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The Dead Yard: A Story of Modern Jamaica
Named the Dolman Travel Book of the Year, The Dead Yard paints an unforgettable portrait of modern Jamaica. Since independence, Jamaica has gradually become associated with twin images--a resort-style travel Eden for foreigners and a new kind of hell for Jamaicans, a society where gangs control the areas where most Jamaicans live and drug lords like Christopher Coke rule elites and the poor alike.
Ian Thomson's brave book explores a country of lost promise, where America's hunger for drugs fuels a dependent economy and shadowy politics. The lauded birthplace of reggae and Bob Marley, Jamaica is now sunk in corruption and hopelessness. A synthesis of vital history and unflinching reportage, The Dead Yard is "a fascinating account of a beautiful, treacherous country" ( Irish Times ).
Ian Thomson's brave book explores a country of lost promise, where America's hunger for drugs fuels a dependent economy and shadowy politics. The lauded birthplace of reggae and Bob Marley, Jamaica is now sunk in corruption and hopelessness. A synthesis of vital history and unflinching reportage, The Dead Yard is "a fascinating account of a beautiful, treacherous country" ( Irish Times ).
- GenresNonfictionHistoryTravel
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
58 people are currently reading
532 people want to read
About the author
Ian Thomson
78 books9 followersIan Thomson is an English author and journalist, best known for his meticulously researched biography Primo Levi: A Life and his controversial and acclaimed reportage The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica. Born in London in 1961 and raised partly in New York City, he studied English at Pembroke College, Cambridge, before embarking on a career as a writer, translator, and teacher.
Thomson’s writing spans biography, travel, history, and literary journalism. His first major work, Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti, was praised for its vivid and gripping portrayal of the country’s complex history and culture. His biography of Primo Levi, which took a decade to complete, has been widely regarded as the definitive account of the Italian Holocaust survivor’s life and won the Royal Society of Literature’s W.H. Heinemann Award.
His 2009 book The Dead Yard offered an unflinching exploration of modern Jamaica and received both the Ondaatje Prize and the Dolman Travel Book Award. In addition to his books, Thomson has edited collections, translated Italian literature (notably Leonardo Sciascia), and written for leading publications such as The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times Literary Supplement. He has also taught creative nonfiction and held fellowships at several academic institutions.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Thomson continues to write and teach. He lives in London with his family.
Thomson’s writing spans biography, travel, history, and literary journalism. His first major work, Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti, was praised for its vivid and gripping portrayal of the country’s complex history and culture. His biography of Primo Levi, which took a decade to complete, has been widely regarded as the definitive account of the Italian Holocaust survivor’s life and won the Royal Society of Literature’s W.H. Heinemann Award.
His 2009 book The Dead Yard offered an unflinching exploration of modern Jamaica and received both the Ondaatje Prize and the Dolman Travel Book Award. In addition to his books, Thomson has edited collections, translated Italian literature (notably Leonardo Sciascia), and written for leading publications such as The Guardian, The Observer, and The Times Literary Supplement. He has also taught creative nonfiction and held fellowships at several academic institutions.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Thomson continues to write and teach. He lives in London with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 12, 2022
The book was destroyed for me by a couple of sentences right at the end of the book. I could no longer trust that anything written had been in the slightest bit objective and that the author didn't have an agenda he was determined to present. But more about that later. If I write it now, it won't make sense.
The book is very well-written. It seems to be well researched although it was noteworthy that the many subjects he chose to interview excluded, were young black women, women in business (market or otherwise), middle-aged black women, upper class black women, women politicians, rasta women, women preachers, women in service, East Indian women of all ages, you get the picture. All those groups were well-represented as men. There were a lot of interviews with old people black and white and wherever there was someone Jewish involved, for good or ill or where it was totally irrelevant, it was mentioned.
Conclusions drawn from the book is that Jamaica is the most murderous place in the world. Endless burglaries and 5 murders a day (when the book was written), a police chief that only promised a reduction in 4% of that rate. Everyone has a gun, obtainable from politicians. All those of the Windrush (and previous) generations who went to Britain and returned to their homeland regretted it as they were ripped off and generally despised by other Jamaicans. That Jamaicans are unbelievably racist and sensitive to colour of skin (gradations) and generally are jealous and hate each other anyway.
That the place has never recovered from slavery or colonialism and is exploited by all other nations that can get a foothold, primarily America and the UK, but that all Jamaicans exploit each other anyway in this violent brutish society.
Really? A great deal of the lawyers on all Caribbean islands are Jamaican who have come through the University of the West Indies and often London University. My son who is white-skinned was president of the UWI law society. We have teachers, physiotherapists, doctors and nurses from the island. Yes we did have a criminal element from it as we do from all the islands, but visas solved that problem and that was suggested by Jamaicans on the island themselves.
But still, the author did paint a portrait that was quite believable of the descendants of the planter class, the slavers, living on in crumbling glory with butlers still, and of the rastas with their peculiar beliefs and misogyny and the appalling and absolutely true persecution of gays. He liked Michael Manley, to a point, and his left-wing reforming zeal just about as much as he despised all other politicians. A really good quote:
"Forty years of unbroken 'democratic' constitutional rule had failed, in Perkin's view, to bring true democracy. Instead, Jamaica had a winner-takes-all mentality where the political elite were always asking themselves cui bono? (Who benefits?) What can we get out of the people?"
I can't think that is particular to Jamaica.
The lines that put me off the book and reduced it to two stars?
"In 1955 with his mother, Bob Betton, had bought a house in Stoke Newington, north London, for £400. Marc Bolan (then Mark Feld) lived round the corner, but like many of the Jews in that part of London, the future pop star was reportedly not that friendly to the West Indians, though he later befriended the black American singer Gloria Jones."
