topics: |  fiction | caribbean | postcolonial

This 1954 book, a rough allegory on Christ, became well-known for its
presentation of the Rastafarian culture from the inside, revealing the
process by which heroes are created and how they fall.  The shoemaker John
Power, a visionary and a healer who lives in 'The lane' in Jamaica's tough
West Kingston slums. The Rastas are an ostracized tribe who are seen as
ghetto thugs by the Jamaican world at large.  Kamau Braithwaite has compared
this novel with "jazz improvisation" in the way it reflects the chaos of West
Indian experience, finally moving to a revelation of wholeness.

Quote

‘Love is everything,’ he said, simply. ‘It is what created the world. It is
what made you an’ me, child, brought us into this world.’

And somehow the words didn’t sound banal, coming from him. He spoke with such
simple directness that it seemed to give a new import to everything he
said. It was as though the common words of everyday usage meant something
more, coming from his lips, than they did in the casual giving and taking of
change in conversation, the way it was with other folks.  p.27

review of 50th anniversary re-release:
http://www.jahworks.org/music/book_reviews/BrotherMan.htm