A Brief History of Seven Killings

ghetto, guns and a whole lot of violence

In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James undertakes a massive cast of characters and creates numerous interweaving storylines that come together in the end like a work of art. This novel displays such mastery of plot and prose that I have not read since Charles Dickens. The story spans decades and characters, from 1976 and the assassination of the Singer(Bob Marley) to crack wars in the 80′s and the politics of the 90′s. 

This book is an insanely violent ride where you follow a Faulkneresque first-person dialogue story of various actors in a drama surrounding the house invasion and assassination attempt on Reggae superstar Bob Marley in December 1976. The story rolls over several decades. But eventually, you begin to realize it’s less about Bob Marley (referred to as the singer throughout the book) and more about the characters and their interweaving lives.

“am slowly realizing that even though the Singer is the center of the story that it really isn’t his story. Like there’s a version of this story that’s not really about him, but about the people around him, the ones who come and go that might actually provide a bigger picture than me asking him why he smokes ganja.”

In the 70s Jamaica is going through politically troubled times. The ruling and opposition politicians have daggers drawn with escalating gang violence in Kingston (due to alliances with conflicting political parties, the conservative JLP or Jamaican Labor Party, and the Socialist PNP or People's National Party). Then there in the CIA with its paranoia about the advent of communism (and other “isms”). And amongst it all, is Bob Marly who wants peace and unity which does not sit too well with the warring factions that have vested interests. What follows is an assassination plot (which actually happened) and a massive sprawl of government conspiracies, warring criminal underworld, the evolution of drug trade, diaspora, and the western powers meddling in the affairs of another country riddled with poverty and unrest.

This 700-page multi-voiced novel is written in multiple dialects (Jamaican/patois predominantly) and once you get familiar with the voice it becomes easy to read but despite that A Brief History of Seven Killings is a very difficult book to assimilate. From a great length of chapters written in different dialects to detailed brutality and violence, Marlon leaves your nerves shot. He writes brutally. Blood seeps through the pages of this novel and you are always caught off guard.

This book is also Man Booker Prize winner which like most booker prize winners (in my opinion) makes it challenging linguistically, structurally, and narratively.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Killing don’t need no reason. This is ghetto. Reason is for rich people. We have madness.” 

“People who say they don’t have a choice just too coward to choose.”

“Never think about the past, that shit will fuck you up and you can’t fuck it back”

I would share more quotes but without context, they lose their punch.

In conclusion, I would recommend this book if you’re interested in investing time and mind into reading it. It is not an easy read but with that being said - know this :

A good novel holds your attention for a couple of hours, a great novel teaches you something. New cultures, new languages, new people. A Brief History of Seven Killings is a great novel

_____________________________________________

My find on sound cloud this week:

Earlier this week was Saadat Hassan Manto’s 108th birthday..

I talked about him in my last newsletter but this week I was afforded a chance to learn more about him. This article by Ali Sethi is a great read in that vein.

On a lighter note if you’re approaching 30 and feel remarkably meh

don’t fret about it. I feel like increasingly we are driven to celebrate achievements on a timeline. As if beyond a certain period or timeline you either can’t achieve or it won’t matter. I don’t abide by that. Life is not a sprint - its a marathon. And if you’re still blue about it here is an instant mood lifter.

also, WFH feels these days ammirritee?

Lockdown is beginning to stifle the best of us

but here’s a gentle reminder from Faiz Sahab k ye faqt aik ghari ha bas

That is pretty much it for this week’s chapter. The book itself was very consuming. Until next week.

Stay home (ffs).

Saima