How racist, how anti-Semitic can you get? "Reportedly"? Reported by whom, sources? Perhaps the black guy who bought the house? So all the Jews in that part of London are condemned as white racists? But the dead giveaway is the mean and mealy-mouthed statement, "befriended the black American singer Gloria Jones." Gloria Jones was the love of his life. They lived together for years, until his death, and had his only child, Rolan. Gloria was at the wheel of the car that killed Marc. "Befriended". An objective look at Jamaica? I have my doubts.
Apropos of nothing, Rolan and his mother Gloria established a school for African children in Sierra Leone that bears his name. Doesn't sound like he was a racist at all does it, Reportedly! Sounds like it was the author who had an issue.
__________________
Notes on reading I'm very interested in what the author has to say about the Bobo Ashanti sect of Rastafarians, who are the among the most misogynist of Western people - women whose lives are controlled by men, who might be known as Queen and Empress but are household slaves and breeding mares in reality. They must cover their hair and arms and legs, much as Islam but not their faces, ever. When a woman comes to visit their settlement they must say the date of their last period so that the admitting male can check on a calendar, publicly, whether they are unclean and to be rejected, or clean and allowed in.
The author continually says Jamaica this, Jamaicans that, without seeming to realise that what he says applies to the entire English-speaking Caribbean. An example is saying that the Lebanese and Palestinians, Arabs to us, are known as Syrians to the Jamaicans. They are known as Syrians across the Caribbean!
The book is very well-written. It seems to be well researched although it was noteworthy that the many subjects he chose to interview excluded, were young black women, women in business (market or otherwise), middle-aged black women, upper class black women, women politicians, rasta women, women preachers, women in service, East Indian women of all ages, you get the picture. All those groups were well-represented as men. There were a lot of interviews with old people black and white and wherever there was someone Jewish involved, for good or ill or where it was totally irrelevant, it was mentioned.
Conclusions drawn from the book is that Jamaica is the most murderous place in the world. Endless burglaries and 5 murders a day (when the book was written), a police chief that only promised a reduction in 4% of that rate. Everyone has a gun, obtainable from politicians. All those of the Windrush (and previous) generations who went to Britain and returned to their homeland regretted it as they were ripped off and generally despised by other Jamaicans. That Jamaicans are unbelievably racist and sensitive to colour of skin (gradations) and generally are jealous and hate each other anyway.
That the place has never recovered from slavery or colonialism and is exploited by all other nations that can get a foothold, primarily America and the UK, but that all Jamaicans exploit each other anyway in this violent brutish society.
Really? A great deal of the lawyers on all Caribbean islands are Jamaican who have come through the University of the West Indies and often London University. My son who is white-skinned was president of the UWI law society. We have teachers, physiotherapists, doctors and nurses from the island. Yes we did have a criminal element from it as we do from all the islands, but visas solved that problem and that was suggested by Jamaicans on the island themselves.
But still, the author did paint a portrait that was quite believable of the descendants of the planter class, the slavers, living on in crumbling glory with butlers still, and of the rastas with their peculiar beliefs and misogyny and the appalling and absolutely true persecution of gays. He liked Michael Manley, to a point, and his left-wing reforming zeal just about as much as he despised all other politicians. A really good quote:
"Forty years of unbroken 'democratic' constitutional rule had failed, in Perkin's view, to bring true democracy. Instead, Jamaica had a winner-takes-all mentality where the political elite were always asking themselves cui bono? (Who benefits?) What can we get out of the people?"
I can't think that is particular to Jamaica.
The lines that put me off the book and reduced it to two stars?
"In 1955 with his mother, Bob Betton, had bought a house in Stoke Newington, north London, for £400. Marc Bolan (then Mark Feld) lived round the corner, but like many of the Jews in that part of London, the future pop star was reportedly not that friendly to the West Indians, though he later befriended the black American singer Gloria Jones."
How racist, how anti-Semitic can you get? "Reportedly"? Reported by whom, sources? Perhaps the black guy who bought the house? So all the Jews in that part of London are condemned as white racists? But the dead giveaway is the mean and mealy-mouthed statement, "befriended the black American singer Gloria Jones." Gloria Jones was the love of his life. They lived together for years, until his death, and had his only child, Rolan. Gloria was at the wheel of the car that killed Marc. "Befriended". An objective look at Jamaica? I have my doubts.
Apropos of nothing, Rolan and his mother Gloria established a school for African children in Sierra Leone that bears his name. Doesn't sound like he was a racist at all does it, Reportedly! Sounds like it was the author who had an issue.
__________________
Notes on reading I'm very interested in what the author has to say about the Bobo Ashanti sect of Rastafarians, who are the among the most misogynist of Western people - women whose lives are controlled by men, who might be known as Queen and Empress but are household slaves and breeding mares in reality. They must cover their hair and arms and legs, much as Islam but not their faces, ever. When a woman comes to visit their settlement they must say the date of their last period so that the admitting male can check on a calendar, publicly, whether they are unclean and to be rejected, or clean and allowed in.
The author continually says Jamaica this, Jamaicans that, without seeming to realise that what he says applies to the entire English-speaking Caribbean. An example is saying that the Lebanese and Palestinians, Arabs to us, are known as Syrians to the Jamaicans. They are known as Syrians across the Caribbean!
December 28, 2019
More like 2.5 stars.
It is unlikely that you will ever read a work of contemporary history so disparaging and apparently contemptuous of its subject. When you encounter books like Thomson's, in which so little of good is said, you have to wonder, what was his intent? Why bother if your goal is simply to highlight what a horrible place Jamaica apparently is?
Anyway, that aside, I have two criticisms of the book:
1) There isn't much actual history. You'll get some sudden, out-of-sequence historical tidbits that get worked into their particular chapter, but there is no linear, chronological discussion of Jamaican events. When they do appear, it leads one to believe that Jamaican history is nothing more than a series of bloodthirsty connivances (imperial, post-independence political, and so on).
