James Lee Burke's Purple Cane Road was, like all the Dave Robicheaux novels, several pages too long—IMHO, of course—but I will admit that after Dickens' Bleak House, Purple Cane Road seemed to have an Indy 500 pace.
I did like the story in this one. Robicheaux investigates his mother's murder, which took place over thirty years earlier. Doing so, he runs into the usual crop of prostitutes, pimps, child molesters, and hit men, along with crooked cops and politicians. This time, though, they seemed to interact in more interesting ways. And I think they were more individualized; at least I never had that end-of-the-book-who-is-that-guy-anyway feeling.
As usual, specifics—either good or annoying—caught my attention.
1) Robicheaux is talking with Clete, an ex-cop, now PI, who often helps with cases. "He had unwrapped two fried-oyster po' boy sandwiches, and he set them on the table with two cardboard containers of dirty rice." (page 26) OK. So? I started wondering why two? The scene is not set up as a lunch encounter. There's never a mention of one sandwich being pushed towards Robicheaux. Robicheaux never takes a bite. Clete did, and finally "put down his sandwich and wiped his mouth, and his eyes went flat." (page 26) Burke is a detailed writer, for me frequently too detailed, so wondering whether they were both eating or Clete was especially hungry bothered me. Ok, so it was Miss Picky reading over my shoulder. But it sure did pull me out of the story.
2) Question for someone who knows New Orleans: Is there a street or area named Desire? We have Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, the streetcar so named I guess because of its destination, and Robicheaux's job often involves people and events in the Desire Welfare Project—now there's an interesting name. Anyone ever been to such an area in New Orleans? Just curious.
3) "We talked to hookers, pimps, … all the population that clings to the underside of the city like nematodes eating their way through the subsoil of a manicured lawn." (page 97) Cool image.
4) Referring to a lesser (in all senses) character, "But even though he had been a parasite, an adverb and never a noun, …" (page 126) Cool. But what's this noun business? If human beings cam be classified as parts of speech, I wanna be a verb.
5) "… the innocence of a world in which inarticulate people could not tell one another of either their pain or the yearnings of their hearts." (page 322) I really liked those words, but the more I look at them, the more I question the use of the word "innocence." Difficulty? Yes. Innocence can mean not knowing. But the world Burke shows is harsh and cruel. "Innocence" continues to trouble me.
6) Micah has a badly disfigured face. "He used to be a carnival geek. He told me people paid to see the deformity on his face so they wouldn't have to look at the ugliness inside themselves." (page 338) Interesting. True, or a copout to avoid acknowledging the cruelty in people?
7) Towards the end Robicheaux is asked if anything that has happened makes sense. He answers, "Yeah, if you think of the planet as a big blue mental asylum." (page 369) Pretty good description, IMHO.
The other thing Purple Cane Road did was increase my vocabulary. At one point I noticed Burke was using words I'd never knowingly run into before, so I decided to keep track.
1) "..watching the ducks wimpling the water …" (page 76) Dang! I was right. It is clothing, but I never knew it could also be a verb.
2) "… a scrofulous presence …" (page 206) Dictionary: "Morally degenerate; corrupt." I'm right. I don't think I've run into that one before. And I'm not sure I'd use it—certainly not in dialogue. Unless …
3) "… an elephant in musth." (page 367) Heat? (Word didn’t like that one. There's red underlining it.) Yep. Heat. Dictionary: "An annual period of heightened aggressiveness and sexual activity in male elephants, during which violent frenzies occur." I guess my knowledge of elephants will be an ongoing thing.
So, four fish to go. But I really did like this one.
