Customer Reviews

Safelight: A Novel

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4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Safelight" is a novel that pulls you in at the start. There is no building of characters, no climax. You either step right in and enjoy the ride or get off.

The main character is such a hard nut to crack. There are some authors who want you to empathize wth the characters and you are drawn into the story. Mr. Burke does the opposite, he intentionally keeps the main character distant. You never really get inside of what he's like, only a glimpse that he does have feelings when he carries on a relationship with an HIV positive female.

The book wasn't very long and reads like snapshots. You'll get your focus but then it's gone. You'll either finish this book and stick with it because reading this chaos is manageable or you'll put it down out of frustration that it's all over the place. There's no middle ground with it. I invite you to give it a try and if you finish it I can guarantee you won't forget it.

There is no doubt that Shannon Burke has emerged as an important writer. This work is very hard to forget. You'd like to tell yourself that since it's a novel, he's just making up stuff--but as the New York Times pointed out, Burke spent about five years in Harlem as an EMT. In a way, this is a war novel, akin to early Hemingway. Burke is trying to make sense of what he saw and experienced, a lot of it gut-wrenching.

If you like spiffy, bleach-cleaned, MFA-program novels, this ain't for you. Burke's work harkens back to an earlier time in American literature, when books were earned and not gift-wrapped by faculty advisers. The writing here is spare, poetic, and perfectly pitched. The characters leap off the page. Money well spent in my opinion.

This is a book that grows on you. The prose is sparse, and the book essentially consists of short vignettes that initially have no apparent meaning or relation to the other scenes. I was at first somewhat frustrated with the novel because I could not immediately figure out where the plot was leading to, or even what the plot was. However, the scenes gradually build to a crescendo, and the result is a book that is simultaneously sad and inspirational, one that creates a mood that lingers long after you have finished it.

Burke's writing style is distinctive and highly impressive for a first novel. It probably didn't help that I read this book shortly after finishing Tom Wolfe's latest novel, as the two styles could not be more different. Wolfe can devote paragraphs to describing the clothing of a minor character, and it takes at least days of devoted reading to get through his tomes. I zipped through Safelight, however, in just a couple of hours. But I do not mean to imply that book is lightweight; its message of regret, grief, and daring to love despite inevitable heartbreak makes this a disturbing yet highly moving novel. I look forward to reading more of Burke's work in the future.

A wonderful work of literature. The imagery Mr. Burke evokes is very graphic and intense, but he makes sure he doesn't fall into the "reading audience is dumb" trap by telling you too much. Burke's characters develop quickly, as does the story line. No Tolstoy, Burke has preferred to keep things short and sweet. Now I'll do the same with this review. A must read for true literature fans.

This book is awesome in its power to both haunt a reader and make one think. Burke places a somewhat unsympathetic character into a tough world. He then slowly offers ways of understanding how the evolution of both personality and experience brings about scars and growth. His work is not to be missed by those serious about American letters.

It's 1990 in New York City. Paramedic Frank Verbeckas is fairly aimless since his father's death, and he has developed a bizarre habit: he enjoys taking pictures of the ill, wounded, dead and down-and-out. He and his paramedic friends get involved in some fairly unsavory schemes, and it seems as if he's headed on a collision course with his own downfall.

And then he meets Emily, a professional fencer who is HIV positive. She teaches Frank how to actually live life, while he helps her relax and realize that she doesn't have to face her challenges alone. Despite opposition from friends and family, the two build a relationship unchallenged by all that lies around them.

This is a terrific book. At times I wanted to kick Frank to make him take responsibility for his life and stop him from being so rudderless, but the transition he makes caused me to appreciate his character even more. Shannon Burke is a fantastic writer, as he has the ability to create hope out of the bleakest situations. (See his second book, Black Flies, and you'll understand what I mean.) This book is gritty and at times it makes you nervous for what might come next, but it really affected me, and has stuck with me in the weeks since I've read it. Take a chance on this one.

This is rather a grim portrayal of the life Frank Verbeckas experienced. He seemed to escape by taking gruesome photographs of the scenes he encountered. Of interest were his relationships with his collegues Burnett, his partner and Hock who enticed him into participating in narcotic thefts. Also of note was his up and down connection to his brother Norman a skilled surgeon. Most meaningful theme of the book was his tender love affair with the doomed girl Emily who suffered and eventually succumbed to HIV. All in all, I found this to be an average decent read.

I picked up this book because Burke is, like myself, a former paramedic and author, and our writing deals with a similar theme: the emotional lives of people who work with and around pain and death. Burke has a sparse writing style that is lean on detail and left me feeling like I was held at arm's length from really getting to know the characters. I also wanted more detail about the paramedical happenings (but I'm a medical drama junkie so that's probably just me!). That said, this book is masterful in many ways. Burke takes a bleak situation and inhabits it with people that we all know/recognize in real life. Then there's love...for who can control WHO we fall in love with?? And somehow, he writes beauty into this relationship and what comes after it (which I'll keep to myself so as not to ruin it for others!).

Shannon Burke's Safelight: A Novel is an ambitious undertaking that examines the decline of New York City and the decline of a paramedic, Frank Verbeckas. Through sparse and compelling language, dialogue, and plot points, Burke expertly immerses the reader into a series of dramatic scenes in which Verbeckas struggles to find himself amidst crime, disease, and the tragic death of his father.

Verbeckas is a paramedic and photographer, but his gift is capturing the reality that surrounds him, which in his eyes is the illness, death, and disease of the patients in crumbling New York City. His brother, Norman, is a top surgeon at a local hospital, and despite his arrogant manner and self-confidence, Norman struggles to break through his bully-like exterior to help his brother.

The short, clipped descriptions of this fight between brothers quickly provides the reader with an inside perspective of how Frank compares himself to his brother and how they relate to one another.

Through a series of disjointed, but related paramedic scenes, the reader gains a sense of Verbeckas' struggles and his downfall seems almost inevitable. However, meeting Emily, a professional fencer and HIV positive woman, becomes the catalyst that spurs Verbeckas' transformation. Burke utilizes his sparse narrative to describe the stillness Frank feels in the presence of Emily.

Being Burke's first novel, the reader probably would not have noticed the recurrence of black flies, but given my recent review of Black Flies and my recent interview of Shannon Burke, I noticed the black flies made it into this first novel as well. I also enjoyed the Burke's descriptions of Frank's photography and how he frames scenes in camera's viewfinder. As an avid photographer, these scenes were well described. Readers will appreciate the stark images and heart that permeates the narrative of Safelight. The evolution of Frank Verbeckas is swift and satisfying.

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical at first, but this book is like a freight train steeming down the tracks with a belly full of coal. Burke has an uncanny ability to pull you in and empathize with his characters. As a professor of literature at a well-to-do Ivy league school, I added this book to our reading list and received kudos from many a Michael Stipe wannabee. Bravo Burke. Long Live Dog Daughter Down