A Brief History of Ulysses
A Brief History of Coming Through Slaughter
A Brief History of Infinite Jest
Marlon James will be known as the writer who inspires this
approach to fulfilling the full potential of the novel.
His “A Brief History of Seven Killings” is anything but
brief.
Rather in several hundred pages (of small type), James
explores the subject – seven killings – in a written “history” that will dazzle
you.
This, of course, is in contrast to the “history” that most of
us know, boiled down to dates and kings’ and revolutionaries’ mini-bios, with
our school-based understanding of our place in the world rooted in this shallow knowledge of clichés and accepted truths, and in the American context,
larded with a patriotic jingoism that is designed to short-shift points of view
that don’t square with the imperial truths while skewering the as-dictated evil
doers.
But “history” is not that. It is a never-ending story that
should, by definition, include points of view of not just the conquerors but
the conquered.
Neither side deserves a special place, a throne to preside upon
the narrative of its choice.
“A Brief History” nods to these reality, gives us an
understanding of a time and place that is full and complete of people AND
events.
Next: Running for Your Life: A Sixteen Miler?
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