Although the book is entitled "Fire" and the first part is comprised of an introduction to the essay on fire jumpers and forest fire fighting that immediately follows, the balance of the book is a series of Sebastian Junger's essays from wartorn or conflicted areas of the world. Junger is a talented journalist and writer; I deliberately use these two different words: "Journalist" in that he notices things well and, it seems to me, records events accurately while walking the fine line between "just the facts, ma'am" and compassion. "Writer" in that he simply writes enormously well, and there are few things more enjoyable to read than excellent journalistic writing.The "Fire" essay introduces the reader to the finest traits in humans, in addition to describing scientifically the why's and how's of forest and wilderness fire behavior. (Personally, anyone reading this will (or should) never consider such foolishness as building vacation homes in wilderness areas...) As with Junger's "The Perfect Storm," which included a basic and horrifying description of the mechanics of drowning, how a person dies in a fire is similarly unflinchingly described. Junger provides a lot of information about national forest fire management - all very interesting for "information junkie" readers - as well as "on the ground" (and in the woods...) you are there moments.The balance of the essays share the commonality of (a) being terrific journalistic essays, and (b) focusing on danger and the men (rarely the women in this book) who live in it, either through choice or bad luck. However, the similarity stops there. With the exception of an essay on whale hunting in the Caribbean, the situations described in the rest of the book are all man (human) made due to the worst of human nature. Junger reports from the Balkans, Pakistan, Cyprus, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan. (The latter essay is particularly poignant given that the essay and this book, while published in 2001, pre-dated both 9/11 and certain events in that country.)All of these parts of the world are or recently have been sites of the worst of human behavior against other humans - reading (listening in my case) to these accounts reminds me of something I once heard in a scientist's lecture: physiologically (and psychologically) humans have changed remarkably little since the early days of our species, primarily due to our late evolution, chronologically, large brain size, and the (long) lengths of our lives; however, our tools and means of killing each other have become remarkably refined. Basically, the capacity of humans for spite, pettiness, prejudice, greed, power, and territorial-ness (all presumably having some place in pre-historic times when food was scarce and hunting grounds dear) continues to outstrip, ironically, our humanity or, rather, our compassion. (These essays also make me think what a revolutionary Jesus Christ was, with his overall message of compassion - this is a POLITICAL and not a religious statement. Would that more self-professed Christians act more humanely, this coming from a church-goer who herself doesn't always follow "WWJD". But I digress.)Junger is clearly drawn to these dangerous and dramatic situations, and admits as much in the course of the essays. He has a remarkable talent for "putting the reader there" while also parsing out the big picture. It's his decency in doing so that, frankly, keeps the reader - kept me - from falling into a huge spiral-down funk while reading these stories. One can't help but wonder about the families and children who are born into and live in these torn areas, and who grow up fearing and hating. What is the future of us all? Well, not entirely bad if this one journalist and writer, and others like him (and those who help all of them, as Junger points out in his Acknowledgment), continue to be drawn to these areas, notice the world - both the big and little things - on all of our behalf, and then record what they see in clear, beautiful language.This Harper Audio / Recorded Books Direct unabridged recording is read in part by the author and the balance by Kevin Conway. Mr. Conway does a fine job; however, author Junger reads well and I would have preferred that he read the entire book. Good author readings just add a certain something to delivering the text and mood.
This is a collection of essays, not a cohesive book. I have to say that each essay left me wanting more, which is kind of good and bad. The title essay is on smoke jumpers, and it had a lot of information and good stories, but if you're looking for a book on smoke jumping or even things that are related to fire, you might be disappointed. That said, the other essays are amazing in their own right. Junger tells of the many dangerous situations he's been in and the political situations that caused the violence he was witness to in away that makes you cringe at how people could be so cruel even as you begin to understand the cruelty.One of the essays was written just before 9/11 and talks about an Afghani fighter named Massoud who was conducting a guerrilla war against the Taliban. Goodreads lists the book as having more pages than my version has, so it might be that there has been a new edition since 9/11. If so I don't know about it. It's a strange thing reading an article about the Taliban before the attack. It's almost like watching a horror movie when someone leaves to go investigate a noise. Except you don't have the comfort of believing it could never happen. It did happen. And the article points out how the rise of the Taliban is directly linked to the fall of the Soviet Union. So it's difficult to point to one thing and say it should have been done differently. Like I said. Strange. I'm definitely glad I read this book. And I'll keep it in case I need to know something about one of the wars Junger covers or something about smoke jumping, but while I knew this was a collection going in, I was still expecting more of a through line that would tie everything together and instead it just seemed like a hodge podge.