2) Thomson hardly ever talks to the majority of the population. Want to learn about the handful of Jamaican Jews? Scottish Jamaicans? Descendants of emigrants from India? Other obscure minorities, including Jamaica's white, Anglo remnants (seems the bulk of the book is about them)? If so, you're in luck! Are you waiting desperately for Thomson to put his head down and barrel in and actually talk to members of the impoverished population of which he talks much but of to little? Forget it. Other than a few episodes, Thomson veers away from the ghettos, preferring to hang out with white folks or "returned" Jamaicans who came back from England and now rue their decision.
One plus is, this discussions and encounters are interesting in their own right, but probably better placed in a book subtitled something like Stories of Jamaica's Marginal Populations.
It is unlikely that you will ever read a work of contemporary history so disparaging and apparently contemptuous of its subject. When you encounter books like Thomson's, in which so little of good is said, you have to wonder, what was his intent? Why bother if your goal is simply to highlight what a horrible place Jamaica apparently is?
Anyway, that aside, I have two criticisms of the book:
1) There isn't much actual history. You'll get some sudden, out-of-sequence historical tidbits that get worked into their particular chapter, but there is no linear, chronological discussion of Jamaican events. When they do appear, it leads one to believe that Jamaican history is nothing more than a series of bloodthirsty connivances (imperial, post-independence political, and so on).
2) Thomson hardly ever talks to the majority of the population. Want to learn about the handful of Jamaican Jews? Scottish Jamaicans? Descendants of emigrants from India? Other obscure minorities, including Jamaica's white, Anglo remnants (seems the bulk of the book is about them)? If so, you're in luck! Are you waiting desperately for Thomson to put his head down and barrel in and actually talk to members of the impoverished population of which he talks much but of to little? Forget it. Other than a few episodes, Thomson veers away from the ghettos, preferring to hang out with white folks or "returned" Jamaicans who came back from England and now rue their decision.
One plus is, this discussions and encounters are interesting in their own right, but probably better placed in a book subtitled something like Stories of Jamaica's Marginal Populations.
June 12, 2012
Review from an ex-professor that I couldn't agree with any more:
"There is so much about it that is xenophobic and irresponsible. I threw it across the room when I finished it. If it wasn't for my deep reverence of books I'd throw it in the bbq and burn it. When old people who left Jamaica for England in the 1940s became experts on contemporary Jamaica, I don't know. What I've decided to call documentary tourism is not even the least of this books problems. "
All in all, the Jamaica that Thomson writes about is not the Jamaica I know.
"There is so much about it that is xenophobic and irresponsible. I threw it across the room when I finished it. If it wasn't for my deep reverence of books I'd throw it in the bbq and burn it. When old people who left Jamaica for England in the 1940s became experts on contemporary Jamaica, I don't know. What I've decided to call documentary tourism is not even the least of this books problems. "
All in all, the Jamaica that Thomson writes about is not the Jamaica I know.
October 11, 2012
The first few chapters were strong, but then the rest of the 300pages just seemed to go round in circles as the Jamaicans interviewed gave an infinite variety of opinions as to whether Jamaica was better off after gaining independence from Britain, or actually worse. How much had it retained a class and ethnic divide reflecting old colonial attitudes, and how much had it come under the influence of the American Dream and consumption patterns? The author fails to give much more than his impressions, which change from interviewee to interviewee. Although he tries to organise the chapters by themes, they tended to merge into one another because the voices you heard started tripping over earlier ones enunciating similar viewpoints. Of course the rich blend of races, creeds and classes makes Jamaica resolutely difficult to pigeonhole and categorise, but Thomson seemed to start off suggesting he might, but then jsut seems to have retreated from the challenge.
The book is strongest when it considers music both traditional and modern and when the islanders are allowed to talk for themselves and quoted directly, for only then do you get a sense of the rich vibrancy of jamaican English and patois in particular. through this you get a sense of the cultural influence the relatively small population of this Caribbean island has had on swathes of the Western world.
The book is strongest when it considers music both traditional and modern and when the islanders are allowed to talk for themselves and quoted directly, for only then do you get a sense of the rich vibrancy of jamaican English and patois in particular. through this you get a sense of the cultural influence the relatively small population of this Caribbean island has had on swathes of the Western world.
December 18, 2018
Ran across this book on the library shelves while looking for a similar one. When I got home I realized that I had read the author's previous book on Haiti, which I'd thought well done.
Thomson leaves almost no segments of Jamaican society and culture overlooked in this expansive work, so much so that by the end I felt a bit overwhelmed (the missing fifth star). Some reviewers felt that he spends too much time on older folks, and diaspora Jamaicans in Britain, along with returnees. I can see their point, but I think his main point seemed to be the promise of Jamaica at Independence, and how that is not fulfilled today.
I did not deduct any points, or feel that this was an issue with the book itself, but I am not particularly interested in music, which does form a significant part of the Jamaican story. If you are interested, you'll get plenty of it.
Highly recommended.
Thomson leaves almost no segments of Jamaican society and culture overlooked in this expansive work, so much so that by the end I felt a bit overwhelmed (the missing fifth star). Some reviewers felt that he spends too much time on older folks, and diaspora Jamaicans in Britain, along with returnees. I can see their point, but I think his main point seemed to be the promise of Jamaica at Independence, and how that is not fulfilled today.
I did not deduct any points, or feel that this was an issue with the book itself, but I am not particularly interested in music, which does form a significant part of the Jamaican story. If you are interested, you'll get plenty of it.
Highly recommended.
May 21, 2015
Engrossing tale of a beguiling but corrupted paradise... Mr Thomson manages to talk to a considerable cross-section of society as he tries to explain how things have gone greatly wrong in rich land with lots of potential after its independence... and the unfortunate consequence of proximity to a giant neighbour with plenty of flaws plays quite a big part....
