Michael Shea Would Have Appreciated This

[Druidic]

Probably my last post for awhile. If you enjoyed The Autopsy you'll find this interesting.

http://nypost.com/2014/08/03/a-milli...-days-of-gory/

[Druidic]

To Hell-Ghost--Oh, I shall return...probably quicker than some would wish! Thanks for asking, Hell-Ghost, it's just minor eye surgery. But I'll use that as an excuse to get away from bright computer screens and elevate my wounded legs instead (still doin' the Innsmouth Shuffle). I'll still be checking out the site but it may be a few weeks before I post again.

btw, if there's an implicit message in that article on strange accidental deaths it can surely be summed up in Harlan Ellison's immortal words: Pay Attention!!!

[bendk]

I liked this bit from the article:

She instead attributed it to “anoxic encephalopathy due to loss of consciousness of undetermined etiology,” which she says roughly translates to “F–k if I know!”

Nice jargony euphemism.


That would be a difficult job to wake up to every day. When I went through EMT school, a paramedic friend of mine took me to see three autopsies. The visuals were unsettling enough, but the smell is nothing short of nauseating.

I have worked with many people in this field and they all end up bragging about the most disturbing things they have ever seen. Most were decaps. One funny story I remember was this crew was doing a transport job on a stiff and another call came in (they got paid by the call) so they threw the body in a snow drift and took the other call. They came back and got him about 3 hours later. It was winter and in the middle of the night. They weren't worried.

This reminds me of a good book that I read years ago: Bringing Out the Dead by John Connelly. It was later made into a good, but not great, movie by Martin Scorsese. Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay so that gives you a hint at the type of material it is. I thought the structure of this novel was very effective. At the start of a new chapter, before the story begins, is a true account of a medical emergency. Bits of worldly wisdom sprinkled throughout too.



Amazon.com Review

For nearly a decade author Joe Connelly rushed from emergency to emergency as a paramedic in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York City. This is the novel he wrote to purge, perhaps redeem, the torment of his experiences in the trenches with the dying and the barely living. Connelly seems to be a born writer, for this first novel makes brilliant use of unflinching realism, dark and brittle humor, a faint whiff of the supernatural, and, above all, the poignancy of a human soul that chooses slow self-destruction rather than shutting itself off to the suffering of others. As Patrick McGrath--another writer of dark literary fiction--writes, "The author's vision is both bleak and compassionate; his control of his explosive material is masterly. This is strong stuff, full of heart, engaging, harrowing, and real." You won't be able to let this one out of your sight until you've finished reading it, and it will linger long after you've put it down. --Fiona Webster

[Druidic]

Quote

This reminds me of a good book that I read years ago: Bringing Out the Dead by John Connelly. It was later made into a good, but not great, movie by Martin Scorsese. Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay so that gives you a hint at the type of material it is. I thought the structure of this novel was very effective. At the start of a new chapter, before the story begins, is a true account of a medical emergency. Bits of worldly wisdom sprinkled throughout too.--bendk

I remember that movie well, Ben!
The thing I found most fascinating were the everyday tools she employs, a ladle, a cutting board, etc., and I couldn't help but wonder how she avoids mental carryover to the kitchen. Of course you can get used to almost anything I guess.

I had a psych teacher, a really fine woman with a streak of bad luck, who in the course of two weeks had the following happen:

Returning to her car she spied the occupant of the next car slumped against his side window, precisely as he had been when she parked hours before. At that time, she thought he was asleep. Well, she tried to rouse him by a gentle rap on the glass and he was asleep--but it was The Big Sleep.

The following week she went to a movie alone and a guy a seat or two away began to sag in her direction. She thought it was just imagination kicking in after that first incident but when the lights went up she tried a polite 'wake up call'...It was one which he would never answer in this world.

What were the odds in such a short period of time? Probably a little better than the people you read about picking a million dollar lottery and then with their next purchase getting another Big Winner.

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

I had a psych teacher, a really fine woman with a streak of bad luck, who in the course of two weeks had the following happen: Returning to her car she spied the occupant of the next car slumped against his side window, precisely as he had been when she parked hours before. At that time, she thought he was asleep. Well, she tried to rouse him by a gentle rap on the glass and he was asleep--but it was The Big Sleep. The following week she went to a movie alone and a guy a seat or two away began to sag in her direction. She thought it was just imagination kicking in after that first incident but when the lights went up she tried a polite 'wake up call'...It was one which he would never answer in this world. What were the odds in such a short period of time? Probably a little better than the people you read about picking a million dollar lottery and then with their next purchase getting another Big Winner.

Sounds like an X-Files episode. I doubt if Agent Mulder would chalk that up to "bad luck." Scully would though.

I should really give the movie Bringing Out the Dead another view. I have only seen it once, shortly after I read the novel, and that tends to lead to unfavorable and unfair comparisons.