- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Hyperion (Nov 2 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786881437
- ISBN-13: 978-0786881437
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,705,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Burke brings the reader inside the minds and emotions of his characters, in stories that strike to the heart. They each concern the search for a reason, a purpose behind the interminable battle between good and evil. "Uncle Sidney and the Mexicans" focuses on a maverick tomato picker, fired for petty reasons and deprived of a day's pay, who is hired by the narrator's uncle and enabled thereby both to revenge himself on his former boss and to teach a lesson about Mexicans to the local bigots. A younger narrator, in "Losses," is troubled in the confessional by his priest's reluctance to condemn. Only long afterward does he comprehend the arrogance youthful innocence that refuses to countenance human flaws. The closing sentence in "When It's Decoration Day," about a young Civil War soldier, elegantly epitomizes the subtle impact of Burke's storytelling: as a shell bursts, the boy "thought he felt a finger reach up and anoint him casually on the brow." November 24
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Burke's stories frequently set up situations for good to conquer evil, for the disadvantaged to prove themselves more alive than the advantaged, for the wronged to take revenge - there's an old-fashioned Southern liberalism to them that seems morally worthy but artistically hollow. Here, the title story, "Uncle Sidney and the Mexicans" and "Taking A Second Look" all promote a loser into a winner, with a heavy anchor of moralism weighing them down and making them predictable. Burke writes well and evocatively of Louisiana, especially that of decades back; and one story, "Losses" - a WW II Louisiana parochial school, a Catholic boy's introduction to the ambiquity of ethics - is especially satisfying (until its obvious conclusion). A Civil War story, "When It's Decoration Day," has a crammed specificity that almost gives it the ballast of a novella. But on the whole, Burke, who has mostly published novels heretofore, seems message-heavy and schematic at shorter length. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
MOVING AND BRILLIANT,
By
This review is from: The Convict And The Other Stories (Mass Market Paperback)
Wether James Lee Burke is writing the Dave Robicheux novels or stories about other topis he always makes the characters very real and very human. The stories in the Convict are perfect examples of what a great writer of poeple Burke really is. Each one we get to know and learn things from through the course of their story. Some classify Burke as mystery writer, others as a southern writer, I dont care what you call him he darn good at what he does. No one who call themselves a fan of Burke`s should pass on the Convict.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning.,
By
This review is from: The Convict And The Other Stories (Mass Market Paperback)
If you've read James Lee Burke's novels, then you're in for a more than pleasant suprise with "The Convict". Because it's a book of short stories.Mind you - it's just as well these stories are short. Each tale packs enough punch for a full blown novel. Comparing just one of these stories with any of Burke's novels is like comparing whisky with strong beer. Each story is heady stuff - not only in the powerful way Burke takes a word and wrings all the blood out of it onto the page before setting it into place. The stories are of strong-headed, often wrong-headed men doing what they knew to be the best thing. They are tales of the American South, of the bijoux days, of the days of sweat and gunpowder and bowel-shaking fear. These are tales Burke must have heard as a boy, tales that have been purified in the distillery of Burke's mind until all that's left is the gritty, sweaty essence. And, at just a shade over six bucks, these are cheap thrills, indeed. But do be careful: each story packs enough of a wallop to put Mike Tyson on the canvas.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning.,
By
This review is from: The Convict And The Other Stories (Mass Market Paperback)
If you've read James Lee Burke's novels, then you're in for a more than pleasant suprise with "The Convict". Because it's a book of short stories.Mind you - it's just as well these stories are short. Each tale packs enough punch for a full blown novel. Comparing just one of these stories with any of Burke's novels is like comparing whisky with strong beer. Each story is heady stuff - not only in the powerful way Burke takes a word and wrings all the blood out of it onto the page before setting it into place. The stories are of strong-headed, often wrong-headed men doing what they knew to be the best thing. They are tales of the American South, of the bijoux days, of the days of sweat and gunpowder and bowel-shaking fear. These are tales Burke must have heard as a boy, tales that have been purified in the distillery of Burke's mind until all that's left is the gritty, sweaty essence. And, at just a shade over six bucks, these are cheap thrills, indeed. But do be careful: each story packs enough of a wallop to put Mike Tyson on the canvas.
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