CNN - Books: Reviews - 'Bellevue'

(CNN) -- Marc Siegel's "Bellevue" is not a place I would want to visit, and I suggest that it's not one you want to visit either. Unless, of course, you like stories (to call these plots would be too generous) which meander like those clichéd babbling brooks, but go nowhere, and leave you not really caring.

"Bellevue" is billed as a dark comedy about interns coming of age at that rather famous New York hospital. These interns should return to high school, and quickly, for that's about the life experience level that these characters possess.

I've worked in a big-city hospital -- I've seen the stereotypical intern's life; I've seen the other side of it, too. Siegel's interns are like nothing I've seen before, nor would I care to. Maybe what scares me is that the author seems to believe they're real.

I don't doubt that self-assumed brilliance such as that of Sal Vertino's exists, encased in a veneer of unstated self-flagellation. Or such loyalty as that of David Levy's, or such darkly bewitching seduction as Delia Meducci's. Yet, there's something missing: The string that would really tie these characters, and explain Delia's hold over them. Seeking the answer to that mystery is what kept me reading ... but the answer is not there!

As I finish reading it, I'm also not quite sure what several of the so-called patients are really doing there ... Rulo, who pops up at the most inopportune (or is it opportune -- I'm so confused by this point) moments ... or the two housekeepers, whose union has made their four-star gourmet stay possible.

"Bellevue" is a good try ... but, to quote a very tired cliché -- try, try again!

Rima J. Janulevicius has worked as a writer and copy editor at CNN, and as a translator for the Lithuanian Olympic basketball team.

These interns should return to high school

Bellevue by Marc Siegel

Bellevue
by Marc Siegel