February 4, 2012
Thomson's episodic account of post-independence Jamaica is a harrowing, heartbreaking read. Though he attempts to bridge the gap between hagiographic travelogues of the island as a paradise and the sordid tales of violent city life to paint a more realistic picture of Jamaica in the 21st century, those interviewed and observed seem lost -- caught between the abandonment of the British crown and a bleak future of continuing poverty, exploitation and corruption. Peppered throughout with panoramic shots and close-ups of moments in Jamaican history that contribute to the current cultural, economic and political malaise, Thompson's narrative describes the complexity of a post-colonial Jamaica built on slavery and abused by Empire but still leaning toward its former colonial master. Thompson also explores the impact of America's relationship with Jamaica and the price of that continued interest, as guns from America "fall into Jamaica like mangoes from a tree".
August 27, 2017
I found this book informative and entertaining. But as many have pointed out, Thomson is a little reliant on interviews with older people, expatriate people, and uptown people. There really isn’t any meaningful attempt to understand Jamaica’s youth and their culture. Not that the older people and the ruling class aren’t interesting; the part where Thomson visited an old buckra plantation owner – describing his squalidly grand dwelling in fabulous detail – was a highlight of the book. The problem with this approach is that people reading the book are only getting a part of the story, which is framed by Thomson as one of post-imperial decay. But regardless, I do respect this work for starting a wider conversation on the state of modern Jamaica, and for the author’s gumption in traversing such a wide range of the more impenetrable locations of the country.
April 12, 2014
As a Jamaican, I was skeptical of this book because of its title. After reading the praises from other authors, acknowledgement and introduction, I threw it down in anger (I would love to speak to him face to face on why I got angry) but my curiosity got the better of me and returned to it and could not put it down until my curiosity was satiated. I still have eight more chapters to go. I love the time Ian spent on interviewing all the different people from England and the Island of Jamaica, thanks to his publishers. I especially enjoyed Chapter 14: English Upbringing, Background Caribbean, you see, I am Indian and have been on a quest to learn more about my ancestors and have Dr. Mansingh's book: Home Away From Home:150 years of Indian Presence in Jamaica 1845-1995
July 11, 2017
I really did struggle with this book. It just did not flow for me and was a bit dull. There are some really interesting bits of history concerning Jamaicans in the RAF during the Second World War or those that went out to work on the Panama Canal in the 1860's and of course there is the slavery. There is immigration into the island by the Chinese and Indian labourers which was insightful.
The author goes all over the island speaking with different types of people including Perry Henzell who had directed the 1972 movie 'The Harder They Come' (I need to watch this again now). This is a great concept but it was delivered in such a way that I was not engaged I'm afraid.
The author goes all over the island speaking with different types of people including Perry Henzell who had directed the 1972 movie 'The Harder They Come' (I need to watch this again now). This is a great concept but it was delivered in such a way that I was not engaged I'm afraid.
Read
January 8, 2018 I think only one person that Thomson interviewed had a good word to say about the country. This could be because there really is nothing good to say. However, it could also be because the author only seemed to interview people over the age of fifty who may have been nostalgic for the past. Many hadn't even lived in Jamaica for years. Also it went round in circles a bit, making the same points. I would have liked to hear from young people too.
One very good thing about the book was Thomson's writing style. He used exquisite language to evoke the atmosphere of the places he visited.
One very good thing about the book was Thomson's writing style. He used exquisite language to evoke the atmosphere of the places he visited.
December 30, 2022
The author spent a lot of time in Jamaica but seems to have gained a superficial understanding of the country's character, strengths and challenges. This seems to be because, either through fear or deliberate choice, the author nearly never presents the views of everyday Jamaicans to depict the state of the nation for his readers.
This bias, whether by design or as a result of something else, often means that the narrative of the book feels distant from the country it seeks to bring the reader closer to.
This bias, whether by design or as a result of something else, often means that the narrative of the book feels distant from the country it seeks to bring the reader closer to.
October 25, 2013
I read this whilst in Jamaica and it made me feel incredibly 'present'. My knowledge of the country was passable but this enriched my trip and experience by filling in the gaps whilst adding cultural and historical highs but mostly lows. This is a sad book because Jamaica's story is sad. Ian doesn't pity or mock, in fact his diary like telling comes across as sincere and I think he genuinely loves the island - as do I.
August 14, 2020
Although I must admit that this story was deeply interesting, if more than a little bit troubling, concerning the fate of contemporary Jamaica and its discontent, the author's belief that Jamaica as a republic would be able to overcome the lingering issues of its ties with the United Kingdom seems more than a little bit of wishful thinking. Regardless of whether Jamaica remains a Commonwealth nation with its Governor-General, or whether it seeks to become an entirely independent republic will not make a difference for either its tangled and complex history or in the fact that Jamaica is a small state that may be much larger than most independent Caribbean nations but is by no means able to deal with the UK and the US on an equal level. No amount of posturing or existence as a republic as opposed to a Commonwealth nation is going to affect that. And also, no assertions about its political status are going to make it a better-governed nation, with lower corruption and violence. The change that Jamaicans need is a change that can only come from within themselves, and they do not seem inclined to make those changes.
This book is about 350 pages and is divided into 26 chapters. As a prose stylist, the author clearly knows his business, moving from one area to another and transitioning well from one chapter to another as he examines the relationship between Jamaican music and sports and politics and culture, and the influence of Jamaica on James Bond as well as the influence of slavery on so many aspects of Jamaica's history and contemporary problems. The author connects the aftermath of slavery with the unwillingness of Jamaicans to improve their customer service abilities, as serving was equated with slavery, and the resentment to tyranny as encouraging an unwillingness to be governed at all that has made it impossible for Jamaica to deliver on the promises that it made to itself in the aftermath of independence. As is frequently the case, the post-colonial legacy has demonstrated that formal freedom, when it is not accompanied by forgiveness and wisdom on the part of local leadership, does not amount to an improvement in the lives of people. Jamaica is no different than any host of post-colonial disasters in that it has mistaken formal political freedom for having the wherewithal to be a respectable and decent nation in the eyes of its people and in the eyes of the larger world. And all the author's anecdotes about the music business or politics doesn't make that any less so.
