A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Two weeks after Marlon James won the Man Booker Prize, I was on holiday in Oxford. I walked into Blackwell's bookshop and he was there, giving a last minute talk. The room was treated to a reading from his prize-winning ode to Bob Marley and I managed to bag myself a signed copy.

During the Q&A James cursed. It was a mild selection from the variety of four letter words available in the swear vocabulary, nevertheless it raised eyebrows around the room. Halfway through A Brief History I wondered if any person in the room had actually read the book. Pumped full of language that would make characters from a Quentin Tarantino film blush, gratuitous sex scenes and weighty descriptions of gang violence this masterful epic deserves all of the praise it has received.

Marlon James is a brilliant writer. Not only is he gifted with story-telling, he is a funny and articulate speaker. One moment during the Q&A at Blackwell’s illustrates this perfectly. A man shot up his hand, and when it was his turn to ask a question he went on a five minute rant about the book “ignoring significant moments in history including Henry Kissinger’s visit to Jamaica”. He concluded with “I’m angry with your book”.

“Have you read my book?” Marlon James asked.

“No” the man replied.

The laughter that followed certainly broke the tension in the room.

“Well if you read my book” Marlon James followed with, “you would know Henry’s Kissinger’s visit is in there… I did my research”.

In fact the amount of research that went into this novel is staggering. The book is the result of a four year project and spans decades of history surrounding the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. It is actually impressive he has managed to relate a history with such depth in under 600 pages.

At the front of the book there is a character list which evokes Shakespearean themes. The opening chapter is a monologue from an ethereal spirit of a murdered man, Sir Arthur George Jennings, who asks his audience to “Listen”. He wanders in and out of scenes of death narrating key points in the timeline and closes “Acts” reflecting on death and changes in the wind.

Also among the cast is a cynical young woman from uptown Kingston (my personal favourite), several fearful gang leaders, a child criminal and a journalist from Rolling Stone magazine looking to get an interview with the Singer.

Marlon James mentioned that an HBO series is in the works and I can see how this book would translate brilliantly to the small-screen. There are parts which filled me with a sickening dread and I turned the pages realising I would not find out a character’s fate until I reached the next chapter.

That said I would highly recommend you read this book. It ticks all the boxes for every content warning you can think of, yet it is intelligent, hilariously funny in parts and written with a sterling soundtrack in mind.