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Title: Young Men & Fire by Norman Maclean ISBN: 0-226-50062-4 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: June, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.21 (58 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Innocence in the Face of Danger
Comment: Have you ever known someone that has been involved with firefighting? Do you want to know more about the brave, young firefighters that are risking their lives on a daily basis? If firefighting is an interest of yours or if you want to ignite a spark that will increase your interest in firefighting, I recommend reading Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire. Maclean takes the readers through a devastating story of a young group of Smokejumpers that lost their lives in the Mann Gulch fire on August 5, 1949, in Young Men and Fire.
Maclean first captures the audience and draws them into his personal relationship to the story of the Smokejumpers. He does so by telling of his experiences with working in the forest service department. Maclean immediately presents the dangers and the horrible after effects that fires have. An emphasis on the fact that everyone is susceptible to the dangers of fire helps introduce the story. Maclean shows even the impacts that forest fires have on the animal. "A deer terribly burned. It was drinking and probably had been for a long time." (12) Maclean compares the deer's suffering to the suffering that some of the few survivors from the August 5 Smokejumping crew may have endured. It seems that fire brings life down to its barest form and demands that all things living be bonded because they are all vulnerable.
Smokejumping was a topic that I had never heard of before Young Men and Fire was suggested for my book group. I was both interested and excited at the chance to learn more about the mysterious world of Smokejumping as Maclean presents it in Young Men and Fire. Maclean's rhythmic language and detailed description all help to bring the Smokejumpers' story to life. The Smokejumpers, as people, come to life and it is easy to see them as more than just firefighters. I could see some of the same characteristics in these Smokejumpers as I see in my brother, father, uncles, grandfathers, etc. Maclean emphasizes the important characteristics that the Smokejumpers must have, "They had to be young, tough, and in one way or another from the backcountry." (26) As rough and as strong as these young men were, they still were young, innocent, and naïve to the fact that they were being sent to one of the roughest landscapes in the country to fight fires.
Maclean creates the landscape in a way that demands the readers to fear the beauty of the land before them. The Mann Gulch fire occurred in a rural area of Montana; Mann Gulch is only easily accessible by boat or by helicopter. A photograph insert is included in most copies of Young Men and Fire and it is very helpful to be able to see through photographs what Maclean is talking about. Maclean references to the included photographs and uses them only to emphasize the sheer greatness of the landscape. One aspect that Maclean elaborates on is the steepness of the land saying that the land possesses a, "76 percent slope having no shade." (192) In many of the photographs, the crosses of the 13 men that died fighting the Mann Gulch fire can be seen. Maclean particularly uses the photographs to elaborate on how details, such as crosses, helped him to reveal the truth behind the Mann Gulch fire.
At one point in Maclean's narrative, he revisits Mann Gulch with an expert friend and two of the fire's survivors, Sallee and Rumsey. Maclean continues his journey of revealing the truth behind what happened on August 5, 1949 through the first hand accounts of Sallee and Rumsey. A lot of controversy surrounds the events that occurred that day, most of which surround the foreman of that day's jump crew, Wag Dodge. Dodge and his fellow Smokejumpers knew that they were in trouble from the start because of the fire's unpredictable direction changes. Because of the steep landscape, it was impossible to keep the crew within shouting distance of one another and the group began to split apart. These young Smokejumpers quickly became terrified and began to, as Rumsey says, "'I was only thinking of my own hide.'" (96) I could not help but think that these young men were supposed to act as a team and yet, in a moment when they needed each other the most, they split and went their own ways. The majority of controversy surrounds the "escape" fire that Dodge created; an "escape" fire being a secondary fire that would create ashes for the men to lay down in and let the fire "jump" over them. Many people question the fate of the crew had they followed Dodge's instructions.
Maclean, the son of a Presbyterian minister, presents religion in Young Men and Fire in a very non-confrontational way, seeming to almost hint at the importance of religion. Maclean says that you can tell if a man is Catholic or not by whether or not he has a cross around his neck. The Smokejumpers' struggles through their journeys and their way of taking relief breaks causes me to see the allusions of the Stations of the Cross. Religion continues to peek its way through Maclean's narrative and adds to the question of fate.
Maclean does a wonderful job of telling the Smokejumpers' story and what they encountered in the last few hours of their lives. Maclean describes his own writing style in Young Men and Fire, as that of a storyteller. Maclean says, "A storyteller, unlike a historian, must follow compassion wherever it leads him." (102) As I progressed through Young Men and Fire, I could tell that Maclean is telling a story that he does not want to be forgotten. The tragedy of the Smokejumpers is one that Maclean found a great deal of compassion for and that is why he pursued the story. He spent nearly 25 years writing Young Men and Fire, only in an attempt to tell the Smokejumpers' story with the most precise details and stories. Young Men and Fire is a very accurate novel and it takes into account various viewpoints from many experts and survivors of the fire.
I would recommend Young Men and Fire to anyone that is interested in a glimpse into an often-overlooked piece of history. Smokejumping is a very interesting subject because it is rather new technique used in firefighting, coming into existence only around the early 1940's. Maclean's simple, storytelling technique will sooth you through a disastrous story of death and destruction. Maclean took great care when writing Young Men and Fire because he did not want to down play what happened to these young men. The story of Mann Gulch fire on August 5, 1949 will live forever through Maclean's Young Men and Fire. I would rate Young Men and Fire an A-. Enjoy this fantastic read about the journeys that Maclean went through to tell the most accurate story of the Smokejumpers.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Heated Investigation
Comment: Soaring high above the earth, you are on a mission. Densely crammed into a plane, you are part of a team of adventurous souls. Sitting straddle-legged on the floor with your back to the cockpit, the group forms one body. The roasting heat of the fire below rises, and the air begins to gnaw tirelessly at your soul. In preparation of the jump, you and the others stand, approach the open door, and wait anxiously for the signal. Receiving a tap on the left leg, it is time. Crouching in the tuck position, you fall into the flaming world below.
The task of a smokejumper is intensely frightening. In Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean shares the tragic experience of thirteen smokejumpers' fight in the Mann Gulch Fire. Searching for truth, in a land of ashy remains, Maclean thoroughly explores the untold stories of one group's disastrous struggle in the forests of Missoula, Montana. Deeply gripping, Young Men and Fire becomes one man's captivating journey through the fires of the land and his aged soul.
Young Men and Fire is a three-part, non-fiction account of one of Montana's deadliest forest fires. Haunted by the unanswered mysteries of the Mann Gulch Fire, Maclean begins to unravel the stories of these thirteen young men who so horribly perished. In sensitive and compelling language, he describes the innocence of these smokejumpers. "As the elite of young men, they felt more surely than most who are young that they were immortal. So if we are to feel with them, we must feel that we are set apart from the rest of the universe and safe from fires, all of which are expected to be put out by ten o'clock the morning after Smokejumpers are dropped on them" (298). In a tender, almost storyteller tone, Maclean molds our visions of these men by conveying their "immortal" outlook on life. The author wants his readers to feel connected to their souls and illustrates images of their lives: the women they loved, the families they parted from, and the goals they were unable to reach. As Maclean develops our understanding of the smokejumpers, both their personal characteristics and the dynamics of their job, he begins to explore why the Mann Gulch tragedy had such a personal impact on his own life.
In every aspect, Maclean's exploration through the Mann Gulch Fire was a religious experience. He describes the smokejumpers' falling as "umbilical, an act of rebirth," as they descend from sky to earth (53). With overwhelming Christian tones, Maclean shares his beliefs that smokejumping is a spiritual task; just as we are delivered from the heavens, the jumpers fall again from the skies above. Continually, the author will refer to his religious analogies of smokejumping. After studying the scientific details surrounding the deaths of the smokejumpers, Maclean shares his own evidence on the meaning of the death. "At the very end beyond thought and beyond fear and beyond even self-compassion and divine bewilderment there remains some firm intention to continue doing forever and ever what we last hoped to do on earth. By this final act they had come about as close as body and spirit can to establishing a unity to themselves with earth, wind, fire and perhaps the sky" (300). I was deeply moved to see that Maclean had such reflections on the passing of life. For here, the reader is able to see that the Mann Gulch tragedy had turned into a search for answers in the hills of Montana as well as in the heart of one elderly man.
Maclean's in depth study of the Mann Gulch Fire, gives readers a breathtakingly real understanding for the complexity and seriousness of smokejumping. I had no previous knowledge of this aspect of firefighting, and found his lessons fascinating. Maclean provides a haunting investigation into the emotions and realities that plague all smokejumpers. His writing is historic, yet simple, and allows many audiences an opportunity to learn the story of such a significant event. Maclean prompts his readers, through his comprehensive writing, to reexamine their notions of the tragedy. He suggests, "you can see tragedy coming from a considerable distance when you are older, but when you are young tragedy dies not pertain to you and certainly never catches up to you (278). Again, Maclean is exposing his views, and the reader begins to see that this book became an exploration of his own mortality.
For fourteen years, Norman Maclean searched for truth. He did not find every answer to the mysteries surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire; however, he discovered something greater. Maclean gave voices to those who could not speak, shared stories that were buried far too long, and found meaning through tragedy. Norman Maclean passed away before his book was published, but the press uncovered his work and concluded that "Young Men and Fire was where, near the end, all the lives he had lived would merge: the lives of a woodsmen, firefighter, scholar, teacher, and storyteller" (xiii). This book is truly an accomplished work of nature, humanity and faith.
