Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius in This Genre, October 4, 2007
Not given to reading collections of short stories as a rule, I decided to give "Jesus Out to Sea" by James Lee Burke a chance as the positive reviews were luring. I was deeply rewarded for taking the bait. Each story, written with powerful, lyrical, penetrating prose, reached inside of my psyche and touched me so deeply that I am still reeling hours after finishing. Tales of childhoods spent in New Iberia, Louisiana recollect the harshness of poverty, school bullies, disappearing parents, and crime balmed only by sense of community, patriotism, and hard held friendships. Raw reflections of wars fought on battlefields and inside the soul bleed truth of one's fragility. The final story, an embittered homage to Katrina, shines a seething spotlight on this horrific event. Not since reading "A Tidewater Morning" by William Stryon have I been so profoundly moved by genuine writing. "Jesus Out to Sea" will be a permanent fixture on my bookshelves. A brilliant piece of literature and an author as gifted as James Lee Burke deserves to be read and praised by the generations.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 Stars...Standing Steadfastly, August 7, 2007
Many authors of yesteryear sharpened their teeth on the art of short stories. Although we don't see as many collections these days, the art is still alive and James Lee Burke is a consummate pro. "Jesus Out to Sea" sticks mostly to the haunts we've come to know and love through Burke's writing: New Orleans, Montana, and memories of Vietnam. Some of the characters are ones we've brushed past in his novels. Others give glimpses into what I can only suspect are Burke's growing-up years.
Burke, as usual, explores themes of abuse, , retribution and revenge, as well as hope and redemption. He gives us multifaceted people, rarely using strict black and white for characterizations. The details are rich and vibrant, sometimes gritty and painful. From the open-ended conclusion of "Winter Light" to the poetic justice in "A Season of Regret," we read of tension-filled situations. We discover childhood hardships in "Texas City, 1947" and "The Molester," then move to recent horrors of Hurricane Katrina in "Jesus Out to Sea."
Throughout, I knew I was in the hands of a master craftsman, a writer who refuses to candy-coat or misrepresent the world around us, yet also stands steadfastly in his belief that life is worth living.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shot through with a beauty and clarity that is simultaneously painful and a joy to behold, June 27, 2007
I remain in awe of James Lee Burke. Despite the occasional yet persistent flaws in his books --- a tendency to rush his endings, a manifestation of a seemingly pathological dislike of the wealthy --- his work remains arguably unsurpassed by contemporary authors. Burke mines much of the same territory explored by Erskine Caldwell and, more recently, Cormac McCarthy --- the plight of the underclass in the rural south --- but is more poetic than the former and more accessible than the latter.
JESUS OUT TO SEA is a collection of Burke's under-appreciated short fiction, gathered from a diverse number of sources and publications --- everything from Confrontation to Esquire to Amazon Shorts. The underdogs who populate these stories seem infused with details of Burke's own past, whether it be a retired college professor who runs afoul of bikers in "A Season of Regret" or the young man who, deprived of a responsible father figure, takes matters into his own hands in "Texas City, 1947." The atmosphere is at best grim, reaching the nadir of its abyss, in the hair-raising "Mist," in which a widow struggles to escape addiction, and the apocalyptic title story, concerning the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Even at his darkest, however, Burke's collection is shot through with a beauty and clarity that is simultaneously painful and a joy to behold. Such a state makes it difficult to pick a favorite. "Water People" describes the work of drilling oil and the people who do it with such accuracy that it seems as if one will be forever haunted by its imagery, particularly when filling up the gas tank in a weekly ritual heretofore taken for granted. The triumph over adversity against seemingly insurmountable odds is an old theme yet in "The Molester" is freshly and impressively presented.
It is, perhaps, "Texas City, 1947" that is the highlight of JESUS OUT TO SEA. Excerpted from Burke's A STAINED WHITE RADIANCE, this is a dark coming-of-age tale in which the author, with just a few lines of dialogue, brings a sad story of the separation of a father and son to a sorrowful conclusion, full of loss but without apparent bitterness or anger.
JESUS OUT TO SEA is a brilliant introduction to those who have been attracted to Burke's writing but are reluctant to dive into his myriad novels, which comprise the Robicheaux mythos. It is also an indication that an investment of time into an investigation of those works will provide a welcome rate of return.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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