James Lee Burke on writing, inspiration, and what comes next
There were 13 years in the middle of his career when James Lee Burke was out of print. 'I wrote all that time,' he says. 'I work every day.'
'This is my best work yet. It鈥檚 one I feel very good about it,' says James Lee Burke about his new book 'House of the Rising Sun.'
Sorting through the Holland family in the novels of James Lee Burke requires close study. In his new book, House of the Rising Sun, Burke's main character is Hackberry Holland, an on-again, off-again Texas Ranger prone to bouts of drinking and violence in equal measure.
Hackberry Holland鈥檚 grandson 鈥� also named Hackberry 鈥� took the lead in Burke鈥檚 recent novels 鈥淩ain Gods鈥� and 鈥淔east Day of Fools.鈥� Burke has also written books about Billy Bob Holland, cousin of the younger Hackberry, as well as the family patriarch, Son Holland, a 19th-century Texan who fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. 鈥淲ayfaring Stranger,鈥� published in 2014, was about Weldon Holland, another grandson of Hackberry the elder.
Don鈥檛 worry: No family-tree recall is needed to enjoy any of these books, including the new one. Burke became famous for his mystery series starring Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux, a character featured in 20 books 鈥� so far. The most recent Robicheaux book came out in 2013.
At 79, Burke shows no signs of slowing down. He is already well on his way to completing his next book, one he says will complete what he thinks of as a Holland family trilogy with 鈥淲ayfaring Stranger鈥� and the just-published 鈥淗ouse of the Rising Sun.鈥�
And, as the passage below describing the Second Battle of the Marne in World War I makes clear, Burke knows his way around a poetic sentence. To wit:
鈥淭he terrain was cratered and devoid of greenery or vegetation, glistening with dew and in some places excrement, the root systems of grass and brush and trees long since ground up and pulped and churned by the treads of tanks and wheeled cannons and the boots of men and the hooves of draft animals and marching barrages that exploded holes so deep into the earth, the tons of dirt blown into the air were dry and eclipsed the sun at highnoon聽and robbed men not only of their identities but their shadows as well.鈥�
What begins with Hackberry鈥檚 desperate gambit in revolutionary Mexico 鈥� and the discovery of what may or may not be the Holy Grail 鈥� leads to the kidnapping of his adult son by a wicked international arms dealer. In classic Burke fashion, Hackberry is a decent man filled with regret and remorse, capable of haunting violence but a man of deep humanity. Hackberry always flounders and often founders in his relationships with women, including a conniving former mistress of the Sundance Kid; a brothel madam who saves his life; and Ruby, the mother of his child and a lifelong love who grew estranged from Hackberry.
Burke, by contrast, has been happily married for 55 years.
During a recent interview from his home in Montana, the novelist told the Monitor why he thinks 鈥淗ouse of the Rising Sun鈥� is his best book yet and how his work ethic helped him complete 34 novels. Below are excerpts from that conversation, edited for length and clarity.
On the new novel: This is my best work yet. It鈥檚 one I feel very good about it. But I鈥檓 not entirely objective (laughs).
On what inspired the book: The story operates on two levels. I used the story of Abraham and Ishmael, his son, who is cast out. Remember Sarah, the story in the Bible, was jealous because Ishmael was born of the slave woman, Hagar. So I used this story about Hackberry鈥檚 son, whose name is Ishmael, and he has become alienated from his boy, who is an officer in the U.S. Army in 1916 with Pershing鈥檚 Punitive Expedition into Old Mexico (triggered by Pancho Villa鈥檚 attack in New Mexico).
The story goes from there to the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918. But it鈥檚 also about a search for redemption and I use the quest for the Grail as the second story, the great medieval allegory about man鈥檚 search for redemption.
On juggling series: There鈥檚 no rhyme or reason. I鈥檝e been writing about the Hollands since 1968, that effort turned into 鈥淟ay Down My Sword and Shield.鈥� (It was published in 1971.) It was the story of this Hackberry Holland鈥檚 grandson, a Korean War veteran.
On the Robicheaux series: Commercially, certainly, the Dave Robicheaux series have been the most successful novels. Oddly, the two best books that I鈥檝e published 鈥� I鈥檝e published 34 novels and two collections of stories 鈥� the two best ones are 鈥淲ayfaring Stranger鈥� and this one. There鈥檚 no question about it.
On how aging has affected his writing: Well, I hope I鈥檝e gotten better at it. A person鈥檚 prose, the style any author eventually identifies with as his own 鈥� we start off under the influence of others. My first literary influence was John Neihardt, who wrote 鈥淏lack Elk Speaks鈥� (published in 1932). I took creative writing with him [when Neihardt was teaching] in 1957 at the University of Missouri. Many people influenced me: James G. Farrell (a British novelist who wrote about the effects of colonialism), Hemingway and Flannery O鈥機onnor, Tennessee Williams, the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Eventually, you feel like you come to your own voice. You get better or worse at it. I hope I got better. Others will have to judge.
On what comes next: I鈥檓 working on it now. It鈥檚 called 鈥淭he Jealous Kind鈥� and I鈥檓 almost finished with it. It鈥檚 the third book in a trilogy (with 鈥淲ayfaring Stranger鈥� and 鈥淗ouse of the Rising Sun鈥�). It takes place in 1952 in Houston and it鈥檚 a story about the '50s that I don鈥檛 think many people have heard about accurately. It鈥檚 been romanticized. It鈥檚 about another [Holland] grandson, Aaron.
On his prolific output: As of 1990, I could write full-time. Up until then, I worked at a number of jobs over the years.
That鈥檚 the real test of one鈥檚 investment in his art. It鈥檚 hard to get up before you go to the paying job and write and then come home and you鈥檙e tired and try to write again. And that鈥檚 how most people do it. I did it for decades.
In 1990, my novel 鈥淏lack Cherry Blues,鈥� the third book in the Dave Robicheaux series, won the Edgar award. That did it.
I鈥檇 been out of print for 13 years in the middle of my career. I wrote all that time.
I work every day. That鈥檚 the great gift of my life. I write all the time, I write seven days a week 鈥� I don鈥檛 take off for any reason. That鈥檚 the only job I鈥檝e got.