196 Books: Jamaica

 The Late Emancipation of Jerry Stover by Andrew Salkey

Here's Jamaica!

Here's the summary!

Jerry Stover is a 21-year-old rebel without a cause living in 1960s Jamaica - a freshly independent nation. Stifled by his ‘respectable’ job and middle-class family, he seeks inspiration in political and literary dabbling, and a debauched social life, with limited success.

That is, until he meets the Rastafarians. They seem to offer Jerry emancipation from his apathy and a shot at the peace he craves. But will he take the opportunity? And if he does, will it finally make him a free man in free country?

First published in 1968, The Late Emancipation of Jerry Stover is an important book. It's a novel that captures a nation in transition and a generation struggling to build its identity in a post-colonial world. And it's a must-read for anyone interested in Caribbean literature and history.

You know, I never learn. I keep seeing these novels that sound interesting, but they never end up as good as the true stories. On the plus side, Salkey really set the tone of a young adult trying to figure out their place in the world. As a a bit of an older adult still trying to figure out my place in the world, it hit a little too close to home. 

But, let's get the nasty out of the way. It's a book written by a man in the 60s. Cue the sexism! "Jerry feared it would spoil his chances of making Vie, Lola's assistant. As soon as he had had her, Lola would be next, he promised himself." "Then, as if by second nature, he looked at her breasts, compared them with Vie's and found both sets equally splendidly over-developed and impressive." "the stout stems of her breasts, heaped in two bunches, were forcing their way through the V neck of her cotton blouse." Jerry also gets two different women pregnant, and there's one character that's only referred to as "Marcus's woman." 

It's boring and lazy; the continued idea that men have no control over their sex drive or actions. Women are a pair of tits and an ass and that's about it. Okay. If you read this blog, you know my thoughts on how male authors (generally) write their female characters. But there were some points that were slightly sexist but also just silly. "lisps attractively" "And Berto's the hog in Paul's cocoa." "I'll have you, you sweet eastern salad, you! he promised himself." I really liked that one hehehe. 

I did like a lot of the ideas on politics though. "'Every blasted action o' mankind is political, Jerry, son.' he told him" It drives me nuts lately how people complain about things being politics. That involve politicians. And political issues. SO YES, it IS all political! "Just a thought: when will we learn to take our petty sense of freedom for granted and start to think about the larger freedom of a properly planned society? Will we ever be able to contribute, in some way, to the bigger scheme of things outside ourselves, to the really important, universal issues?" "'I believe that domestic, national, international, worl' an' the res' got no difference. Politics is everywhere that people bunch up together under some plan or other.'"

So, this one's a toss up, I guess. You could kind of boil it down to a spoiled fuckboy with good intentions but bad planning. Sooo...typical young adult story I guess.