Ok, I confess that I missed these guys, Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell. In fact I noticed a smile came to my face when Clete was first mentioned. But like others have said, and I agree, the characters are numerous and from time to time, when they're not mentioned again for 100 pages, I'm like who? Who was that again? Fortunately, Burke usually in the same sentence, will state something that reminds me who the character is so I'm not shuffling back looking for the first time he was introduced. It’s easy with Kindle, not so easy with real book. (Did not say that to start a dialogue on ebooks vs real books.) Might as well throw in another related gripe; I wish Burke would add more background, would 'flesh out' the second level characters more than he usually does. That would certainly add to their being readily recognized. Burke’s lovely choice of words to describe the area in and around New Iberia, Louisiana and his fish camp, the woods whether they’re dense or spare, the colors, and the smells, everything. Burke, is such a wonderful, masterful writer.I noted some quotes that I enjoyed which clearly demonstrate Burke’s use of the English language:“But in the muted pink softness of the morning, in the rain that continued to tumble like crystal needles out of the sunlight, I looked again and saw…”“The bare walls and floor seemed enameled with cold.”“…his breath as stale as withered flowers, of bugles echoing off frozen hills and wounds that looked like roses frozen in snow.”I get so tickled with the “sir” used by many of Burke’s characters including Dave, of course. “I am going to shoot your foot off, sir.” Or “I’m slicing you into small chunks with my 11” blade, sir.” (Note: Not sentences that came from the book.) A couple of things I noticed about Dave, he will chastise others for cursing but he’s really quite good at it himself. In one instance he says “I think you’re shit canning the investigation.” If someone said shit on his property, I can assure you he would say, “please no profanity here, sir.” A bit of a double standard, don’t you think? He has a method of putting down others that is, in my mind, is a bit arrogant and even disdainful on his part. That’s one character flaw that I’m not happy with but then again, who’s perfect? Dave is not and he would certainly be the first to agree with that statement. When writing reviews, I mostly give my general and/or specific feelings of the book, not the story itself. This is no exception but I must say the villian, the bad guy in this book, was one of the baddest bad guys I've read in many a year. Nasty dude! And I would recognize him, too, and cross the street, turn the other way, anything to move away from him! He was certainly real enough for me. With this book I continue on my quest to finish this series but at the rate I'm going, Burke's writing them faster than I'm reading them. OK, Cathy, can't you read faster? Well, I read every day but have about eight series here I'm going through and I may have missed a couple:•tRaymond Chandler (Philip Marlowe),•tMichael Connelly (Harry Bosch) •tRobert B. Parker (Spenser)•tRoss Macdonald (Lew Archer)•tJohn Lescroart (Dismas Hardy)•tJohn Sandford (Virgil Flowers/Lucas Davenport)•tEd McBain (Matthew Hope)•tLawrence Block (Matthew Scudder)Moving through these books one by one is time consuming especially since try to add a classic, non-fiction or maybe a book that a friend has recommended. But I admit it openly, mysteries and detective mysteries especially are my favorite genre along with the hard-boiled, noir genre. But I should add, I enjoy a well written book, period. But, but, but I love these detectives who are such great problem solvers and do their best to make things right. Harry Bosch may have summed up how they all feel when he said (and Connelly said on Morning Joe Thursday, 12/6/12) that his baseline code is “everybody counts or nobody counts.” These detectives have that common thread, a code of fairness for all. I just love that code, Dave Robincheaux, Philip Marlowe and all the above detectives have. Oh, my, I’m starting to gush. Real detectives don’t gush, I shouldn’t either. But, but I love them…all of them. Gush, gush, gush. Oh, sorry.
