I think Harper’s pregnancy skews The Fireman in the direction of hope and renewal. I never thought that Harper would lose her baby or have to give it up - whether or not it was born with Dragonscale. But I think John’s alter-ego the fiery phoenix - a symbol of rebirth/renewal - answers whether or not Joe Hill means for us to leave the novel with a sense that all will be okay. Calling Harper’s infant Ash further invokes the phoenix and rebirth.
I loved the idea of The Portable Mother and was sad when it disappeared. Interestingly, Harper hardly cares when it shows up again, because by then it’s clear she’s going to live.
As I interpret it, only John continues to manifest himself. The “woman with the yellow hair” who waves from the prow is Harper. I think Sarah was set free and went off into another, better place after she dispatched Jakob with a fiery hatchet. She greets her children, refuses to be “stoked,” and then, “The girl of flame collapsed into herself in a rattling drizzle of cinders. A thousand green sparks whirled up into the afternoon.”
I hope that, in a similar way, John is able to leave the crew after they land safely in Ireland. To exist as a guiding bird of fire seems like purgatory to me. I’d like to think there’s a better realm out there somewhere for him (with Sarah).
Done! (I skimmed a little during the camp time, but not much.)
First of all – Michael and Carol? Ewww!!!
I loved the observation that John Rockwood equated to John McClure. That’s exactly how I felt about him. I also would have liked his character to be further fleshed out – he had a lot of potential, as opposed to several others in the camp who were generic and forgettable – but I was ok with it as it stood.
By contrast, Jakob was so two-dimentional I could hardly keep from turning the page whenever he appeared.
I’ll tackle question #2: “A 768 page novel can have both dry spells and moments that really resonate with the reader. What passages did you like the least? The most?”
First, this really should have been a 350 page novel. Having said that, the passages that gripped me were not my favorites, but I felt they were major turning points. Harper spent the first third of the book growing stronger and more self-assured. When she capitulated and put the stone in her mouth, it signaled a major change from independent thinking (which was true of her, even when she had joined The Bright) to a kind of resigned existence. The shift had already begun in a series ofnsmall, incremental changes: when she realized she wasn’t going to be allowed to return to check on John, when she didn’t respond to Allie’s petulant refusal of breakfast, when she quietly obeyed the summons to see “Mother” Carol, and when she went along with the group’s plan to hijack an ambulance. Things ramp up during the hijacking when police and EMTs are killed, and she realizes she’s not going to be allowed to help. That point was also significant because Ben seeing his former co-workers and Harper’s encounter with Charity is the first time, other than run-ins with Jakob, where we see their past intersecting with the present.
My fear had been that I had several hundred more pages to go with a complacent, drifting heroine, so I was glad to see her fighting spirit return before they made the trek to Maine, which was one of the best parts of the book.
Like others, I loved the pseudo-science pieces and the physical descriptions of Dragonscale.
Anyway, thanks for letting me join in. How do I found out about September"s selection?
Page 450 …
First - the discussions are every other month, so the next discussion will start Oct. 1.
This discussion will last about 8-10 days. Mary will then call for suggestions (so start thinking of one or two or more). We whittle the suggestions down to a manageable number and then vote.
If you want to see how it’s done and also a list of all past book choices with discussion, here you go (start with post #113): http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1882027-the-dig-june-cc-book-club-selection-p8.html
*I started participating with the last book in 2009 - The Thirteenth Tale. I went back and read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and American Wife and still intend - someday - to catch Dreamers of the Day and Sarah’s Key.
So … horror.
Part of our discussion while choosing The Fireman centered on whether or not we wanted to dip our toes into the horror genre. Personally, after reading The Fireman I’m uncertain exactly what would move it into that classification. Surely not the Dragonscale itself. The ability to control it, as the Fireman does, seems more fantasy. I catch mystery with the who-done-it but horror? I don’t see it.
I read The Angel’s Game - prequel to The Shadow of the Wind - by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: genre - Historical fiction; Literary fiction; Magical realism. Sorry, but if that book doesn’t fall squarely into the horror genre, I don’t know what does. I couldn’t read it at night with so many evil things lurking between the pages of the book on my bedside table. I don’t feel that way about The Fireman
Agree with what @ignatius said re: “The Fireman” not being what I would think of as in the horror genre. Even though I don’t read his books, and have only seen a couple of his movies, I think of Stephen King for horror. However, while reading the camp section where Harper is grabbed, her hair cut off, and a stone forced in her mouth, I did have thoughts about “Lord of the Flies.” And I have to say, that whole theme is pretty horror worthy.
I’d say that The Fireman is a post-apocalyptic fantasy, not horror.
Like ignatius, I recently read a good book that might more justly be labeled “horror”: Slade House, by David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas, one of our previous CC book club selections). Slade House is short and fantastically well-written. There are a few disturbing bits, though…I was sort of freaked out at the end of the first section of the book, and thought, “Eek, do I really want to continue?” So glad I did!
