Download PDF Catch a fire the life of Bob Marley Books
Download PDF Catch a fire the life of Bob Marley Books
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Catch a fire the life of Bob Marley Books Reviews
- WAAAAAAAAAYYY too longwinded. Gives you a history on every single person Bob Marley ever walked past on the street and then say "Bob toured Europe for 2 years", What??? How about a little more on that instead of the constant name-dropping? This is also the expanded version with more content, which is just worse in every way (I have read both versions). I suppose if you are a historian and not a music-lover you'll appreciate this more than I.
- In the 1960's at the confluence of the streams of Jamaican independence and the messianic Rastafarian religion, there came a once in a lifetime musical genius who was born, if not in a stable, then in similarly unpromising surroundingss in the mountains of the Jamaican hinterland.
This is a very detailed book that explains a great deal about Bob Marley's background and career. Now I can tell you what a "goverment yard in Trenchtown" (from the lyrics of No Woman, No Cry) means and I know what Duppy Conqueror means. I did not know these things before.
This is certainly not a fan biography, or even a hagiography. In fact Marley does not even come across as a particularly likeable or admirable person. Perhaps there is a reason for this. I have a couple of CDs that have interviews with Bob Marley. It seems to me that Marley was not particularly articulate in person, and that what he had to say was all said in his songs. The author had many interviews with Marley in his lifetime, but none of them seem to have been very profound.
There is something about the style of the author that I don't particularly like, a certain like of directness or reference points, if you like. In a way he admits this in appendixes in which he says that he really has no way of telling what parts of much of the material he was told in interviews is true--so he just quotes it all, and lets you decide for yourself.
In the end it seems to me that White piles up lots and lots of data, but we don't learn much about Bob Marley the man. Maybe in the end the Natural Mystic eludes all attemps to pin him down. But the book does give tons of background information that helps to understand his music, and even the particular events in Marley's life that inspired the lyrics of certain songs.
The book is definitely worth having, but the true essence of Bob Marley lies in his music, which, fortunately we can all still enjoy today. - as a fan of Bob Marley's I was interested in learning about his life and relationships; what inspired him to write certain songs, etc. Instead, I got a well documented look at the legal wrangling, the murders and exhaustive commentary on Jamaica's socio-economic standing. After I read it I didn't feel as though I knew the real Bob Marley -- but I got a hell of a history lesson!
- I was so looking forward to reading Catch a Fire, the Life of Bob Marley by Timothy White, but truthfully it turned out to be a constant struggle. Timothy White is a font of information, rather than a good story-teller and that is a real shame.
The beginning of the book we are given lengthy lessons in the origins of the Rastafari religion, historic background on the island of Jamaica, an explanation about reggae music and how it developed and a detailed account of how Haile Selassie came into power in Ethiopia which explained his relationship to King Solomon of Biblical fame. And then on page 60, we began to learn about Robert Nestor Marley's parentage and early life.
Throughout the book there were many interesting stories and tidbits of Marley's life including some quite fantastical supernatural stories. We learn that Marley's white father took him and placed him with a stranger for a year in his early life and his mother couldn't find him. We learn about his maternal grandfather, Omeriah who was a leader in his rural community who was an herbalist and able to communicate with spirits as a"Myalman -a person who possessed the knowledge and the power to deflect the machination of 0beah and to heal with folk medicine."
But throughout the book, the stories is interrupted with so much background information that the story of Marley's life fails to flow and unfurl in a fluent way and the facts themselves become irrelevant and confused in the readers mind.
To make matters worse the end isn't the end, but another 100 pages have been added since the books publication in 1983. These pages in the rambling and random manner of the previous 300 detail the lives of Bob's loved ones and family after his death and the legal battles which have been fought over publishing and recording rights.
I truthfully would have loved to read a concise and flowing account of Bob Marley's life, but this book did not provide that. - This book is a very detailed and thorough accounting of the life of Bob Marley.
Very well researched and analyzed. - An incomparable biography of an absolute legend. Once you begin reading, you won’t be able to put it down. No literary source has ever provided a more informed and detailed insight of a man whose legacy and music will certainly withstand the test of time.
- This book is more than just a biography of the late Bob Marley. It has a lot to offer the reader.
Jamaican history and the history of the Rastafarian religion are covered in detail. It's also a ghost story, where as the author tells us how the believe in the supernatural, influences everyday Jamaican life.
Marley, of course is the central character in the narrative. The other characters are highly interesting also. Bob's mother and father (the word father is used loosely) are central characters of the story, as are the member of the Wailers and his faithful wife, Rita
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Marley, the Caribbean or Reggae music.
RIP Bob - This is my 4th copy! Lost one! Gave two away! Keeping this one! The cover is new!
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