A Long, Violent Look at the Not-So-Distant Past

Verdict: A rewarding read, but definitely not for everyone.

Review: Its hard to know where to start with a review, as this book was a LOT: a lot of book awards (including the Booker), a lot of characters, a lot of narrators, a lot of violence (way more than 7 killings), a lot of the CIA messing around in 3^rd world countries, and a whole lot of pages (almost 700!).  Moreover, that ‘a lot’ hits you right away, kicking off with a 4 page cast of characters and then jumping into a string of chapters narrated by different characters, often in Jamaican patois.  Yikes!  The first two sections- roughly half the novel- occur over the course of 2 days, and were a bit of a struggle to get through.  Overall I’m glad I muddled through because by the end of the novel I was so invested that I was getting up early to read before work (were my favourite characters going to make it?!).

Aside from the increasingly tight plotting in the later sections, I really appreciated getting to know about this weird intersection of real events in the recent past.  The plot isn’t the easiest to condense (700 pages!), but here goes: 1) in the late 1970’s, the CIA was monkeying around in Jamaican politics, which were tied into gang politics; 2) at the same time, the world spotlight was on Jamaica because Bob Marley was holding a huge benefit  concert in Jamaica that was designed to bring peace to the warring gangs (and was bringing the Rolling Stones to the country as headliner); 3) just before the benefit concert could take place, there was an assassination attempt on Bob Marley’s life, possibly involving the CIA; and 4) in the early 1990’s, and possibly with the CIA looking the other way, Jamaican gangs had taken over New York and were largely responsible for the crack behind the crack epidemic.  Whew.

Now that I’ve finished it, I’m trying to decide who in my life I would recommend it to, and I’m having a hard time- its not a light book, and even the more serious readers among my friends and family would likely balk at some of the violence and language.  I think I would say this: if any of your friends are fans of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or Blood Meridian, and don’t mind reading some slang, they’ll love this one.