What do You think about Fire (2002)?
Really enjoyed the forest fire related essays, the first two, going to see how the other ones are.Whaling in the Caribbean was still really awesome, definitely a totally different culture from any I've ever known. I enjoyed the historical context of how whaling came to the area and what it means from a larger global perspective, both economically/politically and environmentally.Would have really appreciated an update on the Kashmiri hostages...although, I'm assuming it didn't end well for them.Kosovo was another dark, dark one that made me question the wisdom of my listening to this at night... Note to self, research Milosevic, one of the names of my childhood (him & Lewinsky!).Cyprus is another frightening one. It's ironic because I remember seeing someone's gorgeous vacation pictures from Cyprus and had thought vaguely that it was a dangerous place, guess not anymore? Another one to research further.Sierra Leone was really, really rough and makes me not want to ever purchase diamonds, especially not from the DeBeers monopoly. I like how he ended in Afghanistan, but still don't really know if I see the underlying theme of this book. The closest thing I can think of is "shit Sebastian has written in dangerous situations." It isn't very cohesive, but it is incredibly informative. My to-read topic list has grown, a lot, and I feel better informed on world conflicts.
—yoli
After reading this, you might start to think that Sebastian Junger is either suicidal or severely sadistic. Fire is a collection of articles that have appeared in other publications and some have been expanded upon for this collection. All are true and deal with the dangerous situations that Junger has exposed himself to in order to get a story. Some topics include American forest firefighters, the last true harpoon whale hunter in the world, the conflict between Turkey and Greece over the island of Cyprus, the diamond-driven political situation in Sierra Leone, and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Personal favorites of mine include "Escape From Kashmir" which details the kidnapping of American Donald Hutchings, among others, while climbing in the mountains of Kashmir; "Kosovo's Valley of Death" that discusses the beginnings of Slobodan Milosevic's ethnic cleansing of Yugoslavia in the mid-1990s; and "Colter's Way" which speculates about the natural human drive towards adventure by relating to the story of fur trapper John Colter and his repeated near-death encounters with Blackfeet Indians in the early 1800s. Very well written and several of the stories really suck you in and make you want to learn more about the topic (the very night I finished this book, I was in my local Borders searching for books about the rise and fall of Yugoslavia). At times, I found myself wishing that a particular story would not end.
—Kevin
I was at the library looking for the author's newer book, War. It wasn't there, but I did see Fire - an account of fire fighters on the lines fighting forest fires. I always wondered about why these fire people run toward fires while I would run away - and although I've seen coverage of devastating fires, I imagine to see them up close as a wall of flame must be an experience for ultra-human people.I guess I should have read the small print - the book is a collection of essays - granted the first are about people and fire, but the rest are about conflicts the world over that Junger has covered. I might add, covered in depth - from going into the mountains of Afghanistan to the horrendous slaughter in Kosovo and the civil unrest in Cyprus. Junger puts you there - right in the midst of human destruction, loss of hope and also outstanding heroism. I have no problem in his revelations of what is going on in the world - even at our own expense, such as our supplying the Taliban with military gun power to fight the Russians - who then now are using what they learned against us. Junger's seen more than his share - and although it's not objective journalism - how can it be when the people you are with are defending YOUR life - he gives us an account of what we should know when we dare to offer our young men and women to war - no yellow ribbons can make up for what our children and other people's children suffer in our wars.
—Tulara
