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sonianair's review against another edition
4.0
This book has one of the most stunning first chapters I've ever read, heartbreaking and unrelenting and tense. I admire, most of all, Chloe Hooper's moral integrity; she writes into the messiness of tragedy with the utmost compassion for victims of the arsonist's fire, detailing Brendan Sokaluk's disability and ostracisation at the hands of society without detracting from the severity of what he has done. The first half of this book is much stronger than the second half, but Hooper's writing is strong and vivid throughout.
miavania's review against another edition
4.0
This is the devastating and tragic story of the Black Saturday bushfires and the subsequent investigation leading to the arrest of ‘the arsonist’.
Brilliantly written using an engaging and accessible language and tone - this book is divided into 3 sections. First we read the story from the detectives perspective, then the lawyers and finally it’s the court case...
Despite the verdict - Hooper leaves us with more questions than answers.
A must read!
Brilliantly written using an engaging and accessible language and tone - this book is divided into 3 sections. First we read the story from the detectives perspective, then the lawyers and finally it’s the court case...
Despite the verdict - Hooper leaves us with more questions than answers.
A must read!
vicardave's review against another edition
5.0
An exceptional non-fiction book, written almost in the style of a crime thriller, telling the story of the investigation into the catastrophic Black Saturday wildfires in Australia. Sympathetic, humane and deeply truthful, it never runs out if empathy for anyone involved - and paints a series of character portraits and a portrait of a place that are unforgettable; and a portrait of the man at the centre of it all that fascinates, challenges and disturbs.
tandah's review against another edition
5.0
Impressive reporting of the investigation, cause and impact of arson, which took place on Black Saturday tragedy. To say 'enjoy' is a stretch, but a compelling insight into a range of issues and potential issues that lead to the event, and the tragedy that ensued.
rhiannon123's review
emotional
informative
3.0
The book was interesting and I learnt about the Gippsland fires, but I don't feel like this adds anything to the discourse surrounding Black Saturday. The prose was too emotional and author too involved to be true crime. The real-life accounts in the beginning were devastating.
The book heavily blamed the perpetrator as it emotionally set the scene, and then later at the investigation & court process made me doubt his cognitive culpability. Which only made me confused about how he was found guilty.
I like criminology, so I found the court proceedings interesting, as well as how the defence and prosecution framed their arguments.
The book might be helpful for people to learn about the day, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has a connection to Black Saturday due to its heavy emotional content (accounts come directly from the court case evidence and bushfire Royal Commission).
The book heavily blamed the perpetrator as it emotionally set the scene, and then later at the investigation & court process made me doubt his cognitive culpability. Which only made me confused about how he was found guilty.
I like criminology, so I found the court proceedings interesting, as well as how the defence and prosecution framed their arguments.
The book might be helpful for people to learn about the day, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has a connection to Black Saturday due to its heavy emotional content (accounts come directly from the court case evidence and bushfire Royal Commission).
mondyboy's review against another edition
5.0
The tenth anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires will be in two months. I remember my wife and I melting in our flat in Caulfield North as the temperature soared to 47 degrees. In Melbourne it was the hottest day on record for seventy years, preceded by days of sweltering blazing weather. Coupled with drought conditions and the State was already on high alert. Even so, I’m not sure anyone could imagine how bad it was going to be.
Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist focuses on one of the outbreaks in the Latrobe Valley (the region where the bulk of Victoria’s electricity is generated). As the title suggests the cause of the fire, that started in the small town of Churchill, was not of natural causes. Hooper’s account details the arson investigation and the arrest and conviction of Brendan Sokaluk. She does so, though, by getting into the minds of those involved - those who survived the fires (and their gut-wrenching experiences), the detectives and experts who investigated the crime, the lawyers that defended Brendan.
Brendan, for the most part, is closed to us and Hooper. I won’t explain why, it’s the driving force of this incredible book that at times reads like a thriller, but for the most part is this emotionally raw exploration into a tragedy that’s left an indelible mark on Victoria. Hooper, who worked on The Arsonist for five years, clearly has a strong bond with the people she interviewed, and as such she respects each and every one of them. These are people striving to find justice, to find answers, to find some sort of resolution amongst the ashes.
Read this book.
Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist focuses on one of the outbreaks in the Latrobe Valley (the region where the bulk of Victoria’s electricity is generated). As the title suggests the cause of the fire, that started in the small town of Churchill, was not of natural causes. Hooper’s account details the arson investigation and the arrest and conviction of Brendan Sokaluk. She does so, though, by getting into the minds of those involved - those who survived the fires (and their gut-wrenching experiences), the detectives and experts who investigated the crime, the lawyers that defended Brendan.
Brendan, for the most part, is closed to us and Hooper. I won’t explain why, it’s the driving force of this incredible book that at times reads like a thriller, but for the most part is this emotionally raw exploration into a tragedy that’s left an indelible mark on Victoria. Hooper, who worked on The Arsonist for five years, clearly has a strong bond with the people she interviewed, and as such she respects each and every one of them. These are people striving to find justice, to find answers, to find some sort of resolution amongst the ashes.
Read this book.
eleanorfranzen's review against another edition
4.0
I love literary true crime, and manage to find about one book a year that really answers to that description. The Arsonist is about the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia in 2009, which killed 173 people and left many more homeless. A suspect was quickly arrested on suspicion of lighting the fires: Brendan Sokaluk, whose defense team struggled to represent him because he is both autistic and intellectually disabled, and frequently seemed not to understand what was happening to him. Hooper examines what happened the day the fires started, the major players in the arson investigation, and Sokaluk’s already difficult life (he’d had trouble at work, and lived in a house his parents had bought for him, where he could be regularly checked in on), as well as what happened after he was arrested. The result is an in-depth piece of investigative journalism, dealing with mental health stigma and the evisceration of industry in Victoria as well as the social and environmental consequences of the fires. It’s perfect for fans of Kirk Wallace Johnson’s The Feather Thief or Susan Orleans’s The Library Book.
charmc14's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
pretentiousbreadcrumbs's review against another edition
4.0
This true story details the events of Black Saturday, the Victorian bushfires which were caused by arson and took 173 lives.
I went into this book with no prior knowledge of Black Saturday, I was expecting a murder mystery-esque novel where we are presented with numerous plausible scenarios as the truth gradually unravels. But this is not the story of how Black Saturday played out. We know who caused it. What we don't know is why.
This book dives into the underlying social climate of the people involved in this tragedy in a way that is empathetic to this victims yet dignifying for the accused.
It's a tough read at times, but I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about one of Australia's darkest days.
I went into this book with no prior knowledge of Black Saturday, I was expecting a murder mystery-esque novel where we are presented with numerous plausible scenarios as the truth gradually unravels. But this is not the story of how Black Saturday played out. We know who caused it. What we don't know is why.
This book dives into the underlying social climate of the people involved in this tragedy in a way that is empathetic to this victims yet dignifying for the accused.
It's a tough read at times, but I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about one of Australia's darkest days.