Rating: 5
Summary: Reborn in the Sky
Comment: What is a 'blowup'? What is an 'escape fire'? What is a smokejumper? I had no answers to any of these questions before I began the book Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean. This book explores the harsh reality of forest fires and the risks undertaken by the firefighters. The book focuses on the Mann Gulch fire that happened in August of 1949 in western Montana. The fire burned 13 smokejumpers to death. Smokejumpers are the 'elite' forest service firefighters who are dropped onto fires by parachute. The first half of the book intertwines firefighting and smokejumping history with facts about the Mann Gulch tragedy. The second half of the book is Maclean's search for the truth of the events leading to up to the tragedy and also his search for his own identity. Maclean uses his personal experiences, metaphors, and religion to paint a handsome, yet tragic picture of the Mann Gulch Fire.
Maclean opens the novel with a short chapter entitled 'Black Ghost.' He gives the reader an insight into his own personal reasons for writing this book. He says, "I once had seen a ghost, and the ghost again possessed me" (p4). Maclean had fought forest fires at the innocent age of fifteen. When he first heard about the young smokejumpers burning to death he immediately became obsessed with the story. He had come close to perishing while fighting a fire in his youth and could relate to the men 'dying at least three times' (p7) on that mountainside. What kept Maclean alive was the Black Ghost he had seen in his struggles with a fire, the same ghost that forces him to follow this tragedy. He writes, "fear being only partly something that makes us run away-at times, at least, it is something that makes us come back again and stare at what made us run away" (p10). Maclean's personal experiences bring the reader closer to the brutality of fire, but his use of metaphors provides the reader with a vivid feeling of the burning desire to survive.
The metaphors used in Young Men and Fire are almost as intense as the fire itself. Maclean writes, "The moment the jumper starts falling is umbilical" (p53). He relates the whole routine of 'appearing on earth from the sky' (p52) to that of being reborn. The smokejumper leaves the plane in a tuck position like that of being in the womb. A rip chord attaches the jumper to the plane like an umbilical chord to his mother. The chord makes the chute of life open after 12 feet of falling just like the umbilical chord keeps the jumper alive during pregnancy. The relation of jumping to that of being born gives the reader the sense that smokejumpers are like themselves, born of the womb. This connection allows the reader to sympathize with the innocence of these young men about to jump and fall into a tragedy. The birth metaphor is only one of many metaphors the writer uses.
Maclean turns words into pictures in other places as well. While describing the rugged landscape the smokejumpers fought during their battle, Maclean refers to "the place [Mann Gulch] in the Gates where the struggle between mountains and plains came face to face" (p44). He says the cliffs in Mann Gulch are, "the rearings and collisions and roarings of the bottoms of oceans as they stood up like sea beasts struggling to prevent anything from finding a way around them" (p45). This ironic analogy set the stage for the beastly fire that consumed the innocent children who could not find a way around the troublesome cliffs. Maclean, through his words, allows the reader to visualize the scene and gives the reader a 'seeing' perspective. He realizes, though, that a person may be blinded by smoke and cannot always see, so he also alludes to God in many instances to give the reader a spiritual perspective.
The prevalent theme of religion and God throughout the book Young Men and Fire lets the reader connect to the smokejumpers' inner struggles and beliefs. Maclean was raised and schooled by his father, a Presbyterian minister. Using his background, Maclean makes many references to God and the Bible. Early in the book, when he talks about Hellman, one of the men burned so badly that he died a day later, Maclean states, "At the end he wished he had been a better Catholic" (p29). I think Maclean overstates this point. He should not put words into Hellman's mouth. I do not know if Maclean is trying to put some humor in the passage, but playing with a person's death like that seems to go overboard. The reference to Hellman being Catholic is only one of many allusions to religion.
Maclean uses other religious references much better than the first. He writes about the landscape laden with crosses, "The Christian scene of suffering, where hill meets sky, has been painted so many thousands of times that something within it must direct it to paint itself" (p174). The setting, which he has seen personally, is almost surreal. It is like something that we might see in a sad movie, but it is real, more real than we want to believe. Maclean makes us believe with an allusion to Dante's Inferno. He writes, "Since the Inferno is also a pit, I have had to learn how to die in the Inferno always falling down" (p205). This way of dying, just like the smokejumpers died, takes away all hope and confidence. If they fall, there is nothing to save them since their only chance of survival was flight. Surviving is a tough thing to teach. Maclean cannot explain why only three people out of the 16 on the ground survived. The inexplicable nature of survival causes readers to be intrigued with those that survive. Why are they saved? Is it God? Luck? Endurance? Strength? The book causes the reader to have many questions.
Maclean's book Young Men and Fire is a must read. The book presents elements of personal experience, metaphor, and religion allowing the reader to connect with the inner thoughts of the dead. Maclean says, "True poems are hard to find" (p202). This story is a true poem and must be read by anyone looking for what saved Maclean and his identity.
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