Customer Reviews

Bringing Out the Dead

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Knowing the author, and myself a nine year N.Y.C. medic understand that neither himself nor any real N.Y.C. medic would ever 'tune-up a patient', but the subconscious mind takes over on an overnight shift and at times you have done it all in your mind - including visualizing your fist to the face of the patient who is on slow autopilot suicide. You know their endgame, loathe them for using your ambulance to play it out in and, in the not so deep recess, want to aid them in that endgame. Joe puts it all together save the love that we all hope Frank is redeemed with. Read it, see Marty's movie and remember us when we force you through a red light into oncoming traffic and you initially want to strangle us. Know we may have someone you love in the back. Despite what Rudy thinks, N.Y.C will still get ya if you don't watch your back. If so, we'll be there.

An interesting novel about a burnt-out paramedic suffering from guilt caused by botching up on saving an asthmatic girl's life. His idealism shot long ago, he is riding an ambulance through hell (Hell's Kitchen, New York) with the disillusionment that the job is more about bearing witness than saving lives. Beware, though. The book really has no plot. It never seems to build up to a climax or anything for that matter, but this is the type of book you have to read because it effectively immerses you in the life (or death) of a stressed-out paramedic. It is a journey, like you're riding side by side with Frank as he tries to understand not only what his job is all about, but what life and death really mean. The movie is an excellent adaptation of the book by Martin Scorsese with an appropriate soundtrack.

Working in emergency rooms as a nurse for over 20 years led me to consider this book. I usually do not care to read true life ER type books..why do I want to read about what I see day in and day out? But, this is a novel which just so happens to be as authentic as it can be without being some ER person's diary. The frame of reference is factual. The addition of fiction is perfect and original. Finally a story that reflects the sacrifices many of us encounter, perhaps not to such extremes, but sacrifices none the less. In such a story, Joe Connelly literally demonstrates all those people "lost" in the hands of emergency personnel, and the realization that in our minds we carry them around with us always, ever reconstructing events, pondering what-ifs, and finally having to give up the ghost..even taking their spirits to bed with us so we can at last get some rest. A brilliant, gutsy novel.

Every once in a while, a book comes along that will live in your head forever. This is one of them.

Joe Connelly, like a deranged circus ringmaster, trots out one insanity after another and makes them dance. There's Noel, the suicidal/obsessive-compulsive who is delighted at the prospect of being killed in the hospital. There's the unidentified woman who calls 911 for her husband's cardiac arrest, when in reality, the man just needed an extended amount of time on the john. And there's Mr. Oh, one of Our Lady of Mercy's "regulars", who's simply drunk and hungry more often then not.

But make no mistake, the medics are insane too. That's the point, EVERYONE is insane. There's Tom, who would just as soon beat someone up as take them to the hospital. There's Marcus, the born-again Christian who will only do three jobs a night. There's Larry, who's grossly overweight and takes pictures of particularly gruesome scenes for his "DOA scrapbook." And there's Our Hero, Frank Pierce, who may or may not be hallucinating, sometimes comes to work drunk, and gets into arguments with his boss because his boss won't fire him.

Frank is a man who has given up everything for his job because he genuinely loves it. More than once he calls saving lives the greatest thing he will ever do, and we believe him. It is only recently, when the job stops giving him what he needs and he finds that he has little more to give back, that the rush has started to fade. And fade it does, right out of existence.

Frank talks about his job much as frequent targets of domestic abuse talk about their spouses; lovingly, but with more than a touch of fear, anger, and weariness. In fact, at it's core, "Bringing Out the Dead" is more about weariness than anything else. What happens when people completely forget themselves to help others, and how long, in reality, that can last.

In the end, we realize that there is a vast difference between happiness and simple peace, and we hope that, despite the scars, Frank can find his own version of peace.

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.

I believe I read this book just before seeing the movie starring Nicholas Cage and John Goodman. At the time, I was studying to become a paramedic, so the topic interested me.

I loved this book, and read it in one sitting. I know paramedics are constantly asked, "What's the worst thing you've ever seen?" and my favorite line in the book is Frank's response to that question, "Lima beans on a pizza."

I think that just about sums it up. Not everyone will love this book, but I sure enjoyed it.

Two defibrillators up!

Yes it's a heavy, dark book, but a man who has lived the experience wrote it. Even though it's hard to tell where the truth stops and fiction begins, this tale provides a learning experience. Constant ministering to the dying takes its toll. Could I have saved that last one, or do I want to save this one? The rewards seem slim after a few years of driving a rescue squad ambulance. And..surprise (or maybe its not a surprise) bureaucracy rears its ugly head even in this life and death operation.

This is one of the most unusual book that I have ever read It's a fascinating view of a life that I knew nothing about, even though I spent 25 years of my life as an executive in both general and psychiatric hospitals. I heartily recommend the book, but only if you are not afraid to view a dark side of the world.

Frank Pierce, EMT, suffers from clarity. He sees the real, the unreal, the delusions, the illusions and the hallucinations in stark, living color. He is a falling monument to the truism, "you're only as good as your last save." When the "saves" stop being meaningful, where is your existence?

Frank careens through this story like a fading roman candle. He is funny, brilliant, and full of bleak despair. The backdrop of Hell's Kitchen, St. Misery, filthy alleys, and unspeakable tenements pervade the desperate emergencies that are personified in shrieking sirens, wild driving, and life running out.

Frank is an expert in what he does, but he has lost his confidence and zeal to excel. He wonders at the meaning of standing in the way of death and the times when he made a mistake and death wasn't meant to be.

The author walks the thin line of taking us and Frank to the edge of madness, then stepping back - just barely. The book moves at a frantic pace; we have rags and leavings of old torments while being plunged into new ones. Mr. Connelly's technical skills make It hard to believe this is a first novel. Very fine work.

After reading the novel, I saw the film. When I noted Scorsese directed and Nicholas Cage stepped onscreen, I thought "of course."

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.

In Vonnegut's writing and even more so with Heller's, while funny, you cannot help but know that the humor is hiding a pain so great that it threatens to crush the reader and narrator. Connelly, while having a different writing style, has the same dark humor that fans of the above authors may respect. One good example is a scene in which Frank and his paramedic coworkers get drunk and create their own emergency site in the bar, complete with sheet covered pseudo-corps and one drunk paramedic giving the dead last writes while splashing the body (a passed out buddy) with holy water, aka liquor. I haven't done it justice but you'll just have to trust me when I say it is a funny scene indeed.

Now, if you're the bipolar or easily depressed type you may not want to read this book. While it does give great insight into the lives of those who work to rescue us every day, the narrator (Frank) leads a downtrodden life that would make any would-be paramedic rethink his/her career choice. Every street is home to multiple nightmarish job calls and Frank starts to lose his grip on what is memory and what is actually happening in the moment. Ghosts seem to stalk him wherever he goes, managing to ruin almost every aspect of his life.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a great and emotional story with lots of wry, black humor mixed in. However, be warned that this is not for the easily broken hearted. If you do decide to read BOtD I would recommend that you pay close attention to characters mentioned only in passing at the outset of the book, as many become key characters towards the end.