The Big Burn is a novel for young adults that tells the
true story of a terrible forest fire of 1910 in northern Idaho and western
Montana, through the fictional character of Jarrett Logan. Jarrett is 16 when he leaves home after an
argument with his unsympathetic father, and he wants to work fighting
wildfires. He soon meets up with his
older brother Samuel, who is a forest ranger and soon learns a great deal about
firefighting. We are introduced to many
other characters and we get a picture of rural life of nearly one hundred years
ago. Although the story is told mostly
from Jarrett’s point of view, we also see it from other perspectives, with the
characters of Lizbeth, a young woman with some romantic interest in Jarrett, Seth,
a young black army private, and his Seth’s comrade Abel, who is ready to break
rules when it is convenient for him, as well as a large number of smaller
characters.

The story is well told although the mass of detail
forces the reader to pay careful attention, and it is fairly easy to get
confused about what exactly is happening once the fire is in full force. The unabridged
audiobook is read by Boyd Gaines, who does a competent job, although
his performance does little to help the reader sort out different
characters. This is a book that is
heavy on facts and plot, and is light on the psychological insight into Jarrett’s
feelings as he has to face life on his own, learning who to trust, the awful
danger of the forest fires, and the disfigurement and death of some of his
fellow firefighters. So The Big Burn will probably interest young readers
who enjoy learning about history, but may disappoint those looking for a
psychologically nuanced story about the struggles of growing up under difficult
circumstances.

Links:

• Publisher’s
  web page with RealAudio excerpt.
• The Big Burn of 1920: on
  the Missoulian web pages
• Author website

© 2002 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is
editor of Metapsychology Online Review. His main research is on
philosophical issues in psychiatry. He is especially interested in exploring
how philosophers can play a greater role in public life, and he is keen to help
foster communication between philosophers, mental health professionals, and the
general public.

Categories: Children