Customer Reviews

Fire: A Brief History (Cycle of Fire)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pyne has won a deserved reputation as the leading cultural historian and philosopher of fire. This book should have been an opportunity to summarize his findings in a clearly written, easily read way for people who are unlikely to read his more detailed studies. Pyne does offer us many interesting observations and perspectives on the history of fire. Unfortunately, he imposes a pretentious "writerly" style on his material, making his book laborious to read. His self-conscious literary artistry obscures as much as it reveals. Many of his poetic statements are not explained with supporting facts. A more straightforward telling of this story would be welcome.

This book might contain some interesting information, but if it does it's hidden beneath an impenetrable layer of literary and poetic pretension. Every second sentence contains a simile or metaphor.... seriously! It gave me a headache trying to read it.
To communicate effectively, writing should be clear and direct. This book is anything but. Perhaps the author should read someone like Jarred Diamond to see how to bring an interesting topic to life.
It's a shame, because the list of chapters looks interesting. Perhaps someone else will write / has written a book covering similar territory.

Ugh! May the lord have mercy on Weyerhaeuser for their misguided economic support of this book, which should stand forever as an object lesson in what happens when corporations start actually acting on their own airy-fairy mission statements. This book ought more accurately be titled `a brief AND UNBEARABLE history of fire' -- Pyne apparently fashions himself to be the dylan thomas of fire history, inundating us page after page with rompous and ridiculous artistic alliterations, with ceaseless inversions poetic, and anthropomorphisms that would be hilarious if not so awful. Can we possibly believe that fire is `unique to earth' (p. xv), where the `biotic broth broiled over' (p.3) and `humanity's restless hand and roving mind' (p. 7) is `the keeper of the vital flame'? Can we speak sensibly of fire when it appears like a ludicrous singles advert, `fickle if powerful', ignited by lightening... excuse me, I meant to say ignited by a force `relentlessly restoring electrical equilibrium'? Pyne, are you losing your mind? Fire deserves much better treatment than this goofiness. Use this book for kindling!!!

I had to choose a book to review for a conservation class, since none of them were in stock in any bookstore I took an random chance ordering this one. I realize now that I made a bad decision. Pyne jumps all over the place in his writing, there is no clear linear track to the chapters while discussions jump from prehistoric people to European colonization. I understand the basics of what he is trying to say, that fire has been an integral part of the world for the past 500 million years but he does it in such a convoluted way that I honestly can't recommend this book to anyone.

I find Pyne's writing not only expert in his content, but thoroughly enjoyable reading. Once I read one of his, I had to buy and read the others. Yes, he uses big words sometimes, yes, he quotes fine literature sometimes -- But I see these things as eloquence -- and I learn what I had not known. I'd sure like to meet him some day, and discuss some fires with him!