A Lengthy Read

I’m recording a few more thoughts on the blue book, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Just a few notes—I listened to another podcast, another review about the book, and it made me think of something. First, I felt like the book was a little longer than it needed to be, which added to the difficulty of finishing it. Although the story overall was fine, it was long. Some stories might be long, but you still feel something driving them forward. In this case, maybe due to the overall style, it was a difficult read. It was also hard to feel that forward momentum. Others seem to have had a better grasp of the story than I did, but I still felt like it lacked that drive. It never quite pushed forward.

Comparing Black Leopard, Red Wolf to Lord of the Rings

Going back to a previous analogy, someone mentioned that this book is kind of like Lord of the Rings. That comparison didn’t surprise me, since it’s clearly influenced by Tolkien and the epic fantasy world, right? Some people describe it as similar to Lord of the Rings in that there’s this mystery, with a band of people coming together to accomplish a mission. But using that analogy, I feel like the first half of the book is kind of like Frodo in the Shire, going through his shenanigans. Then it jumps to the journey, the mission. It’s almost like two or three different things joined together. That’s why, at the beginning of the book, I found myself thinking, “Okay, where exactly is this going?” I was trying to figure out the purpose, but it felt boring at times. Even though the book kind of tells you what’s happening early on, you might think, “Oh, maybe this was intentional.” I’m not sure, but it becomes a little hard to follow. So, I would just suggest keeping that in mind while reading.

Exploring Sexual Themes in Marlon James’ Work

The protagonist, Tracker, really doesn’t like women, and there are rarely any positive depictions of women in this book. Someone commented that this might stem from his relationship with his mother and how he viewed other women. Personally, I’m not sure if that came through as strongly for me. We do see that he doesn’t care for his mother much, but I didn’t necessarily catch that as the reason for how women are depicted. Since the story is told through his eyes, that could explain it.

Also, Marlon James talks a lot about penises in this book and same-sex relationships.

Language and Culture: African Influence on the Dialogue

Reflecting on some notes from the other day, I heard in another podcast that James mentioned in an interview that he based the way he wrote the book—or at least how the characters speak—on the grammar of certain African languages. That’s something to keep in mind. As you read through the book and try to grasp the flow of conversations and the writing style, you might wonder what exactly he’s doing or where it comes from. Apparently, he’s drawing from actual grammar used in African languages. I’m not sure which ones specifically, but I’d be interested to know which ones he researched or studied.

Did I mention that the narrator was pretty good? Really good. Again, the audio version is supposed to be like the definitive version of the book, as said by Marlon James himself.

Original draft written in February 2020.