Customer Reviews

Fire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For any author attempting to satisfy readers after delivering a book as widely celebrated as, "The Perfect Storm", the task is almost impossible. This is the task that Sebastian Junger faced when presenting his second book to readers. The 10 stories he collects here will be familiar to many as the majority appeared in magazine form prior to being collected between these covers. With his first book he demonstrated how well he could place a reader in the midst of a tale. His writing was detailed, authentic; he gave readers a vicarious experience of feeling they were close to, if not on The Andrea Gale. He wrote what he felt he needed to write to tell the story. These are essentially magazine articles, and as such are confined to the space they were allotted.

The stories are well written and have the effect, intended or not, of becoming bits of autobiographical sketches of the author. I enjoyed this aspect, and it raised my general enjoyment of the collection. The amount of knowledge a reader may possess on a given topic will also determine how interesting the stories will be to a given person. With all the information that we are receiving daily about Afghanistan, his story, "A Lion In Winter", may have less impact than it might have had if the nightmare of September 11 had not happened. I am not suggesting the story is poorly done; rather its informative value may have been overtaken by current events.

These stories will also take you to the sites of forest fires, to Kosovo and the author's first person accounts of the evil he witnessed, to The Caribbean, and to Sierra Leone. Most of these articles have themes and endings that make the fate of The Andrea Gale much less graphic and unsettling. Much of what is relayed is from places where war is actively being pursued, or the mess that is left behind contemplated.

The author will frequently take an incident from the present and relate it to events no less horrible but often less well known, or worse, less acknowledged. It is at these points that his writing expands from that of a reporter speaking of a given event, to a person placing his experience in the context of a larger history. I have recently read two books documenting a trial where the issue of Dresden in World War II was prominent. Mr. Junger quotes figures from the effects of the bombing of Dresden that are not consistent with the historical record. This was the only item presented as fact that I believe to be inaccurate. I don't know whether he knew the correct appraisal when he wrote the story, however either he or his editor should have corrected it prior to the story being published in 2001. This issue is not a fatal flaw, as the events at Dresden are an example of the horrors of war. It still rates as an item worth noting for history must be as accurate as possible, and corrected if new facts emerge.

Sebastian Junger is a craftsman of repute. With honed words and dispassionate facts, he takes us into the drama and horror of situations around the globe. His skill is apparent through each chapter of this book. In the beginning, he tells us that he started his previous book "The Perfect Storm" intending to write of dangerous professions around the world, not just that of commercial fishermen. In "Fire" he gives us insight into more than one dangerous occupation; thus, the book might be more aptly titled "Danger Zones."

"Fire," however, falls short of its billing. The title and cover lend one to believe Junger will follow the lives of a fire crew battling a blaze, as he did with commercial fishermen facing "The Perfect Storm." But this book is actually old news. The chapters are reprinted articles (some outdated in information and some redundant in their research). The scenes are vivid and full of engrossing detail, yet lose some of their power in the retelling and in the disjointed stitching of mismatched pieces. I felt that his chapter "Colter's Way" would've made a nice lead up to the more current stories, and his chapter about his own boyhood brush with danger could've set the book's pace with a personal touch. Instead, "Fire" broke out in too many places and I lost my zeal to keep reading. Halfway through, I had to consciously choose to continue. I hope Junger brings us some fresh stuff next time around. Until then, I'm feeling only lukewarm.

Sebastian Junger's book "Fire" is getting a lot of attention these days becasue of Junger's visit to Afghanistan in November 2000, and his visit with the military leader of the Northern Alliance, who has since been assassinated. This section, however, is only one chapter in a book that is a collection of diverse stories ranging from reportage on Western U.S. wildfires to the battlefields of Kosovo and Sierra Leonne. Junger is a good reporter and an excellent writer who knows how to make his stories come alive for the reader. He originally conceived a book in which he would report on the most dangerous jobs in the world, hence the first two chapters on Western firefighters and the third on a traditional whale hunter. Junger then discovered he had a knack as a foreign correspondent and ventured into some of the world's war zones. With all of his stories, Junger provides valuable insight for the reader, especially in his reporting on the long standing division of Cyprus, which he co-authored with another journalist.

The only drawback is that Junger's pieces are the original magazine articles and are not expanded upon for the book. The focus of each article also tends to be very narrow, especially in the foreign pieces. Junger lacks the depth of master correspondent like Thomas Friedman, and the book is fairly slight at just over 220 pages. Nevertheless, he is a skilled writer, and this makes for excellent and informative reading.

I happened across Sebastian Junger's latest while wildfires are raging near Sydney, India and Pakistan are heating up the Kashmir conflict, and the conflict in Afghanistan is still swirling toward an uncertain conclusion. Junger's second book manages to touch on all these current headlines, making you want to find out what he's working on *now*, just to be forewarned.

"Fire" is a collection of short essays, most published over the last ten years as magazine articles. That's an easy slam-dunk after a big hit like "The Perfect Storm". "Fire" is not Junger's next big thing, but it's certainly worthwhile if you were unaware of his other writings.

My favorite in this collection is "Colter's Way", inspired by an Old West figure famous for pushing his luck in Blackfeet territory. Junger relates Colter's exploits to the current fascination with extreme sports and adventure travel. Basically, modern life is safe but dull, so people turn dangerous pastimes to feel more alive, Junger says.

Junger promptly lets the air out of the modern adventure's tires: "because it's not necessary, it's not heroic", he says, however "brave" it can be.

