Bringing Out the Dead by Joe Connelly Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bringing Out the Dead
Book Review: Very average, and not quite dark enough.
Summary: 2 Stars
I don't get what folks are raving about here on the Amazon reviews. I picked up this book hoping for a realistic, grim and gritty glimpse of life on Manhattan's mean streets. What a let down.This book has three phases: the promising opening, the Hollywood-tailored middle, and the muddled, redundant ending. Connelly hooks you in with a rapid-fire look at the life of an ambulance driver, and then his cliched characterizations screw things up. The scenes of tragedy and violence that the hero encounters are less poignant, more cartoony.
In the middle, we're barraged by a mess of sitcomesque ambulance drivers. The main character's view on life shifts drastically from one page to the next. Then, in the last 100 pages, we're mired in a mishmosh of half characters and redundant scenes, few of which go any place or advance whatever is left of the "story."
This is probably the only book in history that will be better as a movie. Maybe the talents of Martin Scorsese can impose the needed order tell that dark tale that Connolley promises but never delivers. Guess we'll find out when the movie is released this fall.
Book Review: Vital Signs
Summary: 4 Stars
Bringing Out The Dead is a novel essentially lacking in plot, and is all the better for it. It is a dark, funny and frenzied slice of life. It is easy to see why the great Martin Scorsese was attracted to this, because like in his films, the lead character Frank seeks redemption. And in a way his job as a paramedic is both his salvation and his downfall.Like Graham Greene's The End Of The Affair, Bring Out The Dead is drenched with guilt, and since the author is Catholic, then we use the common term Catholic guilt. Thankfully Connelly laces this with heavy doses of dark humour like the part (which is also in the film) where Frank gives a suicidal madman less troublesome options with which he can kill himself.
The story is basically, a week in the life of Frank, and three shifts with three guys each phsycotic is his own colorful way. Larry who is spectaculary lazy, Marcus a man who oversees group prayer and then rushes off to "watch the hookers" and Tom who is just plain nuts. What is most wonderful about Connely's writing is the atmosphere, it is always night, Frank is always in a state of elevated tension, yet there is a purity to all of this, it not just a vision of hell, but a man who puts himself through hell in search of redemption.
I would highly reccomend this book, but I do believe that its vital that you go in with the knowledge that 1-There is no plot 2-It doesn't really go anywhere as a result. I haven't seen the movie yet, but look forward to doing so, meanwhile I hope you enjoy this book for what it is, A man's quest for light in the dark hours of the New York.
Book Review: Who hasn't felt it?
Summary: 4 Stars
Cliche, I know, but I felt like I was watching a car wreck in reading this novel. It was a completely fascinating depiction of a man who's lost his way in the search for the answer, or, any answer. While many have tried to give voice to the feeling of utter despondency that accompanies the realization that, maybe, you aren't making much of an impact in the world, but Connelly has struck with a bit of a battered brush dripping with a sickly gray-ish pigment, daring us to continue watching as he comes to terms with his despair.Book Review: good book movie better SOMEWHAT TRUE dont be fooled
Summary: 4 Stars
Im work EMS in lawrence ma dont let people fool you this book is just a view of a very estranged charecter. Even when your burnt you dont see people like that. back in the day you did but EMS is like high school, rumours spread fast. Drinking on the job wouldnt last long and in the world of privates, believe me you dont have to fight to get fired. Aside from that and the way dispatch talks, everything else is pretty real. Mr o is a very typical person you would see in real life. you will always have the regs. anyway about the book, great book. best on ems. but i enjoyed the movie much better for small changes like i be bangin. but still good book better movie
Book Review: great expectations were easily surpassed by Connelly
Summary: 5 Stars
Bringing Out The Dead has catapulted Joe Connelly into elite company with the likes of Larry Brown(Dirty Work, Joe, On Fire, Facing The Music, Big Bad Love & Father and Son). Given that I consider Brown the best thing going, that's saying an awful lot. Connelly's debut effortlessly and masterfully blends stark realism with dreamlike surrealism. The effect is stunning. They say you should write about what you know...Connelly was a paramedic in The Big Apple for nine years. He has written about a profession that few of us know much about without getting too technical. He gives us the humor and horror in layman's terms. BOTD is a novel about an heroic profession, and yet there are no tangible heros here. The inner demons of the main character(Frank) surface to open up an ethical and philosophical can of worms. This is a dark and ugly story that has been written with absolute beauty. Pure poetry spills from the veins of some of the most horrendous situations you will ever encounter. I can't compare it to the movie because I always read the books first. The descriptions are so captivating and vivid that I don't really see the point in watching the movie...I've already seen one, raw and uncut. Joe Connelly's second book will be in my home the day it hits the stores. If you're looking for heros, then go buy a comic book. If you're looking for a gritty, realistic portrayal of hell on earth to allow you a temporary escape from your own woes, then you're on the right track. This is an excellent debut that most authors couldn't rival after a lifetime of writing.