James Salter: Fighter Pilot and Writer
James Salter who penned 5 novels and short story collection in 6
decades died on 19 June 2015.
James Salter crafted his first novel The Hunters (1956) in his 30s. It
was a war story on his real life experience, these lifelike 100
sorties he narrated as a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War, stories
focused on the conflict between a squadron leader in search of his
first kill and his reckless wingman.
Salter is known for his painstaking style, once who liked to “rub
words in his hand, to feel them, to wonder if that’s really the best
word possible”. The novelist Richard Ford happily mentioned that he
“writes American sentences better than anyone”. Many reviewers pointed
out his "succinct" or "compressed” style of writing. James Salter used
short sentences and sentence fragments. We easily find the switching
between first and third persons and jumped from present to past
tenses. He used dialogue only when it is necessary; he always left
readers to draw inferences from tone and motivation.
Many critics compared his prose with Ernest Hemingway and Henry
Miller, he admired Hemingway and once accepted in interview, he had
influence of André Gide and Thomas Wolfe. James Salter Born in
Passaic, New Jersey, he grew up in Manhattan.
He started writing film scripts while finishing his novel, A Sport and
a Pastime (1967), it deals with the story of an affair between a Yale
dropout and a girl he meets in France. The frank sexual content was
discarded by his publisher, later George Plimpton published it but
that failed to sell. It was perhaps too spicy for the high-brow crowd,
too faintly crafted for the carnal.
Salter tried his hand in screenwriting, The Appointment, Downhill
Racer and Three. He wrote this film with Irwin Shaw, he directed this
film.
He was fascinated by the short story genre of 19th century; his short
stories appeared in Esquire, the Paris Review, and Grand Street. There
is a worth noting fact behind his short story collection, He took 10
years to write the two stories which we find it in Dusk and Other
Stories. This dedication fetched his Pen/Faulkner award for fiction in
1989.
James Salter once confessed, “I've always said that I felt women are
more heroic.”Salter is also known for the portrayal of women
character, he offered immense depth to them, his like women’s
characters won the hearts of many women and they confessed, he knows
the desires of women. He wrote dialogues subtly and used it like a
bullet. He once said, “You can’t be admitted to the ranks of writers
of importance unless you have sales,” Vanity Fair rated him as
America’s most “underrated underrated author.”
My first encounter with Salter in 1996 through The 1996 film ‘ Boys’
It is based on a short story called "Twenty Minutes" by James Salter.
It starred Winona Ryder. I liked the story and her acting. The
complete film talks about the adolescent love story. It is one of
Winona Ryder’s early film and this film made her immortal as a young
girl character.
James Salter’s character portrayed the strength, weakness, power,
powerlessness and melancholy smile. He is remembered for his peculiar
style of describing people falling in love. He loved tragedy and
practiced it in to his writing and raised the questions on obscurity.
He motivated many short story writers to explore the characters,
emotions, their relations and morality of established bourgeoisie.
James Salter who wrote and directed Omer Sherif, Robert Redford left a
lasting impression on cinema. Today we remember him as a man who
started his career as fighter pilot, then as a writer, novelist,
screen writer and film direction. A guy who once uses to hesitate to
writer became a successful writer and film director. James Salter a
post second world war generation writer who took flag of modern
literature and acquired the subtle depths in his writing.
I remember his line from A Sport and a Pastime, “I am creating him out
of my own inadequacies, and you must remember that”
James Salter who penned 5 novels and short story collection in 6
decades died on 19 June 2015.
James Salter crafted his first novel The Hunters (1956) in his 30s. It
was a war story on his real life experience, these lifelike 100
sorties he narrated as a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War, stories
focused on the conflict between a squadron leader in search of his
first kill and his reckless wingman.
Salter is known for his painstaking style, once who liked to “rub
words in his hand, to feel them, to wonder if that’s really the best
word possible”. The novelist Richard Ford happily mentioned that he
“writes American sentences better than anyone”. Many reviewers pointed
out his "succinct" or "compressed” style of writing. James Salter used
short sentences and sentence fragments. We easily find the switching
between first and third persons and jumped from present to past
tenses. He used dialogue only when it is necessary; he always left
readers to draw inferences from tone and motivation.
Many critics compared his prose with Ernest Hemingway and Henry
Miller, he admired Hemingway and once accepted in interview, he had
influence of André Gide and Thomas Wolfe. James Salter Born in
Passaic, New Jersey, he grew up in Manhattan.
He started writing film scripts while finishing his novel, A Sport and
a Pastime (1967), it deals with the story of an affair between a Yale
dropout and a girl he meets in France. The frank sexual content was
discarded by his publisher, later George Plimpton published it but
that failed to sell. It was perhaps too spicy for the high-brow crowd,
too faintly crafted for the carnal.
Salter tried his hand in screenwriting, The Appointment, Downhill
Racer and Three. He wrote this film with Irwin Shaw, he directed this
film.
He was fascinated by the short story genre of 19th century; his short
stories appeared in Esquire, the Paris Review, and Grand Street. There
is a worth noting fact behind his short story collection, He took 10
years to write the two stories which we find it in Dusk and Other
Stories. This dedication fetched his Pen/Faulkner award for fiction in
1989.
James Salter once confessed, “I've always said that I felt women are
more heroic.”Salter is also known for the portrayal of women
character, he offered immense depth to them, his like women’s
characters won the hearts of many women and they confessed, he knows
the desires of women. He wrote dialogues subtly and used it like a
bullet. He once said, “You can’t be admitted to the ranks of writers
of importance unless you have sales,” Vanity Fair rated him as
America’s most “underrated underrated author.”
My first encounter with Salter in 1996 through The 1996 film ‘ Boys’
It is based on a short story called "Twenty Minutes" by James Salter.
It starred Winona Ryder. I liked the story and her acting. The
complete film talks about the adolescent love story. It is one of
Winona Ryder’s early film and this film made her immortal as a young
girl character.
James Salter’s character portrayed the strength, weakness, power,
powerlessness and melancholy smile. He is remembered for his peculiar
style of describing people falling in love. He loved tragedy and
practiced it in to his writing and raised the questions on obscurity.
He motivated many short story writers to explore the characters,
emotions, their relations and morality of established bourgeoisie.
James Salter who wrote and directed Omer Sherif, Robert Redford left a
lasting impression on cinema. Today we remember him as a man who
started his career as fighter pilot, then as a writer, novelist,
screen writer and film direction. A guy who once uses to hesitate to
writer became a successful writer and film director. James Salter a
post second world war generation writer who took flag of modern
literature and acquired the subtle depths in his writing.
I remember his line from A Sport and a Pastime, “I am creating him out
of my own inadequacies, and you must remember that”
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