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Jesus Out to Sea: Stories
Availability:
In Stock
Price:
$14.00
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| Part No: | 1416548564 |
| Manufacturer: | Simon & Schuster |
| MFG Part: | |
| Customer Rating: | 4.5 / 5.0 |
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In this moving collection of short stories, James Lee Burke elegantly marries his flair for gripping storytelling with his lyrical writing style and complex, fascinating character portraits. The backdrop of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast is a versatile setting for Burke's stories, which cover the scope of the human experience -- from love and sex to domestic abuse to war, death, and friendship.
| I have read almost everything James Lee Burke has written. All have been good. Some have have been better than good. This was not one of those. I gave it a three star review because some of the stories were equal to his novels. Others, I started, and then decided to skip.
Writing short stories is a skill and a gift. It is difficult to do well. My unhappiness with this book stems from the fact that even when the story was good; it still felt unfinished. They began like novels and finished as sketches. The stories of his youth were interesting but incomplete. They also, to me at least, read like dressed up interviews that had been reshaped to fit the short story format.
Mr. Burke, especially considering the body of his work, is entitled to a clunker once in awhile. God knows Stephen King has come up with a few. I would buy this book if it was at a used bookstore or yard sale. If I was going to pay full price it would be for any of his other books. |
| James Lee Burk | 2009-06-16 | 5 / 5 |
| | James Lee Burke's books are top notch. I love ALL of them and would like to meet the author some day. He is an excellent writer and draws the reader right in from the first page. |
| A gem or two, but mostly disappointing. | 2009-01-28 | 2 / 5 |
| James Lee Burke has gathered a handful of his previously published short stories in a book called "Jesus Out to Sea". Having enjoyed several of Burke's novels, I picked the collection up thinking it would be a quick and enjoyable romp that could offset some of the laborious tomes on my reading list. Instead I spent hours trying to force myself through parts of the book, completely confused by my lack of enjoyment. Here is one of the few authors on the planet to win multiple Edgar Awards for best novel, and I am choking on some of his short stories. It was bewildering.
After digging into which stories I liked, because there were a few, and which ones I could barely read, a pattern emerged. When Burke writes in third person, he is brilliant. When he writes in first person, not so much. A little more analysis nailed down the rest of the mystery, explaining the wild swings in quality from a mere shift in perspective.
Burke is a master of local color. His gritty dialog, with accurate slang and job-specific terminology are absorbing and wonderful. He also possesses a flair for the descriptive that can create a majestic, broad stage on which to set his grungy players. Perhaps the miracle of Burke's writing is that he can do both of these things. An author famous for his violent descriptions of crime and a roughneck dialog also appeals to our senses with his ability to show us the marvelous planet that we scratch across. The dirty and the sublime are like two opposing palettes of colorful prose that he can weild simultaneously.
The problems occur when these vibrant hues bleed into one another on the canvas. A down-and-out R&B musician narrates one of Burke's stories with all the charm and slang expected of his profession and education. But outside of the dialog, the style blurs into Burke's voice, and his incredible skill as a wordsmith. It is a jarring experience, and like light through a ceiling fan it is disorientating and confusing until you determine the source.
When Burke writes in third person he is freed from this effect. He can allow the descriptions to dry before he applies the dialog. There is nothing wrong with an omniscient observer waxing eloquently on the affairs of men and the beauty of the bayou. There is no disruptive effect when the characters on this stage speak and act precisely as they should. In fact, it is such a welcoming blend that the few stories written from this perspective nearly made the purchase of the book worth it. Unfortunately, the majority of the pages are painted with his third-person brush. Slopped together, all those bright colors turning to a dull muck.
Overall I found the work to be disappointing. Especially since my favorite story was the very first one, setting me up to be let down even further. I recommend picking up one of his excellent novels instead, or checking out my other reviews for suggested reading. |
| | I am an avid reader of Burke. For some reason these short stories did not have the impact for me as do his complete novels. |
| Brilliant and thought-provoking | 2008-08-29 | 5 / 5 |
| James Lee Burke is a master at descriptions be they of surroundings or feelings.
This book is a collection of short stories with a range of situations that people can be faced with and told by a master craftsman in describing how those people felt.
There are no easy answers in these stories and no fanciful scenarios, the stories have a realistic feel of hope combatting hopelessness. The strength of the human spirit is dominant in these stories and Burke is a writer who should be read. |
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