My Stepdaughter Angie, just dragged me out of bed to Watch a movie

I’m Cussler fan from wayyyyy back,

I have a whole shelf on my book case for fiction stuff, when I want to go fantasy land.

C.C. about his first 10, Dale Brown 10 or more, Craig Tomas lost count, Patrick Roberson 3 or 4, Eric L Harry 5 I think, Matthew Reilly 4 again I think, and on it goe’s.

Not to mention a LOT of Science Fiction,

Lost interest in C.C now day’s, BUT I think that was some of the fun waiting for the next book, WHAT absolute bull**** adventure was he going to come up with this time.

Back to the thread, Anyone got anything on the Stearman used in Dead Aviator’s.?

Thank’s for the still matey!

Look a lot different to a Stearman, but……that’s Hollywood!

Hi Starfire,
Fair comment! It’s a question of where you draw the line. Dressing up a romance and presenting it as fiction based on fact, is OK, if you are clear about the different areas. IMHO, Cuslter is being unethical in representing a single possible scenario as factually based; when in the case of the White Bird and Marie Celeste, there are a number of possibilities, and Cliver’s version makes a great story, but isn’t the most likely in either case.

I’ve no beef with his fiction, fine way of whiling away a bit of time, and I agree he’s spent some of his money on worthwhile causes – but sadly I can’t trust him to investigate properly if that’s his methodology. He presents a note passed between the crew of the While Bird as a critical part of the story, and it could be a great fact or factor in any hunt. But it’s not been found, nor have the crew, nor the aircraft. It’s made up, but presented as a known fact. Sure he, nor I nor you believe he spoke to the crews – but there is something we use to communicate between them and us – documents and sources. He fails to distinguish between what is known and documented, and what is his imagination. Fine – but it means his whole book is worthless.

We can acept that no film is truly factual. There is a category of books, under which The Sea Hunters is classified called ‘non-fiction’ which aspires to be factual.

I’ve read, and sold and learned about thousands of books – published a few, written a few, assisted with a number, and only actively thrown out less than 1/2 doz because they are really, really unsound. That was my point.

I don’t think Custler’s a bad man. But he needs to be clearer about the difference between fact or fantasy. Given the bull in the Sea Hunters, how much of the Hunley story can be trusted, hmmm?

Clive Cussler

He of the Dirk Dick er…Pitt books? Biggest load of poo ever to get into print IMO – anyone remember the one where Dick discovers Canada belongs to the US and the Canadians rejoice? – ah, no vomiting icon on this forum

One of the few books I’ve actually thrown in the bin because it was that bad. Waste of a tree.

Well, the books are definitely not that bad.

Custler can write a gripping story, but his attempts to tell the stories of various great mysteries from a firsthand participant account is dubious at best, and has to be guesswork. postulating one possible scenario – when clearly, as they are mysteries, there will often be more than one possible set of events. He also fails to mention that it is ‘fiction’ so some readers will assume he got his ‘facts’ from somewhere. Shockingly bad writing.

OK, I forgot that there really ARE people who take every page for real …
However it never entered MY mind, that Cussler actually talked to La Salle, Horace Hunley or Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs.

In the particular case, for Custler, it makes a worthwhile search and ‘story’ to assume it made mainland N America. He therefore bases his data upon some apparent sightings by backwoodsmen. They may be telling the truth, but we don’t know. Given the size of the Atlantic and chances of coming down before the USA, I know where my money is. Chiz.

Agree. However the story is more … trustable (?) … than the story of the movie this thread started with. The meaning of my first post was, that L´Oiseau Blanc just COULD be lying somewhere in a North American bog. However they have just shown where it´s not. Sorry, if I haven´t expressed myself that clearly …

As a followup he ‘solves’ the Marie Celeste mystery. Sheesh. :rolleyes:

As you have written it makes a good story. So what? :rolleyes:

Good novelist. Driven man. Very dubious researcher. Not to be trusted with ‘non-fiction’; I don’t think he knows what it is. 😀

I think you have mistaken the books intention: Telling a story of something lost and the story of the events, searching for them. And earn some money, that can be spent on the next “expedition”. I´m not quite sure, but who paid those divers looking for the “Hunley” all those years?

Maybe you should read Clive Cussler´s half non-fiction book “The Sea Hunters” II about the search for lost ships, guns or planes.
There is a chapter about the search for L´Oiseau (?) Blanc. The first part contains a fictional story about the events of the flight including the crash and the second one the search for “White Bird”. Scince they didn´t find it in the lakes, Cussler thinks the plane to have crashed a huge bog somewhere in Maine (Hi Col . Rohr). Everywhere else the lumberjacks should have found it long ago …

One of the few books I’ve actually thrown in the bin because it was that bad. Waste of a tree.

Custler can write a gripping story, but his attempts to tell the stories of various great mysteries from a firsthand participant account is dubious at best, and has to be guesswork. postulating one possible scenario – when clearly, as they are mysteries, there will often be more than one possible set of events. He also fails to mention that it is ‘fiction’ so some readers will assume he got his ‘facts’ from somewhere. Shockingly bad writing.

In the particular case, for Custler, it makes a worthwhile search and ‘story’ to assume it made mainland N America. He therefore bases his data upon some apparent sightings by backwoodsmen. They may be telling the truth, but we don’t know. Given the size of the Atlantic and chances of coming down before the USA, I know where my money is. Chiz.

As a followup he ‘solves’ the Marie Celeste mystery. Sheesh. :rolleyes:

Good novelist. Driven man. Very dubious researcher. Not to be trusted with ‘non-fiction’; I don’t think he knows what it is. 😀

Not a lot of technical info. available, but the film is originally called Dead Aviators and the pilot’s name is Murray Kot. 🙂

Maybe you should read Clive Cussler´s half non-fiction book “The Sea Hunters” II about the search for lost ships, guns or planes.
There is a chapter about the search for L´Oiseau (?) Blanc. The first part contains a fictional story about the events of the flight including the crash and the second one the search for “White Bird”. Scince they didn´t find it in the lakes, Cussler thinks the plane to have crashed a huge bog somewhere in Maine (Hi Col . Rohr). Everywhere else the lumberjacks should have found it long ago …