As in "The Perfect Storm", Junger's levelheaded approach to danger is a nice contract to Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and its ilk, which seem to emphasize the pathlogical aspects of life at the extreme. "Storms happen" would be Junger's motto, versus Krakauer's annoying "why am I up on Everest" hand-wringing.

The last piece in the book, "The Lion in Winter" is an account of Junger's interview with the late anti-Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud. As he arrives at Massoud's position, Junger and his colleagues manage to attract a rocket attack from the Taliban. "There was nothing exciting about it, nothing even abstractly interesting. It was purely, exclusively bad", Junger writes, letting the air out of his own tires, among many others.

Sensibly and honestly, Junger says his strongest desire is simply to leave during the rocket attack. Fortunately, leaving was not practical during the attack, and he goes on to provide a nice portrait of Massoud as an energetic, hands-on military leader.

If I were to bet on Junger's next big book, I'd pick Afghanistan as the topic. In the mean time, "Fire" is a pretty impressive collection for a tree trimmer turned writer.

It's tough to criticize Sebastian Junger given the fact that - as the cover blurb points out - he "risks his life to research compelling tales of danger." But the cover of this book and the campaign behind its release really softsells the reality that - with the exception of a brief 'Afterword' discussing the implications of 9/11 - 'Fire' is simply a series of cobbled together, re-released magazine articles. If you're a frequent reader of Vanity Fair or Men's Journal, a lot of this will look familar to you.

Furthermore, the book is arranged in chronological order. From an editing perspective, that makes sense. But it sells the author short. Clearly, his style has evolved and matured throughout the years. Without a doubt, the strongest pieces are at the very end - specifically, his two excellent essays about Afghanistan's "Lion of the Panjshir" Ahmad Shah Massoud. Putting "Perfect Storm" aside, these pieces are Junger's defining work and the most compelling reasons to buy and read 'Fire.'

So my advice is to read the book backwards. Go straight to "Lion in Winter" (2001) and "Massoud's Last Conquest" (2002). Then, cherry-pick working backwards, remmebering that the better writing comes later. In fact, Junger has been done a great disservice by his editors here by naming the book 'Fire' and leading with two extensive essays about forest fires in the American West. This masks the fact the the best essays in the book involve Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Kosovo.

This book is NOT the Perfect Firestorm, nor was it ever meant to be. This is in fact where the Perfect Storm grew from. The original plan was to do a book on dangerous jobs, which was taken from his journalism, and the Perfect Storm grew from that when the article was turned in. This book was never really meant to be a follow-up to that, since it in reality precedes it. And it never pretends to be anything but reporting from the front lines of dangerous jobs, so if you're expecting intricately woven internarratives, read Dickens or John Irving. If you want journalism of tension where the overblown personality of the writer takes over the tone, read Hemingway. If you want some stories of dangerous occupations dedicated to the people they are written about (and essentialy for), you could do a hell of a lot worse. Extreme sports addicts ought to read this before they seek their next thrill.

Junger has a nack for the bizarre. The thing about it is that in FIRE he takes the reader with him to the front lines so to speak. Junger is the essence of an investigative reporter, brave and detailed in his pursuit of the extraordinary adventure. The whole book is like A Perfect Storm of which he too is the author. In times like this, it's great to have a guide (Junger) who offers an inside peak behind the scenes of global events. Another author who is talented in this regard and who too is an investigative reporter and takes the reader to the front lines so to speak is Alec Donzi, and his thriller about the reality of global nuclear terrorism, THE CONSULTANT by Alec Donzi, is a chilling account of what the future may hold for mankind.

Another example of a publisher (and author) capitalizing on fame. Perfect Storm was great - Fire isn't. Just because Junger had a blockbuster is no reason to republish a bunch of old magazine articles and call it a book. There's a reason no one ever heard of Junger before Perfect Storm: his articles were nothing special, so why make a book out of them. This limp hardcover is the worst case of bait and switch I've ever seen in the publishing business. I got ripped off. Don't get fooled into thinking this is remotely like the Perfect Storm, or for that matter, a real book.

The "Perfect Storm" was such a powerful, compelling read that Sebastian Junger's fans are probably a little disappointed with his next effort, "Fire" a compilation of previously published essays written throughout the nineties. But that disappointment aside, there are some real gems here. Junger puts himself in harm 's way to tell a good story. Whether joining a fire fighting crew in the Rockies, being dropped in Kosovo's Valley of Death, dodging drug-crazed and armed teenagers in Sierra Leone, or interviewing a rebel leader in pre-September 11 Afghanistan, Junger searches out the off-beat, but important story. And yet my favorite of the essays is the quietest: an examination of how the Greeks and Turks in divided Cyprus have, unwittingly and unwillingly, reached a sort of peace that may last. For all his chest-thumping, Junger is a thoughtful and talented writer. Though I, too, await a hoped-for longer treatment of some theme or event, these essays are a very satisfying interlude.

I bought this book knowing that it was about more than just fire fighting. My main purpose for buying it was actually the story about Ahmad Shah Massoud because there hasn't been a lot written about him. After I read the book I became interested in things I do not usually read about (usually I read about military history and foreign affairs). The story about smoke jumpers really increased my interest in that topic as well as the one about whaling.

Although Junger's stories in this book are short and not related, he writes with a style that keeps you interested. I actually kinda like this style because it gives you a short exciting piece that you can finish on your lunch break. If you want more in depth info on the topic you can find a book that centers on that topic. This book is cool because it exposes the reader to many different exciting stories without bogging you down with a long prose. The book is fun....not really intended for a reference....just for entertaining, well written "mini-reads".