Cadillac Jukebox ist der neunte Fall für den Louisiana-Cop Dave Robicheaux. Dieses Mal macht ihm der Ex-Ku-klux-Klan Mann Aaron Crown das Leben schwer. Crown beteuert ihm seine Unschuld im Mordfall eines schwarzen Bürgerrechtlers. Doch als Robicheaux der Sache nachgehen will, wird er vom neuen Gouverneurskandidaten ausgebremst.Gott, bin ich froh, dass ich durch bin! Leider habe ich die schlechte Angewohnheit Bücher immer zu Ende lesen zu wollen und an diesem Werk hätte ich mir fast die Zähne ausgebissen. Was hat sich Burke nur dabei gedacht???Wenn man, wie ich, nur "Im Schatten der Mangroven" gelesen hat, wird man Schwierigkeiten haben, der Handlung zu folgen. Der Roman wimmelt von Protagonisten, die wahllos auf- und wieder abtauchen. Die Geschichte hat keine klare Linie. Mal ermittelt Robicheaux mit seiner Partnerin Helen. Dann verschwindet diese für ein paar hundert Seiten und er arbeitet mit seinem Kumpel Clete Purcel weiter. Kurz vor Schluss taucht sie wieder auf. Der Fall schlägt so viele Haken, dass dem Leser am Ende ganz egal ist, was passiert. Hauptsache es geht zu Ende. In der Originalfassung kommt erschwerend der Südstaaten-Slang hinzu, der selbst für amerikanische Leser schwer zu verstehen ist.Wer da noch den Überblick behalten kann verdient eine Auszeichnung.Burkes Spezialität ist und bleibt aber die ellenlange Landschaftsbeschreibung. Dazu kommt auf fast jeder Seite ein detaillierter Wetterbericht. Genaustens hält er den Leser über Nebel, Regen, Schwüle, Hitze und andere Wetterphänomene auf dem Laufenden. Auf jeden Dialog folgen zwei Absätze Beschreibungen. Und so ist man nach 50 Seiten schon mal versucht das Buch in den Standmixer zu stecken. Über die Handlung kann ich demzufolge nicht allzuviel sagen außer, dass sich Burke wieder des gleichen Schemas, wie in “Im Schatten der Mangroven” bedient. Robicheaux übernimmt einen Fall und die Mächtigen versuchen seine Ermittlungen zu unterbinden. Robicheaux bleibt stur, was dazu führt, dass ihm nahe stehende Personen in Gefahr geraten, Showdown.Über diese simple Formel können auch noch so viele literarische Ablenkungsversuche nicht hinwegtäuschen. Schade, denn Burke kann sensationell schreiben. Doch dichte Atmosphäre und reiche Sprache machen allein noch keinen guten Roman. Fazit – Weniger ist mehrBei all den Charakteren und Landschaftsbeschreibungen konnte ich nicht mehr die Energie aufwenden mich für die Handlung zu erwärmen. Am Ende blendet alles ineinander über und man sucht nur noch einen Weg aus dem louisianischen Morast. Zu viel des Guten. Ich habe “Cadillac Jukebox” im Rahmen der Roman-Sammlung “The best of Robicheaux – The Author’s Choice” gelesen. Dieses umfasst die Fälle “In the electric Mist with confederate dead”, “Cadillac jukebox” und “Sunset limited”.Somit steht mir jetzt noch die Lektüre des preisgekrönten “Sunset limited” bevor. Burkes letzte Chance mich von seinem Helden zu überzeugen. Niedriger könnte meine Erwartungshaltung allerdings nicht sein.Mehr Rezensionen und abenteuerlichen Content auf http://awesomatik.com
What do You think about Cadillac Jukebox (1997)?
Long time since I read a Robicheaux book. The descriptions of rural Louisiana and its denizens, human and otherwise, are always very well-done. And, Robicheaux's friends and family are all warm, human characters. Sadly, I can't say as much for Robicheaux himself. Yes, I know he has lots of issues and a grim past, but at least in this book, I think his pigheadedness is overdone. Why his female bete noir would be attracted to him, much less fall all over him, is hard to understand, and why he's able to get anyone to talk to him about the things he investigates is equally mystifying. He's thoroughly unpleasant. Still, it's a good enough story, and the ambience makes up for a good deal.
