Young Men and Fire is a must-read for aficionados of literary poetry. Maclean weaves his biography through the historical tragedy of the Mann Gulch fire. Residents of Montana or lovers of Big Sky country will delight in this treasure.
This book was everything I expected and more. What I enjoyed most about Young Men and Fire was Maclean’s thoughtful reconstruction of what happened on August 5, 1949, during the Mann Gulch fire. His gratitude for being alive when only three smokejumpers survived in the inferno in Helena National Forest touched me as a reader and tapped into my compassionate nature of what it must have been like for boys coming so close to the ridge of the fire but not being able to outrun the flames.
If you enjoy the literary prose and philosophical angle presented by Norman Maclean, I highly recommend another book of his, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, and The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. The sheer pleasure in reading these books and reflecting on life from a Christian Worldview will stick with you as the Mann Gulch fire haunts me to this day.
