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A review by vlucet
Ring of Fire: High-Stakes Mining in a Lowlands Wilderness by Virginia Heffernan
4.25
This book is currently the best available reference to understand the context around the proposed Ring of Fire project. As someone who reads anything I come across on that topic and stays up to date with latest developments, reading technical documents etc., this book was very enjoyable and a great contribution to the discourse. It is undoubtedly a must read for any pokicymaker in Ontario, and for anyone connected to that project in any shape or form.
Being written by a geologist, who also happens to be a journalist, we get engaging scientific descriptions, paired with beautiful prose. The slightly meandering storytelling come at the cost of struggling to follow a somewhat confusing timeline. But I really appreciated the desire to get to the literal roots of the project by explaining the underlying geology and history.
The description of the int icacies of mining claims rush will entertain many, although it bored me, putting the accent on Old White Men I struggled to really care about... But where the book shines is in the exploration of the indigenous perspectives around the topic, which is so far the most in-depth I've read on the matter. That being said, and that's always going to be tricky with these, I feel the book should have given an even larger place to indigenous voices. It seemed that the pandemic was a major cause in preventing the author from realising that aspect of the book to it's fullest.
Will I ever be convinced by the optimistic conclusion the author gives? I doubt it: I cannot bring myself to the level of trust the author seems to have in extractive capitalistic companies. But the attempt at building a positive, win-win narrative is often lacking in environmental writing and I salute the attempt. Time will tell as to whether this vision will indeed become a reality.
Being written by a geologist, who also happens to be a journalist, we get engaging scientific descriptions, paired with beautiful prose. The slightly meandering storytelling come at the cost of struggling to follow a somewhat confusing timeline. But I really appreciated the desire to get to the literal roots of the project by explaining the underlying geology and history.
The description of the int icacies of mining claims rush will entertain many, although it bored me, putting the accent on Old White Men I struggled to really care about... But where the book shines is in the exploration of the indigenous perspectives around the topic, which is so far the most in-depth I've read on the matter. That being said, and that's always going to be tricky with these, I feel the book should have given an even larger place to indigenous voices. It seemed that the pandemic was a major cause in preventing the author from realising that aspect of the book to it's fullest.
Will I ever be convinced by the optimistic conclusion the author gives? I doubt it: I cannot bring myself to the level of trust the author seems to have in extractive capitalistic companies. But the attempt at building a positive, win-win narrative is often lacking in environmental writing and I salute the attempt. Time will tell as to whether this vision will indeed become a reality.