton book.

Read a long time ago. A fantastic read. It is common knowledge that most of Crichton's books have been made into movies - he himself being a director. I haven't read his other novels as the subject matter never enthused me. But in this book, certain portions, you could almost envision like a director yourselves how good they would be as a movie scene. Totally worth your time.

3.5

"Поради този начин на поведение репортерите непрекъснато настояват за лични предположения. „Мислите ли, че това събитие е опасно? Мислите ли, че компанията ви ще пострада?“ Подобни въпроси бяха недопустими за журналистите от старото поколение, които винаги се стремяха да изяснят конкретните обстоятелства около дадено събитие. Но съвременната журналистика е силно субективна, или, както още я наричат — „интерпретивна“… А кръвоносната система за подобна журналистика са спекулациите…"

"Привържениците на тъй нареченият „свободен пазар“ ще вдигнат вой до небето, но фактите са категорични: свободният пазар не предлага сигурност. Сигурност предлага само регулираният пазар. Ако искаш да консумираш действително добра храна, ще трябва да си назначиш хора, които да контролират качеството й. Ако искаш да пиеш чиста вода, трябва да плащаш на Инспекцията по водите. Ако искаш сигурна фондова борса, създаваш Комисия за контрол на борсовите спекулации. А ако искаш сигурни авиолинии, трябва да ги държиш под контрол."

"Но темата трябва да се развива бързо. Това означава, че морално — етичните проблеми трябва да бъдат само загатнати, без подробни обяснения. Те са нещо, което публиката вече е приела за вярно. Всички знаят, че големите корпорации са корумпирани, а техните лидери са алчни свине. Това не се нуждае от доказателства, достатъчно е само да бъде подхвърлено. Хората предварително знаят, че държавната бюрокрация е мързелива и некадърна. Това също не се нуждае от доказателства. И накрая, хората знаят, че продуктите за масова употреба се произвеждат с цинична небрежност, никой пет пари не дава за сигурността на консуматорите… От всички тези предварително възприети елементи Дженифър щеше да изгради своята морална тема. Една бързо развиваща се морална тема, която съществува днес и сега."

"Отпуснал се в прохладната утроба на огромната лимузина, той се чувстваше недооценен, имаше чувството, че хората не му засвидетелстват достатъчно почитание, не възхвалят достатъчно високо заслугите му. Неуморното и любопитно хлапе с камера на рамо се беше превърнало в свадливо, вечно мърморещо старче."

"Телевизията не става за информация. Информацията е активна и ангажираща, а телевизията е пасивна. Информацията е обективна и това я прави незаинтересована. Телевизията е емоционална, тя е забавление. Каквото и да каже Мартин, той не се интересува от вас, от вашата компания, от самолетите. На него му се плаща за таланта да пробуди емоциите на хората, да ги накара да изгубят самообладание, да кажат нещо необичайно. Той не иска да знае нищо за самолетите, той търси медийния миг. Проумеете ли това, лесно ще се справите с него.
Но Марти е професионалист. Той прекрасно знае, че животът на всяко предаване зависи изцяло от визуалните материали, които го подкрепят. Ако те са добри, всичко друго е без значение…"

"Кейси мълчеше и слушаше. Млада е, рече си тя. Млада и глупава. После се изненада от категоричността на заключението си. То вероятно се дължеше на факта, че за тези пет години беше успяла да научи нещичко от мъжете в завода. По-възрастни и по-опитни мъже, които познават силата на властта, които могат да направят разлика между нея и празното бръщолевене…"

"— Всичко се променя — продължи Еймъс. — Преди години медиите се стремяха да отразяват действителността, поне приблизително. Но сега е обратното: медийнната представа Е действителността, докато реалният живот е скучен, лишен от вълнение. Ежедневието е измислица, медийният образ — истина. Понякога се оглеждам у дома и установявам, че най-истинското нещо там е телевизорът. Той е ярък и жив, в сравнение с него останалите неща в живота ми изглеждат сиви. И аз неволно включвам дяволската машинка. Винаги става така. Тя ми връща живота…
"

Not remembering much of this book. I guess it is too technical.

2 stars

Scroll down for the English version.

Chi ha paura di volare?

Ricordo di aver rimandato la lettura di questo libro, in seguito a un commento di un passeggero del volo da Cagliari a Londra, il quale me la sconsigliava prima di un viaggio aereo.
Lì per lì ho pensato che dovesse essere veramente inquietante, ma adesso, dopo averlo letto, mi rendo conto che mi ha fatto esattamente l'effetto contrario.
Siamo senza dubbio di fronte ad un gran bel thriller, che ci racconta di uno strano incidente aereo e segue tutte le investigazioni sulle sue cause, con tanto di ingerenza da parte dei media, che tendono come sempre a dare maggior risalto all'aspetto sensazionalistico della faccenda, invece che alla verità, in maniera assolutamente spietata, tanto da poter mettere in ginocchio una grande azienda. Tutto sulla base di supposizioni, senza alcuna prova.
Anche in un altro libro Crichton aveva mosso delle critiche non tanto velate sulla pessima tendenza a diffondere teorie con ben poco fondamento pur di creare sensazione e paura. Sto parlando di "Stato di paura", che però è successivo di ben dieci anni.
Il fastidio e la rabbia provocata nel lettore è pressoché la stessa, sebbene in "Punto critico" riguardi un argomento, quello delle persone che lavorano dell'industria aerea, che non ci tocca da vicino. Ma ecco che, grazie alla bravura dell'autore e all'evidente ampia ricerca fatta prima di scrivere il libro, ci troviamo a conoscere un mondo affascinante che si muove continuamente davanti ai nostri occhi (o sarebbe meglio dire sopra le nostre teste) e che quasi diamo per scontato, senza comprenderne l'enorme complessità.
Leggendo questo libro, impariamo come volano gli aerei, come sono fatti, tutti i professionisti che ci sono dietro la loro costruzione, ma soprattutto capiamo quanto siano estremamente sicuri.
E, quando si arriva a capire bene qualcosa, è difficile averne veramente paura.
Per questo motivo mi sento di consigliarne la lettura a chi ancora teme questo affascinante mezzo di trasporto, a patto che (e non è cosa da poco!) s'impegni ad affrontarla con attenzione e magari abbia qualche conoscenza minima di fisica o un particolare interesse o semplicemente curiosità verso un argomento così tecnico.
Detto così si potrebbe pensare che si tratti di una sorta di saggio romanzato, proprio come il succitato "Stato di paura". In realtà non è così. Si tratta di un thriller a tutti gli effetti, che ti cattura e tiene incollato al libro. Non a caso l'ho letto in meno di una settimana (stiamo parlando di un romanzo di più di 400 pagine), nonostante la mia cronica carenza di tempo. Semplicemente non riuscivo a smettere. Ma ciò non toglie che la descrizione della parte tecnica sia senza dubbio essenziale per cogliere tutti gli aspetti della trama e cercare di scovare la causa "colpevole" dell'incidente, quasi si tratti di un giallo.
E proprio come in un giallo ben congegnato, gli elementi per scoprire la verità sono disseminati ovunque nella trama, ragione in più per cui consiglio di leggerlo in ogni sua parte con estrema attenzione.



Who’s afraid of flying?

I remember having postponed the reading of this book, as a result of a comment by a passenger on a flight from Cagliari to London, which advised me against it before flying.
At the moment I thought it would be really disturbing, but now, after reading it, I realise that it did exactly the opposite effect to me.
We are undoubtedly facing a great thriller, which narrates about a strange plane crash and follows all investigations into its causes, with a lot of interference by the media, which tend to place greater emphasis as always to the sensational appearance of the matter, rather than the truth, in an absolutely ruthless way, enough to bring down a large company. Everything on the basis of assumptions, without any evidence.
In another book Crichton had addressed not so much veiled criticism on the bad tendency to spread theories with little proof in order to create sensation and fear. I’m talking about “State of Fear”, but it came ten years after this one.
The annoyance and anger provoked in the reader is almost the same, although in “Airframe” it refers to a subject, that of the people who work in the airline business, which does not affect us closely. But now, thanks to the skill of the author and the obvious extensive research done before writing the book, we get to know a fascinating world that is continually moving in front of our eyes (or should I say over our heads) and that we almost take for granted, without understanding its enormous complexity.
Reading this book, we learn how airplanes fly, how they are made, all professionals who are behind their construction, but also understand how they are extremely safe.
And, when you get to understand something, it is rather difficult to get really scared.
For this reason I would suggest its reading to those who still fear this fascinating means of transport, provided that (and it is quite a feat!) they commit to deal with it with attention and maybe have some minimal knowledge of physics or a particular interest or just curiosity about such a technical subject.
Said so, you may think that it is a sort of fictional essay, just like the aforementioned “State of Fear”. In fact it is not. It is a thriller that captures you and keeps glued to the book. Actually I read it in less than a week (we are talking about a novel of more than 400 pages), despite my chronic lack of time. I just could not stop. Anyway the description of the technique is undoubtedly essential to understand all the aspects of the plot and try to find the cause which is “guilty” of the accident, it is almost a detective story.
And just like in a well thought out detective story, the elements to uncover the truth are scattered everywhere in the plot, all the more it is a good reason to read it in its entirety with extreme attention.

