Lay Down My Sword and Shield

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Vintage James Lee Burke: The first novel introducing the memorable Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland, coming of age against the backdrop of the civil rights era in a sultry border town.

In hot and sultry Texas, Hack, an attorney and Korean War POW, is being pushed by his wife, his brother, and his so-called friends in the oil business to run for political office. But Hack would prefer to drink, look after his beloved horses, and represent the occasional long-shot pro bono case at his law firm. When Hack attempts to overturn a conviction for an old army buddy, he finds himself embroiled in the seamy underbelly of the Texas patronage system—and in the earliest beginnings of the United Farm Workers movement, led by a beautiful woman who speaks to his heart in a way no one else has. As Hack begins to bring justice to the underserved, he finds both a new love and a new purpose.

With his skillful blend of engaging plotlines, compelling characters, and graceful prose, James Lee Burke demonstrates the shimmering clarity of vision that has made him beloved by suspense fans all over the globe.

The Publisher's Summary is Anemic

The Publisher's summary reads like a romance novel when this is is classic James Lee Burke: Intellent story telling based on deep introspection and human nature. Dark poetry in hot, steamy Texas in the time when "Negro" was considered polite language and Hispanics were ignored. A preclude to Rain Gods, it explains many character mysteries and painful memories. Will Patton, the narrator, layers language with meaning and tonality like silk over callouses.

A character study--not a polemic or crime fiction

It is pretty difficult to forgive the self-destructive, often self-righteous subject of this powerful character study, at least until you have reached the promising denouement. Burke never soft pedals the negative aspects of Hackberry's alcoholism and self-hatred. What he does do is expose its roots in the Korean War back story, making us relive with Holland a soul destroying history in a visceral and horrifying series of memories. He does, nonetheless, have redeeming qualities even at his lowest points--a love for horses and a compassion for the helpless which he finds inescapable even while he is single-mindedly gunning the engine in his flight to his own annihilation. And a burning hatred for hypocrisy. In fact, it is this last which fuels his descent as his lingering sense of guilt concerning his final "failure" under North Korean torturers makes it impossible for him to wear a mask of respectability in the here and now.

This is not an easy book to read, and different auditors have obviously come away with widely divergent reactions. As for me, while I don't think this is Burke's finest work (that is a very high bar), I was able to engage deeply with Hack even while desperately wanting to slap him up side the head and lock him in his room. Even at his most repugnant, there was something there worth loving, and most of us have experienced that enough times in our lives to be able to relate. In addition, Burke's brilliantly poetic use of landscape and atmosphere is already in evidence in this early work. He also does a nice job of playing powerfully on the themes of hypocrisy and real cowardice which run throughout his later novels. By the last page, I was very satisfied and even moved.

I would not, however, recommend this as a first read in the Burke oeuvre. I would suggest you get to know the later Hackberry and come back to this as very interesting back story.

Love Mr.Burke and Mr. Patton,"BRAVO"!!!!!

as usual Mr Burke does a fantastic job of making the characters in the land and the ambiance Texas come to life and Mr Patton job of reading this book is beyond marvelous loved it loved it loved it

A Look Back Through a New Lens

I moved to Texas in the fifties, as a high school student. This book makes you think about, what you just sailed through. What a great book club read. A late night and more wine, please to finish the discussion.#sweepsteaks#tagsgiving#historyjived
#eyesopen

TMI!

While a powerful comparison of politics, civil rights and life in the South to a Korean prisoner of war camp, this book becomes one long nightmare. I haven't quite finished it yet, but the prolonged, painfully detailed, and seemingly endless descriptions of the brutality in the camp--down to the constant descriptions of the defecations, starvation, and bloody, bone-crunching horrors was just too much. Most of us have been alive long enough to have heard the gruesome details of such imprisonment, but having it constantly thrown at the reader, gory detail after gory detail for so very much of the book, was not necessary to use it as the metaphor it was.

Will Patton was great in his narration, but the vile nightmares of unimaginable cruelty totally dominated this book, and I never would have chosen it if I knew i would have to share every brutal moment of those continual nightmares.

I imagine it is much like an abused child who goes on to become an abuser. He went through the gutters of humanity in war, only to seek out the gutters of humanity in politics--particularly southern racist politics. And his remedy seemed to be self sedation via alcohol and $3 Mexican whores". I'm hoping an enlightenment will evolve, but so far, the author seems determined to keep us in the gutter with the prisoners.

The approach of comparing the cruelty and inhumanity of racism with the cruelty and inhumanity of war is compelling--but enough is enough. I'm on the fence about this author; and this will make me take a step back for awhile.