Jolie Blon's Bounce

Rating:
Summary: Jolie Blon's Bounce
Review: EXCELLENT LOUISIANA MOOD.
Overall I found this book to be a great description of Louisiana and its' tortured, mingled and maniac race relations. The description of Legion and his evil qualities turned out to be very believable. There are people and things that can't be explained in this world. My only fault with this book is there are no Black women who are decent working women. Is every Black woman a crack addict and prostitute (by choice, by accident, by birth in Louisiana) I do rank this book in the top five (5) of novels by James Lee Burke.

Rating:
Summary: I don't mean to get all gushy, but . . .
Review: The reviews range from one to five stars, so I thought I'd add my two cents. I read the first couple books in the Robicheaux series, but this is the first I've read in a while. "Jolie Blon's Bounce" reads like James Lee Burke's version of "The Long Goodbye." It has the same tone of world weary cynicism. Chandler writes "There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself" or "The hard heavy years had worked me over." Burke writes "All you had to do was release yourself from the prison of restraint, just snip loose the stitches that sewed your skin to the hairshirt of normalcy." Or, ". . . I wonder if there is any way to adequately describe the folly that causes us to undo all the great gifts of both Earth and Heaven. But those concerns are fleeting ones now, and when they occur during my workday, I concentrate on hunting down the Easter Bunny, the trickster in our midst, the buffoon and miscreant who lives in us all and allows us to laugh at evil and ourselves."

There are the metaphors. Chandler writes, "I belonged in Idle Valley like a pearl onion on a banana split." Burke writes, "I wanted to drive deep into the Atchafalaya Swamp, past the confines of reason, . . . all of it on the tree-flooded, alluvial rim of the world, where the tides and the course of the sun were the only measures of time."

There are the unforgettable characters. Chandler's Terry Lennox ,"You had standards and you lived up to them, but they were personal. They had no relation to any kind of ethics or scruples. You were a nice guy because you had a nice nature. . . . You're a moral defeatist." Burke's Clete Purcel, "I walked with him to his car, then watched him drive down the dirt road, his convertible top down, a Smiley Lewis tape blaring from his loudspeakers, determined not to let mortality and the exigencies of his own battered soul hold sway in his life."

Finally, there is the meandering plot that defeats your expectations, but arrives timely at the inevitable destination.
(This is a mystery that requires a reader capable of enjoying the journey not just the arrival.)

I'd put "Jolie Blon's Bounce" on my short list of great mysteries along with Raymond Chandler's "The Long Goodbye," James Crumley's "The Last Good Kiss", William McIlvanney's "Laidlaw" and "The Papers of Tony Veitch," and Carl Hiaasen's "Basket Case."

Rating:
Summary: mythic miasma
Review: This is another fine episode in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. Here's a hint at the texture of this dark gumbo: "I came to learn early on that no venal or meretricious enterprise existed without a communty's consent. I thought I understood the nature of evil. I found out at age twelve, I did not." ... "'This is Louisiana , Dave. Guatemala North. Quit pretending it's the United States. Life will make a lot more sense,' he said."

One wonders, this time, has Burke has been keeping company with Anne Rice? One also wonders at the absence of "begats." We are never told of any children of Julian and his Mrs. La Salle (whose first name is never mentioned) so from where in the Bayou mist came Perry's father?

Rating:
Summary: More mayhem in New Iberia
Review: I'm not a regular reader of this series, having only read one previous work by this author, but I was intrigued by the odd title, so I picked up the book. After waiting for quite a while, I discovered the title referred to a Zydeco song sung by one of the characters, the prime suspect in a brutal rape-murder. Not being very familiar with the usual folks in the series, I can't say whether or not they are true to their character from other works. That goes also for the main protagonist. What I can say, however, is that I found the book riveting and engrossing. The writing style kept my interest, and I followed the acts of the detective narrator closely, and with sympathy many times. He seems to be "everyman", trying his best in the world while battling his own particular demons. The supporting cast of characters are very well drawn, particularly the strangely named Legion, whose pedigree is kept deliberately ambiguous. This is a strong book, and may turn off some readers, but I found it absorbing, and may have discovered another series in which to interest myself in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Damn, He's Good
Review: The man makes me mark passages that stop me in my tracks and illustrate the power a writer can possess to capture detail, nuance and a moment.
For example:
"He lifted his chin and rubbed the whiskers on his throat,the cast in his green eyes as ancient and devoid of moral light as those in a prehistoric, scale-covered creature breaking from the egg."

Or,
"A love affair with Louisiana is in some ways like falling in love with the whore of Babylon...our self-deprecating manner is a poor disguise for the realities that hover on the edges of one's vision like the dirty smudges on a family portrait."

And,
"...I knew that for all of us who had been there the war would never be over and the real enemy was not ...but a violent creature who rose with me in the morning and lived quietly inside my skin, waiting for the proper moment to vent his rage upon the world."