Warning: Do not read this if you're going to board a plane in the next two weeks.

Stunner of a book. Typical Crichton. Supremely complex subject, turned into a very digestible thriller. Airplane technology merged with the greed and machinations of the media industry. Wonderfully written and a satisfying ending. If you like thrillers and don't mind learning a thing or two about aviaton, you'll love this.

When Michael Crichton is good he is very, very good but this effort is just plain horrible. The only reason I finished it is due to my obsession about not wanting to miss anything. I found myself reading the first sentence of paragraphs and skipping the rest to move more quickly to the end. I don't think I missed anything doing it that way.

The characters are stereotyped beyond belief: the hard working but put upon single mother, the brusque and impatient boss, the techy nerds, the debonair test pilot, the slimy industrial spy, the good-hearted mentor, the young, overly ambitious news producer, and on and on.

The plot involves an incident on a Norton Aircraft passenger liner that is complicated by a pending sale of the same model to China, a union action to stall manufacturing offsets going to China as a condition of the sale, internal company politics, and a pending "Newsline" story about unsafe Norton aircraft. There may have been others. Chrichton had to do something to fill 400+ pages.

I had pretty much figured out how it was going to end about 150 pages in. Except for some details, I made a pretty accurate guess. There were a few surprises but overall it was a predictable story with a predictable ending. I wonder if the aircraft industry subsidized Chrichton's efforts.

On the positive side, I did learn some things about the aircraft industry, how accidents are investigated, and more than I wanted to know about the acronyms used in the industry.

If you are a died in the wool Crichton fan or are stuck on a long flight with nothing else to read, I can recommend this book to you. Other than that there are just too many good Michael Crichton books as well as books about the aircraft industry. You would be better served reading those.

So interesting and kept me very engaged. You’d think a book about a plane crash would freak you out, but it was the opposite.

My last two reads from Crichton were Timeline and Prey and I liked them a lot so I was very excited to see what this one was about. From the cover alone I deduced that it had something to do with planes, and as much as I don't like them I have to use them from time to time ( I had a close call twice on the same day same plane, yeah..) but it didn't diminish the enjoyment of what this brought, there was nothing supernatural this time, it was pure brain and iron power with a little mystery on top. This reminded me of Raising Sun which Crichton also wrote, I saw the movie but I'm definitely going to read the book, and this has a similar feel with the figuring out what happened, and things happen right away, chapter one is like a comet and it's coming straight down.

Planes are basically metal birds but with a larger percentage for error, any little part can be faked, even though they are photographed and cataloged a little fake in between can mean a catastrophe, the pilot's range and skill and age also matter so when things go very badly in the story which luckily didn't have a crash but still had casualties and injuries galore there are questions in the end that need answers, Crichton wrote it so you can bet it's going to be deeper than meets the eye. Airframe is an intelligent thriller that will teach you a thing or two about a whole profession that many people don't know much about.

There is no gore, no blood no icky stuff, just some questions that need answers as reputation and money are at stake. Casey Singleton, v-p for quality assurance for Norton Aircraft is in charge of finding out what happened to the company's plane. Her boss is breathing down her neck to find the solution for a problem no one seems to know how to solve as they are about to make a huge deal with China that will save their company, bad publicity will mean that their time is going to be limited in the money making department and the company's future is in question. The plane that went down killing four and injuring fifty six was designed in the Norton Plant, started by aviation pioneer Charles Norton in the thirties during WWII as it made the legendary B-22 bomber, the P-27, the Skycat fighter and the C-12 Transport for the Air Force, so this is not some baby company but a giant with a history that is trying to stay afloat as their reputation is going through the ringer. Casey is a sympathetic character and her adventures made me grip the pages tightly, the closer she gets to the answer the stranger her life seems to get, danger is breathing down her back as she dissects the case coming to a very interesting conclusion and a very cool plane scene towards the end.

I loved how the plane factory was a small city with thirty thousand workers covering sixteen square miles, the principal assembly buildings greeted Casey warmly upon arrival to her new position at the plant, it was a nice way to introduce her by giving her a new job and refreshing the reader of her past while keeping the story flowing. It was fun figuring the mystery of the N-22 and how it was built while Casey risked her life, the answer was surprising but a lot of good searching went into it that beefed up the story. In the end I was happy but sad at the same time since Crichton is not around anymore, I can't even imagine what other stories he would have made if he had enough time. This was a great read and I adored it, full of intrigue, suspense and a mystery to solve, good stuff.

- Kasia S.