A Brief History of Seven Killings (Booker Prize Winner): A Novel

BOOMBOCLOTH THIS BOOK IS GREAT. 700 pages is a lot. Especially when it's in hardcore Jamaican dialect and over 70 characters to keep track of, but you know what? I was completely engrossed every single page.This sprawling epic tells the story of the Jamaican political situation from the 1970s and into the 1990s. It goes from Kingston's ghettos, crackhouses, prisons to the streets of Miami and the Bronx. Centered around Bob Marley, this book is more than just a profile of the famous musician. In fact, he doesn't ever speak. Instead James uses stream of conscious writing, shifting narration from characters all across Jamaica, and incredibly immersive post modern tropes to bring the reader into the story of Jamaica's world of political corruption, gangs, and the Cold War.This isn't an easy read. James doesn't give you anything on a silver platter. The dialect is never explained, there is no intro to the political parties and groups acting in the country, and most of what actually happens in the book goes on in between the lines and the gaps in time. I had to google a history of Jamaica and learn more about the situation in order to fully appreciate what was going on in the book. At points I felt like I had no idea what was happening, but then I kept reading. And reading. And reading.Eventually the threads of the different characters experiences and memories flow together forming a beautiful web of drugs, sex, violence, love, patriotism, upheaval, and lots of Jamaican swearing. This book reminds me a lot of A Clockwork Orange in the way that the author completely immerses you in the world without any help, and you have to swim for yourself. While frustrating, the experience is very rewarding once you understand the language and get ensnared in the world.One of the most interesting things about this novel for me was learning more about Bob Marley. Now in 2015 he is heralded as an important musician and an icon for stoners everywhere. However, this book tells a completely different story. The Rastafarian movement wasn't just about weed, but was a black power movement. He was very much a political figure, fighting for peace and trying to lift up the people of the ghetto.All in all, this book was amazing. I feel like I got sucked into another world for awhile and just got spit out without warning back into reality. I'm going to listen to some reggae now....

A Brief History of Seven Killings won the 2015 Man Booker Prize and, having read all the other candidates, I can say that there is no question that it deserved to win. But, it is not a book for everyone and I will do my best to explain why. The book is broken into 5 major sections spanning over 30 years. It is a novel about an unstable and terrifyingly dangerous time in Jamaican history. Chapters are told from the perspective of dozens of characters including gang members, CIA operatives, a Rolling Stone Journalist, an unemployed Jamaican woman, gang bosses, and even a ghost who interjects occasionally with reflections on death. James primarily relies on stream-of-consciousness to piece together the history of that time through the eyes of multiple narrators. The novel begins in 1976, the day before Bob Marley, his wife, and manager were shot in the singer’s home. The three survived the attack and James’ novel speculates on the events that lead up to the attempted murder and the aftermath. Through these events James takes us deep into the heart of the Jamaican ghettos in Kingston and immerses us in a world of gang violence, political maneuvering and corruption, and drugs.So why was is it a challenging book? First off, it’s a long book at close to 700 pages and it begins with a 4-page, and much needed, “cast of characters.” So before you even crack open the narrative, you can tell it will be a complex book. The sheer number of characters is dizzying especially since many of them have gang names that are hard to keep straight in your head –like Heckle, Bam-Bam, Funky Chicken, Leggo Beast, Funnyboy, Buntin-Banton, Dishrag, and so on.Second, the use of patois makes it hard to read. As I mentioned earlier, James uses stream of conscious style throughout and since so many of the characters are gang members, they use patois and slang that is initially hard to understand. As the novel progresses, you eventually get the hang of it but it is initially quite challenging and you should be warned that it is quite obscene. Take this exchange between Nina (an unemployed woman who hopes to use the singer to leave Jamaica) and two policemen:Wee willie – cho r’asscloth.Broke a heel. And the damn shoes was not cheap. S*** r’ass –-Then hi, a way dis den ‘pin we? Coolie duppy?-It h’are the pretty-heat coolie duppy h’eye h’ever see.This is the typical dialogue you get for a majority of the book.Finally, this book is VIOLENT! The title of the book will give you a clue that this book isn’t all puppies and roses, but the extent of the violence in all its forms (sexual, physical, and emotional) was at times very challenging to read. A LOT of people die in this book and often in very gruesome ways. Rape and sexual assault are frequent. So if you are sensitive to violence and graphic sexual descriptions, you may struggle with this book.So, why the 4 stars? The book is truly stunning and highly ambitious – and the author is successful in what he sets out to achieve. It’s probably unlike anything else you will ever read and it is eye-opening in a terrifying way. James really immerses you in both the Jamaican ghetto and Jamaican politics in the late 1970s. He makes you live and breath this unstable and violent time. The novel is amazingly complex and highlights corruption and complicated relationships between gang leaders, government officials, and CIA operatives that existed at the time of this story. A Brief History of Seven Killings is based, in part, on real-life events. The Shower Posse ruled Jamaica in the 1960s and 70s and spread their influence to the US in the 1980s through drug trafficking – controlling much of the crack cocaine supply in New York and Miami (this is covered in the later half of the book). Furthermore, the political rivalry was very much a fact in Jamaica in the 1970s along with the use of gangs by politicians for their own political gain.I have a hard time with violence in books and this was probably one of the most violent books I’ve ever read. But, the violence and obscenity serves a purpose. Interestingly, as awful as many of the narrators are, they are that way because of circumstances that existed before they were born and that are reinforced by sociopolitical and economic factors. At times you find yourself horrified by a sensation of empathy for certain characters. One minute you are rooting for them and the next minute they are committing horrendous acts. Some of the dialogue is even quite funny and as the reader you find yourself questioning what is wrong with you since you are laughing at some awful things.I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone for the points I mentioned earlier. If you are very sensitive to things like violence, graphic sexual descriptions, and obscene language you will have a hard time with the book. But, if you can tolerate those things then A Brief History of Seven Killings is a fascinating and difficult read that will stay with you for a long time.

Marlon James has achieved something special with this one. A brilliant and disorienting read. Highly reccomended.

Um absurdo de livro. Não a toa ganhou um monte de prêmio. James pega uma Jamaica real e consegue criar uma trama fictícia, só que de tão bem escrita você não consegue dizer que é mentira, você passa a acreditar que tudo narrado aqui REALMENTE aconteceu.Espetacular é pouco para definir essa obra.

Excellent livre. Cet auteur est remarquable!

excellent written!!

great