This book is a series of intriguing tales about Jamaica from a fairly typical left-leaning journo from the UK whose experiences in Jamaica reveal an island with a tangled history and some major problems. The author's left-leaning bias prevents him from seeing the predictable nature of Jamaica's slow growth in light of its leftist economic policies (free everything!) and its rampant tax avoidance/evasion, a predictable result of leftist political policies, as well as its unsurprising rampant corruption as well as the violence that binds its corrupt political system together with the drug lords of its urban areas. Jamaica has all the makings of a failed state, and it has vainly sought for some means of developing or finding a resource that would allow it to take advantage of its natural beauty and its closeness to regional trade routes. Instead, it has fading plantation houses, a high degree of rural and urban poverty, a lack of trust in government by the people, who themselves remain impervious to being governed, and a host of internal divisions based on ethnicity, class, religion, and politics. If the author is critical, and he is, he does not seem necessarily optimistic, and I see no reason to be either in reading this.
This book is about 350 pages and is divided into 26 chapters. As a prose stylist, the author clearly knows his business, moving from one area to another and transitioning well from one chapter to another as he examines the relationship between Jamaican music and sports and politics and culture, and the influence of Jamaica on James Bond as well as the influence of slavery on so many aspects of Jamaica's history and contemporary problems. The author connects the aftermath of slavery with the unwillingness of Jamaicans to improve their customer service abilities, as serving was equated with slavery, and the resentment to tyranny as encouraging an unwillingness to be governed at all that has made it impossible for Jamaica to deliver on the promises that it made to itself in the aftermath of independence. As is frequently the case, the post-colonial legacy has demonstrated that formal freedom, when it is not accompanied by forgiveness and wisdom on the part of local leadership, does not amount to an improvement in the lives of people. Jamaica is no different than any host of post-colonial disasters in that it has mistaken formal political freedom for having the wherewithal to be a respectable and decent nation in the eyes of its people and in the eyes of the larger world. And all the author's anecdotes about the music business or politics doesn't make that any less so.
This book is a series of intriguing tales about Jamaica from a fairly typical left-leaning journo from the UK whose experiences in Jamaica reveal an island with a tangled history and some major problems. The author's left-leaning bias prevents him from seeing the predictable nature of Jamaica's slow growth in light of its leftist economic policies (free everything!) and its rampant tax avoidance/evasion, a predictable result of leftist political policies, as well as its unsurprising rampant corruption as well as the violence that binds its corrupt political system together with the drug lords of its urban areas. Jamaica has all the makings of a failed state, and it has vainly sought for some means of developing or finding a resource that would allow it to take advantage of its natural beauty and its closeness to regional trade routes. Instead, it has fading plantation houses, a high degree of rural and urban poverty, a lack of trust in government by the people, who themselves remain impervious to being governed, and a host of internal divisions based on ethnicity, class, religion, and politics. If the author is critical, and he is, he does not seem necessarily optimistic, and I see no reason to be either in reading this.
November 4, 2017
The Dead Yard ain't no usual travel book, oh no, but I love it. Part social commentary, travelogue and historical account of the Jamaica that exists behind the sand, sun and sex that most tourists only ever experience, this is an impressively comprehensive and accessible narrative of a country still struggling to break free of the slavery shackles binding Jamaicans today via its class and racial divides.
Over the course of three visits to Jamaica from 2005 to 2008, Thomson meets an amazingly diverse range of people to try and make some sort of sense as to why Jamaica's post-independence experience since 1962 has been so disappointing for nearly all Jamaicans. Here he confabulates with musicians, church leaders, radio DJs, politicians, gangland dons and returnees to Jamaica, most of whom had spent time in the UK, whilst also gaining the perspective of ex-pats who chose to leave the country years ago, when Jamaica was in the throes of its mass exodus in the 1950's and 60's.
Seeking out these people, Thomson travels around the country frequenting some of the more seedier places of downtown Kingston, religious institutions, Rastafari communities, police stations and 2am street parties ("passa-passa") while under the protection of drug dons, which provides him with unique insights on which to cover off a vast amount of ground and topics on past and present-day Jamaica.
Chief among these is the role that slavery has played and is now interwoven into the social fabric of the country, right down to the corruption of the main political parties and how olde time Jamaican values have been replaced by a ghetto life which is now controlled by heavily armed gangsters pedaling drugs. What The Dead Yard describes is a place where lawbreakers are themselves the lawmakers, both on the streets and in parliament.
At the time of independence, the homicide rate in Jamaica was 4 per 100,000 inhabitants, although by the time Thomson had visited this had soared to 50 per 100,000 (1,500 people per year killed in a population of close to 3 million). Unfortunately, things have not improved since then. The latest UNODC statistics detail Jamaica's homicide rate in 2015 as 43 persons per 100,000 - higher than South Africa's 34 and across the globe only better than the abysmal rates of El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.
However, The Dead Yard is not entirely focussed on the gangland violence that dominates Kingston. It also devotes itself to telling the back story of a myriad of ethnic groups such as the Maroons, Chinese, Jews, East Indians, Scots and Germaicans, that all make up Jamaica today. Alongside insights provided on how Jamaican people are revealed in their music through ska, rocksteady, reggae, dancehall and toasting, The Dead Yard brings to life the places of Kingston, Trench Town and Spanish Town from which most of us would only ever have heard in popular song.
Thomson's critical account of Jamaica saw it awarded the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize as well as the Dolman Travel Book Award. Due to its alleged “sensitive content”, it was also rumoured to have been banned in Jamaica, or at the very least, due to the risk of libel action, bookstores chose not to stock it. I always find these sorts of bans, somewhat self defeating as invariably all it seems to do is whet people's appetite guaranteeing subsequent purchase!
The Dead Yard is by no means a dreadlock holiday. There are some heavy themes surrounding slavery, killings, drugs, homophobia and gangs that are as far away from the great tourist tracks as you can get. But by visiting them, we gain a much greater understanding of Jamaica's people, its history and maybe even some insights into its future.
