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A review by stanl
Robicheaux by James Lee Burke
5.0
If you've ever met James Lee Burke, you would have to believe no one could be farther from the violence in his novels. At one point, after another wife was killed, I had to part ways with Dave for a while. But I always came back. I find, sometimes, myself asking, after reading a new Burke novel, can he get any better? In the course of reading Robicheaux, I asked that question again and again. Numerous times in conversation, I have heard people use JBL's descriptive power of the flora of Louisiana as the indicator of his writing talents. In this novel, I think he has transferred that talent to present aspects of human interiority, the likes of which making money, making America great again, engaging in religious sentimentality, and, otherwise, not acknowledging the power of corruption and evil in our world, present courses of action which divert lives from acting justly and loving mercy. Mr. Burke says "Hold up, pardner. Consider this."
In earlier work, the introduction of Dave's vision of the Confederate dead perplexed me. Yes, Robicheaux was a practicing Roman Catholic, but he, otherwise, seemed to operate in a closed-system, empirical world. The element of other dimensions seemed out of character to me. In Robicheaux, that element is back in full force. The eponymous title suggested to me that, perhaps, Mr. Burke was giving us a summing up, that having created a world view for Dave Robicheaux, he was, now, to give some hint of the metaphysic underlying that world view. Mr. Burke, however, intentionally or not complicates things in the end. There's no question in my mind that a character in this novel, Jimmy Nightingale, is a thinly disguised allusion to that for which Donald Trump stands. In the light of Charlottesville, Robicheaux's vision becomes complicated. Yet, does one want to argue with his parting words, " I think of each dawn as a gift, and I try to remember that the horns blowing along the road to Roncevaux save us from ourselves and the curse of mediocrity. But maybe that's just another way of saying fuck it. You've got me. I never figured out anything."
Paul Ricouer wrote, "The symbol gives rise to thought." JLB's work gives rise to thought for me. Addressing addiction, violence, corruption, and, indirectly, religious faith in an addicted, violent, and corrupt world, Robicheaux fulfills Horace's dicta and fulfills the role of a 21st century social novel. As much as I like the writing of James Ellroy, he is simply so wrong about the writing of James Lee Burke.
(And it is no drawback that this novel presents, I believe, the most full development of the Clete Purcel character to date.
In earlier work, the introduction of Dave's vision of the Confederate dead perplexed me. Yes, Robicheaux was a practicing Roman Catholic, but he, otherwise, seemed to operate in a closed-system, empirical world. The element of other dimensions seemed out of character to me. In Robicheaux, that element is back in full force. The eponymous title suggested to me that, perhaps, Mr. Burke was giving us a summing up, that having created a world view for Dave Robicheaux, he was, now, to give some hint of the metaphysic underlying that world view. Mr. Burke, however, intentionally or not complicates things in the end. There's no question in my mind that a character in this novel, Jimmy Nightingale, is a thinly disguised allusion to that for which Donald Trump stands. In the light of Charlottesville, Robicheaux's vision becomes complicated. Yet, does one want to argue with his parting words, " I think of each dawn as a gift, and I try to remember that the horns blowing along the road to Roncevaux save us from ourselves and the curse of mediocrity. But maybe that's just another way of saying fuck it. You've got me. I never figured out anything."
Paul Ricouer wrote, "The symbol gives rise to thought." JLB's work gives rise to thought for me. Addressing addiction, violence, corruption, and, indirectly, religious faith in an addicted, violent, and corrupt world, Robicheaux fulfills Horace's dicta and fulfills the role of a 21st century social novel. As much as I like the writing of James Ellroy, he is simply so wrong about the writing of James Lee Burke.
(And it is no drawback that this novel presents, I believe, the most full development of the Clete Purcel character to date.