Customer Reviews

Young Men and Fire

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I picked up this book by chance, captivated by the title and by the jacket. Since I first read it seven years or so ago, I have returned to it time and time and time again. (Indeed, I am using sections of it in a course I will be teaching soon on men and masculinity).

The publishing world has seen a plethora of non-fiction books on tragedies and natural disasters in recent years, with "The Perfect Storm" and "Into Thin Air" perhaps the most successful. But those two bestsellers pale in comparison with the subtlety, the grace, and the sheer power of Maclean's story of discovering what happened to a dozen young firejumpers on a steep Montana hillside many years ago. In the final fifty pages, as remembrances of survivors mix with a technical discussion of wind and flames, Maclean's prose is so vivid, so pure, so unadornedly beautiful that I had to put the book down three or four times because my eyes were filling with tears. 'Tis a rare work of non-fiction that can do that!

I am a deeply urban person. I know nothing of forestry or firefighting. I have never been to Montana. And I was gripped by this book from start to finish, even as Maclean skilfully avoids even the slightest shred of bathos or melodrama. It is a marvelous meditation on heroism and death, and on masculinity itself, and well, well worth the read.

When this book was reviewed on the front page of the "New York Times Book Review," I noted the subject and thought it would not be my cup of tea. The review changed my mind and it was only a moment from the time I finished it to being on the way to the bookstore to get the book and read it immediately. I was not disappointed. This is certainly one of the two or three best books I have ever read. Obviously, the quality of the writing is important. But, so, too, is the fact that this is simultaneously the story of a particular event in a particular time, and the quest of an aging man to resolve in his own mind what happened forty years before to young men fighting a fire in a place near where the author himself, as a youth, used to fight fires. I was more interested in the author's physical and mental determination; a colleague to whom I recommended the book was more interested in the sections that discuss the science of fire and fire-fighting. A rereading will probably lead to a fascination with some other element in the book. But, then, that is probably one of the signs of a great text. Since reading this book, I have been on the look-out for another book of this kind. So far, I have not found one. At times, I have seen this book linked to works that discuss the death of mountain climbers and the like. But MacLean did not write that kind of book. And as far as I can tell, no one has written another book like his. Not finding another book like this is existentially exhilerating. But, for a reader, there is also regret.

I don't do much reading, but this book kept me captivated from the moment I picked it up. Books based on true stories can be dry and uninteresting; however, MacLean combines fact, speculation, and emotion in a way that keeps the reader clamoring for more. I was inspired to read "Young Men and Fire" after hearing Richard Shindell sing James Keelaghan's song, "Cold Missouri Waters" (based on MacLean's book) on the "Cry Cry Cry" CD. After reading this book, I feel compelled to visit the 13 crosses marking the tragic ending for those men on that Mann Gulch hillside.

I decided to read "Young Men and Fire" because "A River Runs Through It" is one of my favorite novels/movies of all time. I'm afraid that my love for Maclean's other novel artificially inflated/changed my expectations for this one, but once I adjusted to the different style, I slowly grew to love this book.

The book is basically cut in half, with the first half being a re-telling of the story of the Mann Gulch fire, and the second half being more of an expository on how Maclean researched the facts of the event in order to tell the story. Quite honestly, I was bored with the book when I started it, despite the fact that the event was tragic and the characters were heroic. It felt more like a newspaper article than the literature I loved in "A River..."

But, as I pushed through the story, I came to appreciate it for what it is. Mclean exudes passion for this subject, and this book is really a beautiful intersection of his prose-like writing style (it's there, if less visibly than in "A River..."), his inexplicable passion for a subject to which he had no direct connection, and basic forensic study (ala CSI TV shows.)

Being a lover of outdoors and books that take place there, I can appreciate Mclean's felt kinship with the Smokejumpers that are the central figures in this story. I was entertained by his constant ratings and comparisons of woodsmen that enter his story, much like others debate the merits of sports figures or politicians throughout time. And that leads me to this point -- Mclean was a lover of the woods and the mountains and his brethern who shared this passion. Towards the end of his life, he found a passion that helped him to keep his mind sharp and to exert himself in the mountains he loved. The exercise was cathartic.

Because of Mclean's passion and talent, I believe the book ends up being a great read. He brings to life the sense of invicibility that young people tend to feel, and paints a vivid picture of the tragedy that the Smokejumpers endured. His analysis in the second half is eye-opening and helped me understand how difficult it really is sometimes to piece together exactly what happened in these sorts of tragedies. Often times, not knowing what happened and why is more haunting for the families of those who died than the actual loss itself. Mclean gives everything he has to give those people an explanation.

