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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
Required reading. Can I mail this to every politician against the green new deal?
challenging
informative
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
tense
medium-paced
I usually seek out non-fiction to gain the kind of knowledge that comes from facts, and fiction to gain the kind of knowledge that comes from emotions, but I love books that are able to combine both. This is something that Vaillant does very well. While he presents a great deal of information about the Fort McMurray forest fire (and the ways in which our climate crisis will continue to create truly apocalyptic fire events), he tells this story with the empathy and emotion that it deserves.
I especially liked the sections that were first-hand accounts of residents of Fort McMurray because they did convey just the sheer power of these events that are impossible to conceptualize just by looking at numbers or understanding the science. Hearing people's stories of watching their homes go up in flames, driving through burning corridors, and having their lives forever altered by this one fire are the images that will most stick with me after reading this book. I also loved the time he spent to describe the almost religious nature of a fire at this scale, and how alive a fire like this feels. These passages felt almost poetic in nature, which felt necessary for events that truly have never been seen by humans before, and that do transcend our understanding of reality.
I think this style of writing about climate change is exactly what we need in order to mobilize and take the threat of forest fires seriously. We need to feel the emotions. We need to understand the larger-than-life nature of these events. We need to be able to empathize with the people who have seen the realities of these threats so that we can understand how urgently and drastically we must take action.
That being said, I'm only giving this book three stars. My rating is based on my own enjoyment and how much I felt I got out of the book. Before reading this book, I already knew a decent amount about the Fort McMurray fire and know quite a lot about the threat of forest fires (feels necessary when you live in BC and most summers include a red sun from the smoke of fires). Because of this, I felt like there were many sections of the book where I was reading information that I already knew. As a result, I got quite bogged down and frustrated at points. It was not the shortest read, and I didn't get as much out of it as I wanted given the time I poured in. I thought about skipping over sections, but because Vaillant does weave all the information together as a well-thought out story, it felt wrong to skip anything.
However, outside of my own experience, I do think this was a great book and I'm really glad it exists to give people who are newer to this subject a really good understanding of the severity of what we're facing.
I especially liked the sections that were first-hand accounts of residents of Fort McMurray because they did convey just the sheer power of these events that are impossible to conceptualize just by looking at numbers or understanding the science. Hearing people's stories of watching their homes go up in flames, driving through burning corridors, and having their lives forever altered by this one fire are the images that will most stick with me after reading this book. I also loved the time he spent to describe the almost religious nature of a fire at this scale, and how alive a fire like this feels. These passages felt almost poetic in nature, which felt necessary for events that truly have never been seen by humans before, and that do transcend our understanding of reality.
I think this style of writing about climate change is exactly what we need in order to mobilize and take the threat of forest fires seriously. We need to feel the emotions. We need to understand the larger-than-life nature of these events. We need to be able to empathize with the people who have seen the realities of these threats so that we can understand how urgently and drastically we must take action.
That being said, I'm only giving this book three stars. My rating is based on my own enjoyment and how much I felt I got out of the book. Before reading this book, I already knew a decent amount about the Fort McMurray fire and know quite a lot about the threat of forest fires (feels necessary when you live in BC and most summers include a red sun from the smoke of fires). Because of this, I felt like there were many sections of the book where I was reading information that I already knew. As a result, I got quite bogged down and frustrated at points. It was not the shortest read, and I didn't get as much out of it as I wanted given the time I poured in. I thought about skipping over sections, but because Vaillant does weave all the information together as a well-thought out story, it felt wrong to skip anything.
However, outside of my own experience, I do think this was a great book and I'm really glad it exists to give people who are newer to this subject a really good understanding of the severity of what we're facing.
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A must read. Detailed breakdown of our petroleum heavy lifestyle and exploration of the lead-up to and aftermath of the Fort McMurray. Really excellent prose, great read / listen.
Audiobook
Depressing, enlightening, educational … a harsh slap of reality to humans everywhere. This book is not just about a fire that redefines fires, it’s about climate change. I think this is a Must Read for everyone.
Depressing, enlightening, educational … a harsh slap of reality to humans everywhere. This book is not just about a fire that redefines fires, it’s about climate change. I think this is a Must Read for everyone.
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
The content was interesting however I found the book to be very disorganized. Perhaps if it was edited differently I would have enjoyed it more.
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced