A Brief History of Seven Killings
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly killed the Reggae superstar, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Marley would go on to perform at the free concert on December 5, but he left the country the next day, not to return for two years.
Deftly spanning decades and continents and peopled with a wide range of characters—assassins, journalists, drug dealers, and even ghosts—A Brief History of Seven Killings is the fictional exploration of that dangerous and unstable time and its bloody aftermath, from the streets and slums of Kingston in the 70s, to the crack wars in 80s New York, to a radically altered Jamaica in the 90s. Brilliantly inventive and stunningly ambitious, this novel is a revealing modern epic that will secure Marlon James’ place among the great literary talents of his generation.
"But a man can only move so far before leash pull him back. Before the master say, Enough of that shit, that's not where we going. The leash of Babylon, the leash of the police code, the leash of Gun Court, the leash of twenty-three families that run Jamaica." Marlon James finds highly evocative ways to poetically untangle recent Jamaican history - this book is fictional, but it talks about real events. Putting the attempted assasination of Bob Marley right before a planned peace concert. At the
A Brief History of Seven Killings should not be evaluated based on its supposed brevity, nor on the amount of killings featured in the book. The title could be the source of misguided expectations in this regard, as it is being overly modest on both counts. But if you're expecting a clever, fast, insightful, colourful and authentic novel, you won't be disappointed.My first instinct when I see a book that has won a prize (in this case the Man Booker) is to have zero expectations of it. Even less.
Rating this book is a little difficult. I think Im going to go with five stars, because it is quite amazing. There are a few small problems with the book, but they are the kind of problems that come from trying to be too ambitious, so its not perfect but it is great. An ambition is a good thing to have.Karen mentioned this in her review, and an unnamed person from Goodreads disagreed with her in person, but I think hes wrong. A Brief History of Seven Killings is a historical novel right out of
★★★1/2I've finally made it through my re-read! This was my first Marlon James book I read when I got an advance copy before it's release. I was a bit lukewarm on it but after it became a big award winner and I later fell in love with his writing in his other books, I decided to try this one again. Unfortunately, I had a similar experience. The book is just a little too tedious and not as compelling as his other novels. I did really appreciate the Josey Wales, Weeper, Alex, and Eubie characters
Id taken off on the odd run over the years, but it wasnt until this January that I started to take it seriously. A friend mentioned a 10km race along the water in early May. Its funny how a simple deadline is enough to inspire, but with a race on the horizon, I began my training program. One thing Id never quite wrapped my head around was the driving force behind those humans that ran extremely long distances. Surely no razor-tooth beast chased them. How did they motivate themselves through
PHEW! My brain is as tired and sore as if it has just been through the equivalent of three back-to-back ironman competitions, in blistering hellfire heat. It's taken me over two months to finish (26 hours of audio, plus all the times I had to go back and re-listen to ensure I understood what was going on). I feel relieved that this anything-but-brief historical fiction has come to an end, and a tiny bit proud too, having made it.It's a challenging book, which is something I knew, going in, and
Marlon James
Hardcover | Pages: 688 pages Rating: 3.88 | 26244 Users | 3819 Reviews
Present Books Supposing A Brief History of Seven Killings
Original Title: | A Brief History of Seven Killings |
ISBN: | 159448600X (ISBN13: 9781594486005) |
Edition Language: | English |
Literary Awards: | Booker Prize (2015), American Book Award (2015), Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction (2015), PEN Open Book Award Nominee for Longlist (2015), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (2014) Green Carnation Prize (2015), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2015), Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story (2015), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2016) |
Rendition During Books A Brief History of Seven Killings
WINNER OF THE 2015 MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION From the acclaimed author of The Book of Night Women comes a masterfully written novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s.On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert, gunmen stormed his house, machine guns blazing. The attack nearly killed the Reggae superstar, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Marley would go on to perform at the free concert on December 5, but he left the country the next day, not to return for two years.
Deftly spanning decades and continents and peopled with a wide range of characters—assassins, journalists, drug dealers, and even ghosts—A Brief History of Seven Killings is the fictional exploration of that dangerous and unstable time and its bloody aftermath, from the streets and slums of Kingston in the 70s, to the crack wars in 80s New York, to a radically altered Jamaica in the 90s. Brilliantly inventive and stunningly ambitious, this novel is a revealing modern epic that will secure Marlon James’ place among the great literary talents of his generation.
Describe About Books A Brief History of Seven Killings
Title | : | A Brief History of Seven Killings |
Author | : | Marlon James |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 688 pages |
Published | : | October 2nd 2014 by Riverhead Books |
Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literary Fiction. Mystery. Crime |
Rating About Books A Brief History of Seven Killings
Ratings: 3.88 From 26244 Users | 3819 ReviewsRate About Books A Brief History of Seven Killings
This book is not brief; it has many more than seven killings; it redefines what a novel is. As a reader I was gratified to read in the Acknowledgements that James himself didnt know this was a novel, either, until someone pointed to possible parallels for the style in Faulkners As I Lay Dying. James drew inspiration from Roberto Bolaño, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, and Gay Talese among others, and the work is staggering in sheer inventiveness. The storyline is anything but simple, told from"But a man can only move so far before leash pull him back. Before the master say, Enough of that shit, that's not where we going. The leash of Babylon, the leash of the police code, the leash of Gun Court, the leash of twenty-three families that run Jamaica." Marlon James finds highly evocative ways to poetically untangle recent Jamaican history - this book is fictional, but it talks about real events. Putting the attempted assasination of Bob Marley right before a planned peace concert. At the
A Brief History of Seven Killings should not be evaluated based on its supposed brevity, nor on the amount of killings featured in the book. The title could be the source of misguided expectations in this regard, as it is being overly modest on both counts. But if you're expecting a clever, fast, insightful, colourful and authentic novel, you won't be disappointed.My first instinct when I see a book that has won a prize (in this case the Man Booker) is to have zero expectations of it. Even less.
Rating this book is a little difficult. I think Im going to go with five stars, because it is quite amazing. There are a few small problems with the book, but they are the kind of problems that come from trying to be too ambitious, so its not perfect but it is great. An ambition is a good thing to have.Karen mentioned this in her review, and an unnamed person from Goodreads disagreed with her in person, but I think hes wrong. A Brief History of Seven Killings is a historical novel right out of
★★★1/2I've finally made it through my re-read! This was my first Marlon James book I read when I got an advance copy before it's release. I was a bit lukewarm on it but after it became a big award winner and I later fell in love with his writing in his other books, I decided to try this one again. Unfortunately, I had a similar experience. The book is just a little too tedious and not as compelling as his other novels. I did really appreciate the Josey Wales, Weeper, Alex, and Eubie characters
Id taken off on the odd run over the years, but it wasnt until this January that I started to take it seriously. A friend mentioned a 10km race along the water in early May. Its funny how a simple deadline is enough to inspire, but with a race on the horizon, I began my training program. One thing Id never quite wrapped my head around was the driving force behind those humans that ran extremely long distances. Surely no razor-tooth beast chased them. How did they motivate themselves through
PHEW! My brain is as tired and sore as if it has just been through the equivalent of three back-to-back ironman competitions, in blistering hellfire heat. It's taken me over two months to finish (26 hours of audio, plus all the times I had to go back and re-listen to ensure I understood what was going on). I feel relieved that this anything-but-brief historical fiction has come to an end, and a tiny bit proud too, having made it.It's a challenging book, which is something I knew, going in, and
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.