Reading Aloud with James Lee Burke

I usually prepare in advance of a road trip (meaning I download audiobooks for the ride), but this time I forgot and there was nothing good on the radio. So while my wife Laurie drove, I read aloud -- a do-it-yourself audiobook. The only problem was, I hadn't brought a book. I had, however, downloaded some Kindle excerpts to my phone, so instead of reading from a single title, we enjoyed the first chapter or so of several. I won't name names, but these were more or less bestselling titles. Reading them aloud, though, it was hard to see why. They weren't written to be read.

I'd saved the best for last: the opening of James Lee Burke's Rain Gods. The change was immediate and dramatic. Luscious, flowing prose spiked with diamond-hard details, a story that looked as good to the imagination as it sounded to the ear. I was a latecomer to James Lee Burke, mainly out of stubbornness. When everybody recommends something, I tend to balk. In this case, I denied myself a real pleasure ... and I've made up for it in a big way ever since.

Because they are made to be read, one of the best ways to experience Burke's novels is via the unabridged recordings read by Will Paton. (There are abridgments, too, which is fine, but you really want to experience the whole book.) Or you can follow my example and read them aloud for yourself. 

 

Above: Alec Baldwin played Dave Robicheaux in Heaven's Prisoners (1996)

Strangely, the world of Burke's best known protagonist, Dave Robicheaux, hasn't really translated well into film. I'm only aware of two attempts, Heaven's Prisoners (1996), based on the book by the same name, in which Alec Baldwin played the lead, and In the Electric Mist (2009), based on In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, with Tommy Lee Jones as Robicheaux. Jones is perfect casting, because whenever I read the Robicheaux books, which are fairly violent, I always wonder how, at his age, Robicheaux can be up for this. Tommy Lee Jones sells that readiness well. While I enjoyed both films, I didn't like them nearly as much as the real thing. 

Maybe the problem has to do with Burke's strength as a prose stylist, which doesn't make it onto the screen. You're left with plot and character, and on the latter count there's another problem. The books are written from Robicheaux's point of view, so a lot of the characterization comes through the narrative. Apart from a voiceover (a la Dexter), I'm not sure how you'd achieve the same effect in film. 

 

Above: Tommy Lee Jones played Robicheaux in In the Electric Mist (2009)

I guess this makes Burke the Henry James of crime fiction. Whenever I read James, I'm in awe, but however enjoyable the film adaptations of his work might be (The Wings of the Dove stands out), they never come close to measuring up. If you know James through his work, he's a titan, but if you know him through the film adaptations, he's perhaps a little lower on the scales than Trollope. 

A high concept story can be adapted readily enough, and I'm sure we can all think of examples where the film version actually improves on the source material. Great writing doesn't always translate, though, which means the best way to experience a great writer's work is the obvious one: by reading it. Aloud, if possible.

Comments

[Nick Christie]

I think, as an actor the ability to translate his work into a character is probably a joy. He provides all the tools needed to discover the character and become the character, the air, the feel, the time and place, which creates a sense of being, that the actor has to emotionally and psychologically connect to. The easiest road to doing that is to go live the part for a while. The camera and environment, with the appropriate direction from a director (who must love the book, the characters and have a sense of place also must be there to translate James work. I could only hope to be a small part of any well thought out story that he has lived with and written which we all seem to enjoy. Did I forget to mention I like his work, lol.