—Al
Who could not love an author who writes a sentence like this?:"our jailer...was a three-hundred-pound bisexual black man who pushed his way through life with the calm, inert certitude of a glacier sliding downhill."All Robicheaux novels are laced with Burke's lyrical syntax while filled with the flavor of the Louisiana swamp country. This story did lose me somewhat with too many plot lines. I also had some trouble keeping the characters straight (guess I wouldn't do well with Russian novels.Still, I go through the Robicheaux books like I do a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos (that's non-stop).
—Cindy Grossi
Un Burke d’annata (1996) che, con il suo detective Dave Robicheaux in buona forma, presenta tutti gli ingredienti tipici delle storie dell’autore texano: donne bellissime e molto pericolose, killers che compiono il loro lavoro più per sadismo che per guadagnarsi il pane, proprietari terrieri che sembrano appena usciti dalla guerra di Secessione.Ma la carta migliore di James Lee Burke [rispetto ai suoi più giovani colleghi senza dubbio più abili di lui nella costruzione del thriller ma portati a collocare i loro racconti negli ambienti urbani che meglio conoscono come Los Angeles (Connelly), Manhattan (Deaver), Boston (Lehane)] si conferma l’affascinante location che fa da sfondo alle storie nel bayou della Louisiana.Si ha spesso l’impressione che la rappresentazione dell’ambiente stia a cuore all’autore più dello svolgersi del plot poliziesco, tanta è la cura con cui ne descrive sia i dettagli sia il potente effetto d’assieme: non esistono alberi o pesci nelle pagine di Burke bensì salici o lucci-alligatori o quant’altre specie di vegetali o animali del luogo la fantasia sia in grado di evocare.L’avvicinamento della polizia alla casa del ricercato non viene eseguito con auto dal segnale luminoso bensì con battelli che solcano la palude, la lotta con uno dei killer non si svolge in una stanza d’albergo ma in una palafitta adibita a negozio per attrezzi da pesca e così via, tutti i topoi del poliziesco sono ambientati fra le paludi, le zanzare, le case coloniali e le baracche, sotto un cielo che assume colori cangianti talmente spettacolari che spesso i protagonisti si distolgono dalle vicende personali per soffermarsi a contemplarlo.Come l’ambiente naturale così quello umano e storico appare particolare: bianchi e neri sembrano ancora intrisi delle conseguenze della guerra fra federali e confederati, i cui aneddoti ancora vengono narrati con dovizia di dettagli da parte dei più anziani; creoli, chicanos, cajun dai cognomi francesi, variamente mescolati fra loro contribuiscono all’esotismo dei luoghi tanto quanto l’aggressiva natura dei luoghi.Va da sé che, con tutto questo arsenale di strumenti per dipingere un potente ed evocativo affresco narrativo, lo svolgimento dei fatti passa in secondo ordine sebbene questa volta, rispetto ad altre opere di Burke, la vicenda principale che ruota attorno al condannato, evaso, ricercato e nuovamente detenuto Aaron Crown, verso il quale Robicheaux nutre sentimenti contrastanti, al novello governatore Buford LaRose, bello, ricco e potente e alla sua affascinante sorella Karyn, appare sufficientemente lineare; le divagazioni e i più complicati intrecci narrativi sono riservati ai personaggi secondari che fanno da contorno, nessuno dei quali presenta un carattere privo di zone d’ombra o un’esistenza ordinaria.Un ultimo accenno per precisare che mai Burke avrebbe rappresentato il suo romanzo con un titolo talmente banale: l’originale è Cadillac Jukebox, l’oggetto che un controverso amico/nemico di Robicheaux regala al protagonista dopo averlo riempito con i 45 giri della loro adolescenza, la cui nostalgia si fa per un momento insostenibile anche per uno dalla scorza dura come il detective di New Iberia.
—Ubik 2.0
