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A Brief History of Seven Killings
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Wikipedia article
'A Brief History of Seven Killings' is the third novel by Jamaican author Marlon James. It was published in 2014 by Riverhead Books. The novel spans several decades and explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in Jamaica in 1976 and its aftermath, through the crack wars in New York City in the 1980s and a changed Jamaica in the 1990s.
Synopsis
The novel has five sections, each named after a musical track and covering the events of a single day:
*Original Rockers: December 2, 1976
*Ambush in the Night: December 3, 1976
*Shadow Dancin: February 15, 1979
*White Lines/Kids in America: August 14, 1985
*Sound Boy Killing: March 22, 1991
The first part of the novel is set in Kingston, Jamaica, in the build-up to the Smile Jamaica Concert held on 5 December 1976, and describes politically motivated violence between gangs associated with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP), especially in the West Kingston neighbourhoods of Tivoli Gardens and Mathews Lane (renamed in the novel as Copenhagen City and Eight Lanes), including involvement of the CIA in the Jamaican politics of the time. As well as Marley (who is referred to as "the Singer" throughout), other real-life characters depicted or fictionalized in the book include Kingston gangsters Winston "Burry Boy" Blake and George "Feathermop" Spence, Claude Massop and Lester Lloyd Coke (Jim Brown) of the JLP and Aston Thomson (Buckie Marshall) of the PNP.
Awards
The book was awarded the 2015 Man Booker Prize. This marked the first time that a Jamaican-born author has won the prize. According to the BBC: "[Man Booker judge Michael] Wood said the judges came to a unanimous decision in less than two hours. He praised the book's 'many voices'it contains more than 75 characterswhich 'went from Jamaican slang to Biblical heights'".
*2014 National Book Critics Circle Award finalist
*2015 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for FictionThe Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. [http://www.anisfield-wolf.org/winners/winners-by-year/ "Winners by Year".]
*2015 Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short Story
*2015 Fiction category of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature[http://www.bocaslitfest.com/2015/ocm-bocas-prize-2015-shortlist/ "Top three books named for 2015 OCM Bocas Prize"] , NGC Bocas Lit Fest website, 31 March 2015.
*2015 Man Booker Prize[http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-fiction-2015-shortlist-revealed/ "The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015 shortlist is revealed"] , The Man Booker Prize website, 15 September 2015.
The 680-page epic was "full of surprises" as well as being "very violent" and "full of swearing". Set across three decades, the novel uses the true story of the attempt on the life of reggae star Marley to explore the turbulent world of Jamaican gangs and politics.
Wood said the judges had come to a unanimous decision in less than two hours.
He praised the book's "many voices" it contains more than 75 characters which "went from Jamaican slang to Biblical heights".
Television
HBO has optioned the novel and is planning a television series, although no debut date has been announced.
References
Category:2014 novels
Category:Novels by Marlon James
Category:Booker Prize-winning works
Category:Novels set in Jamaica
Category:Cultural depictions of Bob Marley
Category:Organized crime novels
Category:American Book Award-winning works
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