Over the course of three visits to Jamaica from 2005 to 2008, Thomson meets an amazingly diverse range of people to try and make some sort of sense as to why Jamaica's post-independence experience since 1962 has been so disappointing for nearly all Jamaicans. Here he confabulates with musicians, church leaders, radio DJs, politicians, gangland dons and returnees to Jamaica, most of whom had spent time in the UK, whilst also gaining the perspective of ex-pats who chose to leave the country years ago, when Jamaica was in the throes of its mass exodus in the 1950's and 60's.
Seeking out these people, Thomson travels around the country frequenting some of the more seedier places of downtown Kingston, religious institutions, Rastafari communities, police stations and 2am street parties ("passa-passa") while under the protection of drug dons, which provides him with unique insights on which to cover off a vast amount of ground and topics on past and present-day Jamaica.
Chief among these is the role that slavery has played and is now interwoven into the social fabric of the country, right down to the corruption of the main political parties and how olde time Jamaican values have been replaced by a ghetto life which is now controlled by heavily armed gangsters pedaling drugs. What The Dead Yard describes is a place where lawbreakers are themselves the lawmakers, both on the streets and in parliament.
At the time of independence, the homicide rate in Jamaica was 4 per 100,000 inhabitants, although by the time Thomson had visited this had soared to 50 per 100,000 (1,500 people per year killed in a population of close to 3 million). Unfortunately, things have not improved since then. The latest UNODC statistics detail Jamaica's homicide rate in 2015 as 43 persons per 100,000 - higher than South Africa's 34 and across the globe only better than the abysmal rates of El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela.
However, The Dead Yard is not entirely focussed on the gangland violence that dominates Kingston. It also devotes itself to telling the back story of a myriad of ethnic groups such as the Maroons, Chinese, Jews, East Indians, Scots and Germaicans, that all make up Jamaica today. Alongside insights provided on how Jamaican people are revealed in their music through ska, rocksteady, reggae, dancehall and toasting, The Dead Yard brings to life the places of Kingston, Trench Town and Spanish Town from which most of us would only ever have heard in popular song.
Thomson's critical account of Jamaica saw it awarded the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize as well as the Dolman Travel Book Award. Due to its alleged “sensitive content”, it was also rumoured to have been banned in Jamaica, or at the very least, due to the risk of libel action, bookstores chose not to stock it. I always find these sorts of bans, somewhat self defeating as invariably all it seems to do is whet people's appetite guaranteeing subsequent purchase!
The Dead Yard is by no means a dreadlock holiday. There are some heavy themes surrounding slavery, killings, drugs, homophobia and gangs that are as far away from the great tourist tracks as you can get. But by visiting them, we gain a much greater understanding of Jamaica's people, its history and maybe even some insights into its future.
June 9, 2012
At the Calabash 2012 International Literary Festival (held annually in Treasure Beach, Jamaica) this book was described as "controversial," and when Ian Thomson took the podium he apologized to the mostly Jamaican audience for any harm he may have caused by what he'd written.
In my opinion, this book's shortcoming is that it is driven by the very Euro-centric (and paternalistic) question: "What has Jamaica done with its independence [from Britain]?" (p21). Thomson calls Jamaica a "baneful place" (p7) and a "failed nation" (p11), and in his effort to describe what it might be like to live in "modern Jamaica," he fails to illuminate the nuance, the complexities, and in fact the joy&pride people do feel about Jamaica. The tone is very doom-and-gloom, and thus it lacks complexity and is also an inaccurate and incomplete portrayal of modern Jamaica. In part, this may be because many of his interviews are with very wealthy and white Jamaicans, with foreign expats, and with returned immigrants...all of whom (numerically and culturally speaking) are simply not representative of the country at large. Thomson develops an argument that Jamaica has somehow decayed since its independence from Britain, seeming to suggest that Jamaica was better off under British rule. (And yet in his final chapter he writes that the solution is to "take down the Union Jack," which felt disjointed from the rest of the text).
Despite these criticisms, I found many of the chapters and interviews to be worth reading for their own sake. I thought the writing was frequently crisp and beautiful, and I learned a lot about Jamaican history and about places, people, and estates that I had never heard of. Additionally, I thought the chapters on the history of slavery were very well done. (And the paternalistic tone almost seemed to decrease as the text progressed). So I have mixed feelings about the book: it is definitely worth reading, but in parts it is also quite hurtful.
In my opinion, this book's shortcoming is that it is driven by the very Euro-centric (and paternalistic) question: "What has Jamaica done with its independence [from Britain]?" (p21). Thomson calls Jamaica a "baneful place" (p7) and a "failed nation" (p11), and in his effort to describe what it might be like to live in "modern Jamaica," he fails to illuminate the nuance, the complexities, and in fact the joy&pride people do feel about Jamaica. The tone is very doom-and-gloom, and thus it lacks complexity and is also an inaccurate and incomplete portrayal of modern Jamaica. In part, this may be because many of his interviews are with very wealthy and white Jamaicans, with foreign expats, and with returned immigrants...all of whom (numerically and culturally speaking) are simply not representative of the country at large. Thomson develops an argument that Jamaica has somehow decayed since its independence from Britain, seeming to suggest that Jamaica was better off under British rule. (And yet in his final chapter he writes that the solution is to "take down the Union Jack," which felt disjointed from the rest of the text).
Despite these criticisms, I found many of the chapters and interviews to be worth reading for their own sake. I thought the writing was frequently crisp and beautiful, and I learned a lot about Jamaican history and about places, people, and estates that I had never heard of. Additionally, I thought the chapters on the history of slavery were very well done. (And the paternalistic tone almost seemed to decrease as the text progressed). So I have mixed feelings about the book: it is definitely worth reading, but in parts it is also quite hurtful.