Mclean obviously threw himself into this book, and as soon as you get in tune with the different rhythms and flows that pulse throughout this book, you will enjoy it as much as I ended up enjoying it.

Norman Maclean was haunted by two major events during his life, the death of his brother as told in A River Runs Through It and the Mann Gulch fire that is the subject of Young Men and Fire. The former became the basis for one of the best American novels, but the latter manifested itself in a work that was incomplete on Maclean's death.

None the less, Young Men and Fire is a powerful account of one man's efforts to come to terms with tragedy. At the outset Maclean attempts to understand the Mann Gulch fire as a physical event involving flame and the death of the young Smokejumpers. His painstaking analysis is driven by an emotional need to understand the event. This process leads him ultimately to seek a spiritual understanding of the tragedy. Maclean's narrative of working with mathematicians who model fires for the Forest Service is the most humanizing description of mathematics that I have ever read, despite Maclean's eventual rejection of a reasoned analysis as a source of closure.

Interestingly, Maclean was not directly involved in the incident, but rather became attached to it through his memory of himself as a young man in the Forest Service. To feel so strongly about something to which one only has an abstract connection is remarkable.

I originally read this during the summer of 2001, as assigned reading for a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Teachers' Institute on the American West, and was so captivated that I poured through it in about thirty-six hours. I reread it within a few months, and now have included it as required reading in a high school course I teach, The American West.

What can I say? This book works on so many levels. Ostensibly, it's a book about the tragic Mann Gulch Fire, and the smokejumpers and ranger who perished in that blow-up. However, it functions on much deeper levels. In the broadest view, it's an exploration of identity: identities of Mann Gulch's tragic heroes, identity of young people, and certainly Maclean's identities. However, there's so much more. It works as narrative prose. It's also a technical book on how wildland fire "works." Finally, it's a tragedy in the classical sense: heroes who have everything going for them give in to hubris, leading to their ultimate demise. Admittedly, the narrative occasionally is a bit redundant, and during my third reading I found myself re-evaluating some of the stylistic choices Maclean (or his editors) made--some of it seemed a little trite. However, those observations only came across after the second or third reading.

I love this book. More importantly--and surprisingly--to me, the six high school boys in my American West class this semester already love it! And everyone to whom I've given this book as a gift in the past twelve months has really enjoyed it. This is a complex and deep work that touches on a variety of levels and I highly recommend it.

I read this book after A River Runs Through It, and found that while I had liked RIVER I couldn't put this one down. Unfinished at the time of the author's death the book has some bumpy spots, but the language and the mixture of story and theory will keep you up late and come back to you again and again, especially if you are a lover of the country that Maclean invokes so well. I should warn you that friends that I have sicced on this book have either loved it with me or hated it, and parts are not for the faint of heart, but this is definitely a book to keep.

Norman Maclean was born to write this book. As an outdoorsman, a wildland firefighter of the same generation as the books subjects and one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, Norman Maclean's voice becomes the ideal homage to the hero's of Mann Gulch. While fans of Maclean's fiction might miss some of the poetry of his previous works, they will visit a new side of the author in this work as he pieces together the puzzle of Mann Gulch and makes peace with his own personal ghosts. Here the author, in his words, seeks to let the "tragedy become a story". The tragedy is told in detail, both honestly and reverently. Maclean labors to remain dispassionate and honest, to, "not become to sentimental". The tragedy he relates is horrible, the story of the tragedy is beautiful. It is a fitting tribute to the crosses of Mann Gulch and the memories of those who died there.

This book is a masterpeice. I don't say that often and I'm going to say it again. Masterpeice. Yes he didn't finish. Yes his grammer occasionally lapses into incoherency. Yes the narrative doesn't always make sense. But pay attention to the title. If you're expecting a book solely about the Mann Gulch disaster you might be disappointed. If you're truly expecting a story about young men and fire, you won't be.

This is a fine story of brave men in a tragic struggle. A struggle that they loose. The entire book covers the 16 minutes it took for these smoke jumpers to land, confront a "10'oclock" fire and die. Norman Maclean researches the human and scientific causes of this disaster. It was especially of intrest to me because when I went through the fire fighter academy here in Northern California, this was an incident that we studied. Norman Maclean writes in a sparcer prose than in "A River Runs Through It, and other stories" but it is no less facinating and we learn details about the authors life, that makes this story a personal one. He did not finish the book before his death and the last section was written with minimal editing from the original manuscript. This section is the most beautiful and moving of the entire book. I cannot recommend this book highly enouph.