This entry mixes reality with devils and angels and you can accept the world created.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps a new direction
Review: This novel will probably get mixed reviews, but I think it is a must read for anyone who appreciates the humane vision which has developed in Burke's remarkable string of novels. It is a bit difficult to determine where this book fits into the extensive Robicheaux world which the author has created. It does not demonstrate the dash of earlier novels, nor the deep personal introspection of very recent works. The novel opens with a rape-murder, and characters begin the inevitable hunt for a "why." The plot suggests that the irrational force of a generational working out of evil is as strong a motive for crime as many sociological reasons. In his recent novel, Purple Cane Road, Burke presented a view back into Dave Robicheaux' formative youth; this novel at hand is not so concerned with biographical psychology. Yet it continues Burke's exploration of how one lives in a world created not just by one's own past but by the entangling strands of historical circumstance. It seems the author has expanded his purpose past this complex character to a more extensive world.
This is a well made work. The mystical musings of Electric Mist are here also, along with historical trappings( a Confederate Battle Flag in its glass case) associated with important characters. The cast is an ecclectic lot: a character whose life has been incarnated evil, a bible salesman who drags his case of wares on a skate, and a homeless vet; all of whom mingle with familiar New Orleans underworld and New Iberia "courthouse square" types in a dark novel posing deeper questions about violence than the "bon temps" attitude of earlier novels. Ironic situations and pairings of characters abound as individuals' purposes lead to momentary alliances constucting a textured plot. This is a philosophical piece, but bayou descriptions, and other telling moments ( for example, the sheriff tapping the heels of his hands on his desk chair as he confronts Dave)are admirable craftsman's work.
It is clear that Burke does not intend his hero to live changeless, spending endless days bream fishing, to be called out from his party for a caper or two. Far from being a formula hero, Dave Robicheaux, in his growing understanding of his moral response to life's changes is a touchstone for readers' emotions and actions. After all, Alafair is off to college.

Rating:
Summary: Brooding, Brutal, and Surreal
Review: "Jolie Blon's Bounce" is an intelligent and ambitious novel of intricate sub plots and complex characters. James Lee Burke's widely recognized talent for creating rich setting is in top form: the Louisiana gulf coast back woods and bars are easily visualized, the smells of the oil rigs and shrimp boats waft from the pages. The English language is Burke's toolbox - as a blunt object hammering the reader with raw brutality, or as a scalpel in unlayering the subtleties of race and social strata. Few villains have been created as foreboding and ominous as the mysterious "Legion", casting an aura of nearly biblical good vs. evil and an unexpected, almost "King-like" surrealism.

This latest in the Dave Robicheaux series is built around the rape and murder of a local teenage girl, followed by a string of apparently related homicides. But the story is virtually void of the usual crime scene forensics and criminal investigation. Instead, Burke introduces a full cast of deeply developed characters and settings, slowly building tension and mystery as not only the murders, but also a dark history, gradually unfold. Burke is clearly not in a hurry in getting to the punch line, winding through passages of time and place, connecting the past with the present and reality with a vague sense of the supernatural. But while Burke's prose meanders, it is not without purpose, as the reader is sucked deeper and deeper into the intrigue. The reward is not in reaching the climax, but the journey in getting there.

In summary, Burke is about as good as writer as there is today in American fiction, and "Jolie Blon's Bounce" displays his craft at its peak. This is a dark and brooding tale with a surreal twist that will linger long after the book is finished, leaving the reader anxious for Burke's next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Moody and muddy
Review: The plotting of this book is worth three stars; the quality of the writing (when it's on target) is worth four. When Burke's in peak form, he brings a lurid beauty to the inveitable violence and mayhem of the Robicheaux books. This book requires such an enormous suspension of disbelief that the reader would have to levitate to achieve it. There are several primary characters who suddenly speak in altered voices, who seem to be of another plane--possibly of the supernatural. One character like that (the odious Legion who is at the heart of Jolie Blon's Bounce) might fly; but several ... No. It doesn't work. What starts out as a compelling case of two murdered young women deteriorates into swampy soul-searching that becomes tiresome, as do a couple of overly graphic sexual scenes that are clearly intended to be cathartic for Robicheaux but are merely mechanical exercises of who is putting what where that might validate poor Dave's threatened manhood (after he's beaten to a pulp and kissed by old man Legion) but are not in the least uplifting for the reader.

While the narrative has a compelling drive, the plot is spread so thin, over so many characters that, in the end, it fails to satisfy. Dave's old sidekick Clete is, as always, in trouble of some sort or another--this time, it's women and it gets old fast. Some of the secondary characters are well-drawn but the book creaks; it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. And that is a pity. There are, however, some exquisite examples of what Burke can do with language--the most notable being his description of hearing Tee Bobby Hulin perform his composition "Jolie Blon's Bounce." Rarely has anyone written about music with such a comprehensive and insightful feel for its effect.

The reader is expected to accept a lot of inexplicable behavior, too many satanic-type characters, and no actual resolution. The book ends on a philosophical note that doesn't ring true, given what the author has attempted to structure.
Not his best work.

Rating:
Summary: Dave Robicheaux Has Lost His Voice
Review: Mark Hammer is totally the wrong voice for Dave Robicheaux. Will Patton has been doing the voice on the abridged versions for years and is superb. He is Robicheaux. Hammer sounds like he himself is drunk much of the time, allowing the voices of different characters to blend together. His style slows down the story. While this novel is clearly not James Lee Burke's best outing in this series, it deserves better than Hammer can give it. My recommendation: go with the unabridged audio version or the CD version, both of which feature Will Patton. The producers must have taken the day off on this one. Very, very disappointing to this James Lee Burke devoted reader.

Rating:
Summary: Burke at his best, again.............
Review: Once again Burke has outdone himself. An excellent mystery, but the book is worth reading simply for the excellence of the writing--lyrical, evocative, compelling. Burke is a master! Do not hesitate--read this book!!