In the 1970s the world become disillusioned with rock and
reggae became the new counter culture with Bob Marley as guru. As a sign of
this prominence, The Singer organises the Smile Jamaica concert. Although an
event that would resonate with the world at large, it was designed to help bring
peace to the trouble island facing political corruption and gang violence. Told
through the eyes of gang members, politicians, CIA operatives, abandoned women,
and journalists, the full panorama of the tumultuous times comes to bear, with
the ramifications having bearings into the following decades.
James’ tome owes a great deal to the multitudes of voices
that fill its pages, whether it’s the Jamaican jive of Papa-lo or the domestic
tinged machinations of Diflorio or the sanctimonious droning of journalist Alex
Pierce. Like Faulkner, these numerous voices give us a unique vernacular on the
unfolding events. Where it does stumble a little is that unlike Faulkner these
shifts in voice do not always amount to a shift in perspective, rendering them repetition
without reconstruction. Where it does come to bear is with its central subject.
Of all the voices, the one that is never heard is The Singer. He is already a
spirit in his own time, a myth being created as the actions unfold, and becomes
the source of all hope, assurance, despair, and paranoia of all those in
Jamaica. He becomes the symbol, the solution, the sage, the suspect, the sin,
the song that all these cacophonous voices sing about.
Rich, alluring, and gritty, A Brief History of Seven
Killings is a vibrant, multidimensional tale that divulges the personal within
the monumental.
Andreas
