Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN APPROPRIATELY REVERENTIAL READING, 6 Jul 2002
Actor/director/writer Mel Foster gives an appropriately subdued and reverential reading of the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 and the firemen who lost their lives on a day America will never forget - September 11, 2001. As Frank McCourt commented, "If you have tears, prepare to shed them." I would add you may have difficulty stopping those tears. In this particular firehouse, which was dealt the most severe blows following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers, as in other firehouses the men live, work and eat together. Halberstam writes: "....they play sports together, go off to drink together, help repair one another's houses andmost importantly, share terrifying risks; their loyalties to each other must, by the demands of the dangers they face, be instinctive and absolute." Few could have dreamed of the danger in store. On that terrible morning two rigs carrying a total of 26 men left the firehouse; only 14 men would return. We are with the families as they wait for news of their loved ones and, in part, come to understand why men undertake such a perilous profession. "Firehouse" is history, a moving narrative of an earth shattering day.
- Gail Cooke
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book about 9/11/01 that deserves to be read, 13 Feb 2003
Mr. Halberstam, known well for his books about history, has written a little book about 9/11 that will hopefully remain long after most of the other 9/11 novels are ancient history. This novel tells the story of Engine 40, Ladder 35 in Midtown Manhattan, a firehouse that lost 12 of 13 men who went to the World Trade Center.Each fireman is described - what role he had in the firehouse and how he came to be a fireman. The story of the 13th fireman, Kevin Shea, the one who lived, is also told. Some have criticized this story because it leaves out any negatives, character flaws, etc. that these men had. I dispute this as one in particular is characterized as a "human cactus". And why, I ask, should we want to learn the things people disliked about the men who died? They did die as heroes, even though this book illustrates that heroes is probably the last thing that any of these men would have wanted to be called. They were just doing their jobs. The book also goes into some detail about the families of these men and how they reacted after the tragedy when they came to realize that their husband/son/father would not be coming home. Out of all the books written about September 11th, this is one that deserves to stand the test of time. It wasn't written in a hurry so that it would sell tons of copies and make lots of money - instead it was published in May 2002, long after many books had been out and the publishing craze seemed to be over. It also serves as a reminder of what happened that day. Eventually, 9/11/01 will be just another date, hard as it seems to believe right now. Eventually it will be like 12/7/41 and children will learn of it, but not fully understand and appreciate the tragedy that occurred that day. If this book is still around, I will recommend it be read by everyone who doesn't remember that day, so they can understand that lives were lost that day - lives of real people.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy this book - in fact, buy several copies to give as gifts, 11 May 2002
By A Customer
This beautiful little volume of less than 200 pages paints a moving portrait of one firehouse on one fateful day last year: September 11, 2001. David Halberstam, one of America's finest non-fiction writers, draws the reader into a very special culture populated by very special, yet ordinary, "guys" - 12 of whom gave their lives trying to save others. You learn a great deal about the individual men, about the firehouse culture - in many instances, a culture passed on from generation to generation of firefighter - and you learn a great deal about yourself. Halberstam's poignant book brings back all the horror of September 11th, but it leaves you feeling not drained, but uplifted. You will want to give this book as a gift so buy several copies!
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by Tom Downey
by Art Spiegelman
by Jonathan Safran Foer
by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
by Dennis Smith
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