John Crow's Devil
by Marlon James
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The incredible debut novel from 2015 Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James"A powerful first novel . . . Writing with assurance and control, James uses his small-town drama to suggest the larger anguish of a postcolonial society struggling for its own identity."
—New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"Elements coalesce in a Jamaican stew spicier than jerk chicken. First novelist James moves effortlessly between lyrical patois and trenchant observations . . . It's 150-proof literary show more rum guaranteed to intoxicate and enchant. Highly recommended."
—Library Journal (*starred* review)
This stunning debut novel tells the story of a biblical struggle in a remote Jamaican village in 1957 with language as taut as classic works by Cormac McCarthy and a richness reminiscent of early Toni Morrison.
Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1970. His second novel, The Book of Night Women, a New York Times Editors' Choice, was released in 2009 to widespread critical acclaim. Currently a professor of literature and creative writing at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he divides his time between Jamaica, New York City, and the Twin Cities.
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A story with a touch of magical realism and a heavy dose of religious fervor. Set in the author's native Jamaica at some point in the 1950's, it is the story of the battle between two flawed individuals, each who try to take control of a small fictional town.
John Crow's Devil is an amazing first novel, with extremely interesting, well-developed characters. It's an interesting take on sin vs redemption. Neither the Rum Preacher or the Apostle are quite what they appear. It is easy to mock the townspeople of the fictional Gibbeah, but see if you can make it to the end of the story without being manipulated into looking at characters and actions in a particular way.
John Crow's Devil is an amazing first novel, with extremely interesting, well-developed characters. It's an interesting take on sin vs redemption. Neither the Rum Preacher or the Apostle are quite what they appear. It is easy to mock the townspeople of the fictional Gibbeah, but see if you can make it to the end of the story without being manipulated into looking at characters and actions in a particular way.
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
One of the things I like the most about Akashic Books is that, unlike so many other small presses, they make a deliberate effort not to put out only an endless stream of mopey character dramas about white creative-classers living in Brooklyn; take for example one of their latest, John Crow's Devil, which is instead set in the backwoods of Jamaica in the 1950s, which like last year's Jesus Boy uses a conservative Christian church to tell a story surprisingly loaded with sex, violence and other deadly sins. And indeed, there's a reason that this show more literary debut from the Kingston immigrant and now Minnesota professor has been compared to both Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and that's because the text itself nearly reaches the level of magic realism from its pure poetic beauty, the story of the struggle between two local preachers of whom neither is nearly as innocent as they like portraying themselves. A dense and gripping novel that emotionally radiates like the heat of the Caribbean sun, it comes recommended to those who are fans of academic writing set in exotic locales.
Out of 10: 8.7 show less
One of the things I like the most about Akashic Books is that, unlike so many other small presses, they make a deliberate effort not to put out only an endless stream of mopey character dramas about white creative-classers living in Brooklyn; take for example one of their latest, John Crow's Devil, which is instead set in the backwoods of Jamaica in the 1950s, which like last year's Jesus Boy uses a conservative Christian church to tell a story surprisingly loaded with sex, violence and other deadly sins. And indeed, there's a reason that this show more literary debut from the Kingston immigrant and now Minnesota professor has been compared to both Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and that's because the text itself nearly reaches the level of magic realism from its pure poetic beauty, the story of the struggle between two local preachers of whom neither is nearly as innocent as they like portraying themselves. A dense and gripping novel that emotionally radiates like the heat of the Caribbean sun, it comes recommended to those who are fans of academic writing set in exotic locales.
Out of 10: 8.7 show less
Near perfect first novel set in Jamaica. Two reverends battle for the soul of fledgling Jamaican village in the late 1950's. James uses a voice that many readers may deem difficult to follow, at first, but really I found it quite easy to slip into the dialect. It is a fine specimen of terse literature that gets out of the story's way and takes the reader out of his comfort zone without ever letting him think about putting the book down.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
Excellent debut novel. The dangers religion brings with it, and any type of fundamentalism...
The first novel by a young Jamaican novelist. Magic and religion conflict in a rural village in the late 1950s.
PEARL RULE 9 (p74)
I realized I need to leave the read behind here:
I realized I need to leave the read behind here:
"Shhh. Don't work your head about it too much. The Lord has forgiven me and as His faithful servant, I have forgiven Pastor Bligh. You know where he is?"show more
"Yes, Apostle."
"Send him a message for me. Tell him that Apostle York says that he can come back."
And here we go round the houses again. I liked the dialect that Author James uses in the story to delineate what everyone knows, versus what is being narrated:The plate was empty and refilled in minutes.
"Mind you choke," she said.
The Widow appeared to smile but then she pushed her chair back into the dark before the {Rum} Pastor could confirm it. She ate nothing herself. Dinner was a noisy clutter of mouth sounds. Lips and
show lessgums slapping food with spit and teeth slicing, tearing, and chomping the whole thing down to paste, followed by the glorious gulp of a swallow.
He was the only one doing the eating, so she must have been doing the watching. Women loved to watch men eat, he thought. It was the last blast of primal energy that the hunter-gatherer had left to show.
***
"Jeezus Christ! Him have fits!" said a man beside Bligh as he fell.
"Rahtid," said another.
"Unu fling this spoon in him mouth quick!" shouted the young bartender. "Bout him want bottle! You know say is a whole o Johnny Walker him go fi drink?"
"Him still a fits?"
"Is the Devil in him. Me read that in tha Bible," said the man nearest to Bligh, holding onto the spoon he had shoved in the Pastor's mouth.
It's a technique used to make the story move and still retain the tang of Otherness this supernatural tale imparts. That's very effective, and to my mental ears very euphonious. I'm just not that deeply drawn in to the story. Rum Pastor Bligh's besetting sin is drink. I get it. Because I'm told explicitly why earlier in the story, I wasn't that interested in following his trajectory; because the very beginning is The End, I know where we're heading; and in the end, I just didn't feel like the view was worth the travail.
Such a shame I didn't read this when it came out. I'd've liked it much better at forty-five than at sixty.
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9+ Works 9,389 Members
Marlon James was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1970. He studied literature at the University of the West Indies. He worked in advertising for more than a decade, as a copywriter, art director and graphic designer. He took a writing workshop in Kingston, Jamaica, and later enrolled in a writing program at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. His first show more novel, John Crow's Devil, was published in 2005. His other novels include The Book of Night Women and A Brief History of Seven Killings, which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2015. He teaches at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- John Crow's Devil
- Original title
- John Crow's Devil
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Pastor Hector Bligh (The Rum Preacher); Apostle (Lucas) York (Lucas); Mrs. Mary Greenfield; Lucinda; Clarence; Tony Curtis (show all 8); Mr. Garvey; Lilamae Perkins
- Important places
- Jamaica; Gibbeah, Jamaica
- Dedication
- To Ché, that other revolutionary, and to my mother, who must not read this book.
- First words
- No living thing flew over the village of Gibbeah, neither fowl, nor dove, nor crow.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 248
- Popularity
- 130,416
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (3.66)
- Languages
- English, German, Italian, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 6