I think the point of horror is to keep you scared. I avoid horror movies though, so I’m not sure I’m a good person to provide definitions. Except for Psycho, and the spoofs Cabin in the Woods and Shaun of the Dead, I’ve seen very few movies in the top 100 list at Rotten Tomatoes. As for novels I’ve read even fewer that appear on any lists.
In any event I’d agree with NJTheatreMOM that it’s closest to post-apocalyptic fantasy, and emphasize that it seems more fantasy than sci-fi to me. Or magical-realism. It’s interesting comparing it to either SevenEves or Station Eleven, which I think both thought out the consequences of a mass disaster much better. Is there electricity or not? How long does technology work without the infrastructure to support it?
I like the descriptor post-apocalyptic fantasy EXCEPT unlike Seveneves or Station Eleven Earth hasn’t hit post-apocalyptic yet. Maybe - probably - heading that way but - a major BUT - there exist enough uninfected people/whole areas. So electricity and technology still exist - for the time being - which is why the infected are being hunted.
And - yeah - to magical realism - maybe more fitting than fantasy.
I found the book a quick read–not my usual thing, but I liked it. I agree with Nerdmom88; the trek-to-Maine ending was the best part. I kept comparing it to Station Eleven, though, which I thought was much better–in having more geographic movement, more psychological insight, and better descriptions of life in a post-apocalyptic world.
Also some of the characterizations. Jakob went from sexy, loving husband to worst husband ever, and that just wasn’t believable. The novel as a whole might not fit the horror genre, but Jakob and the Freightliner did. Carol seemed a bit of a caricature, too (or maybe I just didn’t like her).
I was bothered by the geography. Most of the book takes place in Portsmouth, NH (not far from me), and a lot of the place names are real. Camp Wyndham isn’t real, but the described location is very close to downtown Portsmouth, and pregnant Harper was able to walk from camp to home and back in two hours. It wasn’t believable that the camp wasn’t found and destroyed much earlier. The authorities wouldn’t have needed Harold or Michael’s tips to find them.
I liked all the connections to Mary Poppins–the music, the smoke, chimney and bird references, the idea of Harper as a nanny-figure to Allie and Nick.
I thought The Fireman seemed post-apocalyptic in some ways but not in others. Joe Hill was trying to have his cake and eat it too. It served the story’s purposes for many aspects of civilization still to be intact. I found the whole thing muddy and annoying.
I was not a huge fan of *Station Eleven/i, but after slogging through The Fireman, Station Eleven seems really good in retrospect. I especially liked the very poignant first chapter where a certain character is one of the few who knows what is happening and is concerned about the welfare of his disabled brother. I thought there was more moving, honest emotion in that one chapter than in the entirety of The Fireman!
Right!! And how come there were no immediate repercussions from that horribly botched attempt to rob the ambulance?? (Quite a distasteful part of the book, I thought).
I agree.
I agree again.
I can’t compare Station Eleven with The Fireman mainly because I look at the two and see apples and oranges. I don’t think the authors themselves had the same goals/mindsets/audience in mind when writing. I loved Station Eleven but have found that others find it slow. I now recommend it with qualification … but still love it.
Also, since the Marlboro Man had that talent to know where the “meatbags” would be, why didn’t he know they were at the camp?
The Marlboro Man didn’t actually have that talent: Michael was an informant if I remember correctly. Michael had no intention of putting himself or Carol in danger but had no trouble ratting out Harold Cross or Harper when they left the camp. Michael phoned it in on a confiscated cell phone.
(I’m not checking my book so anyone please correct me if I’m wrong here.)
That sounds right to me.
I agree with others too much careless plotting.
I liked Chapter 6, where multiple paragraphs started “The night of the hospital fire”. I kept expecting him to play more verbal games like that again.
I have to admit I kept imagining how cool it would be to nurse a baby with Dragonscale. All those great hormones! Talk about glowing!
LOL, agreed! It may not have been outright illegal, but it sure was icky.
Re the question of what I liked most…hmmm…One passage that touched me was when Harper and friends are at Gil’s makeshift funeral, and she experiences something beyond “the Bright”: For a moment, she is inside each person’s head, sharing their memories, feeling what they feel. It suggests untapped potential in Dragonscale’s power. In previous scenes, harmony with the others has a selfish element to it—it’s a drug that makes you feel good and you crave it. But here, harmony creates true empathy with another human being. I thought it was nice.
I think this is a really important point. The world is falling to pieces in The Fireman, but it’s still functioning. The fact that an ambulance even responds to a 911 call (in that grisly scene where everything went awry) shows how many systems were still in place. So electricity working here and there made sense to me.
I loved Station Eleven—I was completely drawn into the world created by Emily St. John Mandel. I liked the trek-to-Maine segment in The Fireman, too, so maybe I just like journeys—Station Eleven, The Road, Cold Mountain, Lonesome Dove – hardship on foot (or on horseback) seems to do it for me. 
@ignatius Oops! That was the part of the book I skimmed. It makes perfect sense that Michael was informing the Marlboro Man, but Hill had so many other unorthodox talents attributed to his characters that it didn’t seem odd to me that he would have a speciality as well.