A Private Cathedral

I’ve read almost every DR book written and I admit to having tired of the outdated formula writing. Who would refer to grown men as “Bobsey Twins from Homicide.” Ridiculous. So much gratuitous violence for what purpose? Why keep dragging out Confederate soldiers, Vietnam, and now Nazi’s? That and the constant foggy mist. Please! I am also tired of the nasty terms used to describe women and sex organs of both genders. “Flopper?”Get over it. So sophomoric. What makes the 2 main characters the moral conscience of everyone around them. I’m bored by the constant emphasis on alcohol and alcoholism. This doesn’t play out well over 20+ novels. Maybe time to retire these old sad sacks. How about developing an ending that makes sense instead of shrouding everything in Coon ass mysticism. Last DR novel I pay for. Sorry.

Having read all the Robicheaux Novels, I was really looking forward to reading this new one. I was utterly disappointed in the outlandish supernatural slant and the continued dwelling on Daves alcoholism and his problems with it. I know the character is flawed, but those of us who arent addicted might be getting a little tired of this constant harping on his fight with alcohol. Even worse, the supernatural being From the 1500s coming back to make amends for his past sins are beyond idiotic. Please go back to the extraordinary descriptions of The characters , life, and food in Louisiana that I have known and loved for the past many years. This novel stinks.

James Lee Burke is showing his age. His command of the language and sense of description is still outstanding. He seems to be loosing the ability to form a plot, however. Dave and/or Clete pick a fight every fifteen minutes. When he finds he’s painted himself into a corner, he falls back onto the super natural. Actually sorry I read this one.

David Robicheaux and Cletus Purcel were born on March 6, 1987 in the novel “The Neon Rain” and passed into the ether on August 11, 2020 in “A Private Cathedral”. They are two good men (imperfect heros) who carry the memory of time served in Vietnam with them on a daily basis. Both have been plagued by various addictions (alcohol, drugs, sex, and food) and battle those addictions constantly. Just when you believe that one or both of them have won their personal battles, one or the other will revert to unsavory behavior. And yet they love the bayous, animals, children, and each other. They are often called upon to save someone else from their own behavior.

A new hardcover first edition of “The Neon Rain” can be bought for around $1,000.00 and I am lucky to have one in my collection. That ‘birthing’ novel has spawned 22 other children in this series, all of which are in my library. The reason is that not only are the characters James Lee Burke develops unique and unpredictable, but Mr. Burke is also an extremely talented wordsmith who can tell a story like no other. He is fascinated by the good and evil traits that reside in everyone and is always interested in which side of the fence one of his characters will fall on given certain motivations and pressure. Like the average person, his characters always lean toward doing the right thing — until they don’t.

The author’s presentations of his scenes and characters place them in your brain front and center, where they continually remind you to seek a quiet spot so that you can plunge yourself back into the story. His symbolism is frequent and colorful and his description of the human condition is both accurate and frightening. For virtually anyone can do anything depending on the situation and how they are able to justify it. Mr. Burke often surprises you with how his protagonists brainstorm a problem and then come up with some oddball solution. Like pouring cement into someone’s new convertible or driving a bulldozer through an unsavory character’s house.

The author’s references to Vietnam over the past several years convinced me that he must have served in that horrible conflict. It turns out however that the experiences he describes were passed on to him by others and fleshed out by continual research. And it is obvious that philosophy and history tickle his gizzards. For he is a fountain of knowledge on both subjects. And in this 23rd and final novel in the Robicheaux series, he also brings in a supernatural character similar to the River Styx ferryman who punishes evil people and sentences them to row his slave galleon to wherever his services are needed. A modern day Charon if you will.

The story is complex, the subplots constantly whirring in different directions, and ‘good’ once again confronts ‘evil’ in some pretty terrible ways. But this isn’t that much of a stretch for this author, a writer who often has his characters visited by dead confederate soldiers and slaves navigating the marshes of the underground railroad. Anyone who faces horrifying situations and has been constantly battling to fight his addictions is bound to have a few quirks in their behavior. Either that or they may have crossed the line into severe mental illness where a stressful or emotional life event might trigger a psychotic episode. Both of his main characters show warning signs of schizophrenia, typically a disease exhibited at a young age.

What you get with “A Private Cathedral” is several highly entertaining character studies, all enhanced by the constant pressures put upon them. My recommendation to you is to start back at the beginning of the series to see how the boys became who they now are, and then picking up this novel. But find a quiet place and a comfortable chair with good lighting so that you will not be disturbed. Let yourself sink into this story with one of the best modern authors still writing. And make sure that you have a dictionary at hand for those pesky words that you don’t see every day. Goodbye Dave and Clete. It was great knowing you.

I have a very select list of authors to which I am indebted to for taking me on journeys into the human spirit. James Lee Burke is most likely inhabiting the top spot. I have read every book he has written and have always come away with my soul feeling somehow both enlightened and reformed. This book left me the same and yet, there was something innately different in its telling. I can’t tell you the difference in words, but it’s there … the same as when you ask someone a question to which you already have surmised the answer, but it’s not the one they give. You know it’s wrong, but you can’t put a reason to the feeling … you just know it is. It’s the same with this book. It’s a great book as are all the Robicheaux books, just different somehow…. as though Burke has gone somewhere different in his life. Read it…Read all his books … especially this series from the beginning … you can do no better for your soul.

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