October 13, 2014
To say that this book makes me want to read a more general history of Jamaica is in no way a criticism. Thomson's account of his wanderings in the Caribbean island, and his encounters with locals from many different ethnic groups and backgrounds, paint an eloquent portrait of a troubled country. A long history of slavery and economic oppression, violence and political wrangling--not to mention a rich artistic and musical culture, and noted thinkers and innovators--has given Jamaica an outsized impact in the world. It's fascinating to get a glimpse of the roots of that impact.
June 19, 2017
Depressing. I have a more than passing familiarity with Jamaica, having been there three times, first as a tourist and twice since as a nurse working in a mission clinic. The author captures the beauty of the Jamaican people and their tropical paradise. He also captures the political and social chaos that has ensued since independence in 1962. One wonders if Jamaica will ever prosper. This is an accurate portrait of a failed state that nonetheless captivates visitors who are left asking, "if only?"
November 17, 2019
I can forgive the occasional swipes at me and Americans like me (the author describes us as being huddled in fear behind resort walls, and, well, yes, okay, maybe, but still). What I can’t forgive is the condescension that oozes through the book; it’s almost palpable. (Tellingly, the only person the author doesn’t seem to condescend to is Barack Obama.) The journalistic premise of the book is to travel through Jamaica, find interesting characters to talk to, and then sneer at them. Not my cup of tea, or can of Red Stripe.
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August 6, 2011An unflinchingly honest look at modern day Jamaica,
product of a history of slavery, an inescapable fact of life. Thompson asks the question, "What has Jamaica done with its independence?". The answer is discomforting. Jamaicans will not find this an easy read and I have no doubt that it will upset many. It is not a tourist brochure and Ian Thompson deserves much praise for his brave and beautiful prose.
product of a history of slavery, an inescapable fact of life. Thompson asks the question, "What has Jamaica done with its independence?". The answer is discomforting. Jamaicans will not find this an easy read and I have no doubt that it will upset many. It is not a tourist brochure and Ian Thompson deserves much praise for his brave and beautiful prose.
September 17, 2011
I finished it. This was a tough read, with pictures of a beautiful, ravaged country. 'Hateful and hating', he called it at the end of one chapter, in a tone that reminds one of Jean Rhys's portrait of Paradise Ruined in Wide Sargasso Sea. Even so, I'm glad I finished it. The meetings with a wide variety of Jamaicans stands as valuable accounting of voices that would otherwise have been lost.
June 12, 2019
If you have only been to its all-inclusive resorts, you have not been to Jamaica. That is to say you have experienced as much of Jamaica's history, people and culture as you would Florida by seeing only Disney World.
Ian Thomson's The Dead Yard takes us outside the gates of Sandals, Round Hill and Secrets St. James to where few outsiders—meaning white tourists and native middle class—venture these days. He introduces you to a populace left behind. Locked out. The Jamaica never included in glossy travel brochures. The Jamaica where outsiders aren't welcome to judge what they see. Only real Jamaicans can. Only they have earned the right. The honor deserved through suffering and sorrow.
The author of The Dead Yard was lucky. He got to places and people many wouldn't. He was tested, approved and accepted, then given the beautiful violent truth of modern Jamaica: That while hope has been all but lost, many still desire to make a difference.
No. The Dead Yard explains that you cannot get to Jamaica without wading into its past: the conquered and enslaved, the subverted, corrupted and impoverished.
It's a long slog. You’ll feel self-conscious, guilty, even though you're certain none in your familial line did anything wrong to this island. It doesn't matter. You'll think about turning around, heading back to the gate, back to the umbrella drinks.
But, for some unknown reason deep within yourself, you won't.
You'll press on until, very close to the end, you brighten, having learned that Errol Flynn's old place still stands there.
Albeit threadbare, its evidence of the Jamaica you always imagined, the one before this trip, the Colonial one, where people like you would be welcomed by people like you.
Ian Thomson's The Dead Yard takes us outside the gates of Sandals, Round Hill and Secrets St. James to where few outsiders—meaning white tourists and native middle class—venture these days. He introduces you to a populace left behind. Locked out. The Jamaica never included in glossy travel brochures. The Jamaica where outsiders aren't welcome to judge what they see. Only real Jamaicans can. Only they have earned the right. The honor deserved through suffering and sorrow.
The author of The Dead Yard was lucky. He got to places and people many wouldn't. He was tested, approved and accepted, then given the beautiful violent truth of modern Jamaica: That while hope has been all but lost, many still desire to make a difference.
No. The Dead Yard explains that you cannot get to Jamaica without wading into its past: the conquered and enslaved, the subverted, corrupted and impoverished.
It's a long slog. You’ll feel self-conscious, guilty, even though you're certain none in your familial line did anything wrong to this island. It doesn't matter. You'll think about turning around, heading back to the gate, back to the umbrella drinks.
But, for some unknown reason deep within yourself, you won't.
You'll press on until, very close to the end, you brighten, having learned that Errol Flynn's old place still stands there.
Albeit threadbare, its evidence of the Jamaica you always imagined, the one before this trip, the Colonial one, where people like you would be welcomed by people like you.
August 8, 2019
Despite the subtitle "A tale of modern Jamaica", I found this book to be a mile wide and inch deep history of the island. Each chapter spends a good bit of its pages going over the past. While it does tie in to the present, there is no real tale of modern Jamaica to speak of. Instead we get a variety of vignettes that sometimes touch on the present. There is often no connection between them and chapters can take very strange and unrelated turns.
Another handicap is that Mr. Thomson is just a visitor to Jamaica. He does not have the insights of a native I was expecting. The book is written only over a few weeks of visits to the island. Hardly does that make him an expert on island life.
I was also annoyed that the majority of interviewees of this book are elderly and long for the Jamaica of the past. Quite a few haven't lived in the country in many years. There are almost no truly modern voices to be found in these pages. For how much he seems to decry Jamaica's colonial past, it feels like most of the voices in this book are white.
