A Brief History of Seven Killings (Booker Prize Winner): A Novel
Winner of the Booker Prize
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Decade
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
A “thrilling, ambitious . . . intense” (Los Angeles Times) novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s, from the author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail to forge an enthralling novel of dazzling ambition and scope.
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven gunmen stormed the singer’s house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but much has been whispered, gossiped and sung about in the streets of West Kingston. Rumors abound regarding the assassins’ fates, and there are suspicions that the attack was politically motivated.
A Brief History of Seven Killings delves deep into that dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters – gunmen, drug dealers, one-night stands, CIA agents, even ghosts – over the course of thirty years as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately reemerge into the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape his fate.
Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a mesmerizing modern classic of power, mystery, and insight.
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Decade
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years
A “thrilling, ambitious . . . intense” (Los Angeles Times) novel that explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s, from the author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf
In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail to forge an enthralling novel of dazzling ambition and scope.
On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven gunmen stormed the singer’s house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but much has been whispered, gossiped and sung about in the streets of West Kingston. Rumors abound regarding the assassins’ fates, and there are suspicions that the attack was politically motivated.
A Brief History of Seven Killings delves deep into that dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters – gunmen, drug dealers, one-night stands, CIA agents, even ghosts – over the course of thirty years as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately reemerge into the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape his fate.
Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, A Brief History of Seven Killings is a mesmerizing modern classic of power, mystery, and insight.
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Community Reviews
Anything but brief but enthralling. James paints a picture of the "politricks" and "shit stem" of the tumultuous 1970s-1980s Jamaica in this honest, raunchy, saga of a novel.
"Brethren, the man say West Kingston is a place so fucking bad that you can't even take a picture of it, because the beauty of the photographic process lies to you as to how ugly it really is. Oh you read it? Trust me, even him have it wrong. The beauty of how him write that sentence still lie to you as to how ugly it is. It so ugly it shouldn't produce no pretty sentence, ever. "
And just so, James writes something stylistically unique and terrifying through the eyes of a plethora of characters - young, old, poor, rich, Jamaican, American, Cuban, white, black and even dead. It takes patience to get through the bouncing point of views but you won't be disappointed. Particularly enjoyable was seeing the familiar transported back in time and the historical accuracy among the embellished rumors.
Enjoyable, recommended - you won't be disappointed.
"Brethren, the man say West Kingston is a place so fucking bad that you can't even take a picture of it, because the beauty of the photographic process lies to you as to how ugly it really is. Oh you read it? Trust me, even him have it wrong. The beauty of how him write that sentence still lie to you as to how ugly it is. It so ugly it shouldn't produce no pretty sentence, ever. "
And just so, James writes something stylistically unique and terrifying through the eyes of a plethora of characters - young, old, poor, rich, Jamaican, American, Cuban, white, black and even dead. It takes patience to get through the bouncing point of views but you won't be disappointed. Particularly enjoyable was seeing the familiar transported back in time and the historical accuracy among the embellished rumors.
Enjoyable, recommended - you won't be disappointed.
I enjoyed this book!!! I loved how it was written from multiple perspectives of the different characters who were all linked. Being of Caribbean descent, I recognized a lot of familiar story lines and characters. I'm also a big Bob Marley fan so it definitely made the book even more interesting! I'll give this read a 10/10.
"If it nuh go so, it go near so." --Jamaican Proverb
This is not the Jamaica portrayed in the travel posters. These are not the ever-smiling "No problem, man" people, whose unoffical king was the dreadlocked musical prodigy/peace ambassador Bob Marley. This fictional account tells of the aftermath of the very real attempt by gunmen to assassinate him (although never named, he is simply referred to as "The Singer") in 1976. The story spans time between the late 70s and the early 90s, from the perspectives of different characters (some of them based on real people) connected to the shooting.
This story is mostly true. If it's not completely the truth, it's pretty close...
My grandparents came to Canada in the late 1960s and I never understood why. They had a very good life with my grandfather working as a senior executive at the Dairy Farmers of Jamaica and my grandmother well established as a teacher in a high school. They had a nice home and a growing family. There seemed to be no reason from them to leave. When I would ask them about that time in their lives, my grandfather just chuckled and alluded to it being complicated. My mother made sure to teach me and my brother the culture and history of the country of which we are descended so I thought I knew. After this novel, I finally understand what inspired the move.
I DNF'd this in 2023 at about 5% but decided to give it another try (because I am absolutely INCAPABLE of the DNF). And man, did it blow my mind. The violence and uncertainty of the country at that time is so effectively portrayed in this novel that I felt almost stifled by it. The greed of some, the desperation of others, the pressure-cooker of impending change (good or bad) are impossible to ignore, almost like stand-alone characters in their own right. It's mostly presented as internal dialogue, which further intensifies the reading experience.
Beautifully crafted. Gripping. Disturbing. Invasive. Funny. Thought-provoking. Marlon James' voice is now living rent-free in my head.
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