Melancholic, interesting, meandering.

This book was not finished in Maclean's lifetime and you can tell. Although the research is superb, and certain sections magnificent, it meanders and desperately needed a good editor. It is still a fine book and worth the trouble, but bear this in mind.

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Simply a masterpiece.

I had read this book, and was glad I had my printed copy to refer to the maps. But either way, it is one of the greatest books I have ever read. It is tragic, and magnificent.

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Moving and technically fascinating story.

Going to listen to the rest of Mclean's writing now. Superb writing and magnificent narration.

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A Tragedy, A Mystery, A Poem For The Dead

The greatest strength of "Young Men and Fire" is its way with words, its turns of phrases, its shocking imagery. It's like the Literary version of Creative Nonfiction, just beautifully written.
The first part of the book is of the fire itself, of the young men, some mere boys, who didn't even have a chance to try to fight it, but were running for their lives within mere minutes of its blowing up.
This is followed by Norman Maclean's efforts to really get at what happened, complete with going back to the scene several times, as a relatively aged man, to find juniper bushes, crevices in rocks where two terrified men could squeeze through, rusted cans with two punctures in the rim, to see if the crosses for the dead are where men indeed met their wretched ends. It's a mystery, it's a battle with a bureaucracy, it is research at its humane best.
But through the whole book, the writing is what stands out and what holds it back. Maclean had to abandon the work before his own death, and I guess this is what the editors drew together to make a whole work that is not without its seams. The poetic turns of phrase jump back and forth, sometimes stumbling around making the reader/listener get lost in time and in space. I wonder if this stands out more here in this Unabridged version.
Still, it's a vivid account of a horrible day, a fine tribute to those who lost their lives, who might've been saved except for unfortunate split-second decisions, a poem about life and death, and a window into an old man's soul.
Not a perfect listen, but I enjoyed the many questions posed, lived, answered.

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Stories we need to hear

I am at a loss of words for how the author achieved both an epic story-telling and a research of a neglected historical event.

great story terrible narration

narrator sounds like a computer generated voice, almost devoid of emotion. ruins a great story

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This is the worst narrative I have heard in over 30 audio books.

It sounds as if it is poorly computer generated audio. As a 15 year veteran of Mountain Search and Rescue and a fan of Dodge Wagner, I could not stand to listen beyond chapter 3. Worst Audible EVER. My God. Why? Why screw ‘‘this up like this?!?!”

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long-winded book by an overblown blowhard

I love tails of disaster and mankind's quest to survive and thrive. it's one of my favorite genres. But criminy this book is pretty bad. the Mann gulch fire it's considered one of the all-time classic disasters of the American West in firefighting. The problem is the author doesn't talk about the fire enough instead all he talks about is himself. He wants to be the focus of the book. It's awful. Avoid.