Not the expose on modern Jamaica I was hoping for. A decent eye into the history of the island though.
Another handicap is that Mr. Thomson is just a visitor to Jamaica. He does not have the insights of a native I was expecting. The book is written only over a few weeks of visits to the island. Hardly does that make him an expert on island life.
I was also annoyed that the majority of interviewees of this book are elderly and long for the Jamaica of the past. Quite a few haven't lived in the country in many years. There are almost no truly modern voices to be found in these pages. For how much he seems to decry Jamaica's colonial past, it feels like most of the voices in this book are white.
Not the expose on modern Jamaica I was hoping for. A decent eye into the history of the island though.
March 29, 2022
Have read a few bits of travel writing in the past year and this travel book caught my eye because it won a few awards and is on Jamaica, a country I don't know too much about.
Whilst, The Dead Yard does give a brief overview of Jamaican history whilst also covering attitudes on Jamaica from citizens living on and off the island, it paints a very pessimistic picture of the Jamaican life and people. Maybe it's deserved, although it would have been nice to feel like the author put in an effort to portray the country sympathetically.
I also found the book very slow to read. Within each chapter, the author jumps between interviews with expats, interviews with citizens on the island, and his own journey. These jumps don't always connect to each other and often jump across time, with some interviews taking place years before others and the author's time on the island, disrupting the flow of reading.
Whilst, The Dead Yard does give a brief overview of Jamaican history whilst also covering attitudes on Jamaica from citizens living on and off the island, it paints a very pessimistic picture of the Jamaican life and people. Maybe it's deserved, although it would have been nice to feel like the author put in an effort to portray the country sympathetically.
I also found the book very slow to read. Within each chapter, the author jumps between interviews with expats, interviews with citizens on the island, and his own journey. These jumps don't always connect to each other and often jump across time, with some interviews taking place years before others and the author's time on the island, disrupting the flow of reading.
December 1, 2022
This is the story of the many different populations that make up Jamaica today -- whether Rastafarians, Jewish, British, etc. The author travels throughout the island and meets a diversity of people, with a diversity of perspectives, on what it means to be Jamaican and/or to live in Jamaica. We glimpse bits and pieces of Jamaica's history through the histories of those he encounters -- from the British colonial history to the love affair with Ethiopia to the growing attachment with the US and beyond. It is an interesting view of a country through its people, and of the historical winds that have shaped Jamaica as it is today. In addition, there are lots of great references to the evolution of music and different musical artists; as well as key books to read through time on Jamaica. Well researched and easy enough to read, although I found the meetings with different people became a bit monotonous after a bit.
October 14, 2021
Overall this is a sore disappointment, especially as Ian Thomson has a way with words, knows how to tell a good tale, and has clearly travelled widely throughout Jamaica.
The premise of the book is to examine why Jamaica is such a violently troubled place and, in particular, why it appears to many Jamaicans that the island's quality of life has declined badly since independence from Britain.
Thomson goes around asking that question to all sorts of people, and in the process meets a whole raft of interesting Jamaican characters. Yet he never really finds an answer he's comfortable with, and certainly doesn't come up with any conclusions at the end.
Although Thomson's default position appears to be to blame the British empire and slavery for most ills, at no point does he try to consider why other Caribbean islands that have experienced those twin evils - Barbados and Bermuda, for instance, or even, until recently, Trinidad & Tobago – have had dramatically different experiences since the British left.
In addition, one of the biggest weaknesses of this book is the limited spectrum of people it talks to. Although most of the characters Thomson encounters are good for quotes and anecdotes, in general they're disproportionately well-off or wealthy, and rarely representative of the true heart of the black majority of the country. Even when he meets such people, he rarely asks them the questions that need to be asked.
As a result, the whole exercise seems rather pointless, and one is left wishing that the author had just presented his interesting encounters across the island in a more straightforward travelogue format, without pretensions to explain anything much at all.
The premise of the book is to examine why Jamaica is such a violently troubled place and, in particular, why it appears to many Jamaicans that the island's quality of life has declined badly since independence from Britain.
Thomson goes around asking that question to all sorts of people, and in the process meets a whole raft of interesting Jamaican characters. Yet he never really finds an answer he's comfortable with, and certainly doesn't come up with any conclusions at the end.
Although Thomson's default position appears to be to blame the British empire and slavery for most ills, at no point does he try to consider why other Caribbean islands that have experienced those twin evils - Barbados and Bermuda, for instance, or even, until recently, Trinidad & Tobago – have had dramatically different experiences since the British left.
In addition, one of the biggest weaknesses of this book is the limited spectrum of people it talks to. Although most of the characters Thomson encounters are good for quotes and anecdotes, in general they're disproportionately well-off or wealthy, and rarely representative of the true heart of the black majority of the country. Even when he meets such people, he rarely asks them the questions that need to be asked.
As a result, the whole exercise seems rather pointless, and one is left wishing that the author had just presented his interesting encounters across the island in a more straightforward travelogue format, without pretensions to explain anything much at all.
June 2, 2019
This book gave me great perspective about my fathers native land of Jamaica. The book was all over the place in regards to the flow. The titles of each chapter were captivating, yet the author dropped the ball in seamlessly tying up loose ends of each chapter that included stories from natives and expats from mainly England . I was hoping for more .
September 11, 2019
Detailed story of Jamaican history
A detailed story of Jamaican history that can seem negative and sad at times. Ian Thomson traveled all over the island to research the crazy and, sometimes brutal., history of the beautiful place.
A detailed story of Jamaican history that can seem negative and sad at times. Ian Thomson traveled all over the island to research the crazy and, sometimes brutal., history of the beautiful place.
July 26, 2017
Interesting perspectives. At times pedantic. Overall well written and interesting. Possibly less so if you don't already have a relationship with Jamaica.
January 31, 2018
Generally enjoyed this, although i think the 'Tales of Modern Jamaica' subtitle would have been a little more effective if the author had bothered to include any voices under the age of 75.
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