Customer Reviews

Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Catch a Fire was a great book. It helped me to better understand the culture of Rastafarians and the type of life which a Rastafarian lives. The book Catch a Fire gave tons of background and information that you do not read in the everyday biography of Bob Marley. The book also helped you to understand the politics of Jamaica which in return helps you to understand the lyrics and songs of Bob Marley on a completely different level.

Reading this book made me understand why such a vast age range of people enjoy Bob Marley's music. I gave this book five stars because I feel that it is not only a great book on Bob Marley but also a great book about the Rastafarian culture and Jamaican politics. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in Bob Marley, Reggae music, Jamaica, politics, and or the history and culture of the Rastafarians. I feel that this book would appeal to a great number of people.

It's been some time since I read this book TWICE. First bumping into it at the library and then buying my own copy on-line... As you start to read this book, it is as though the lights are turned down low and the projectionist starts to roll the movie - it is entirely absorbing. Bob's life, the changing times, the Jamaican political scene, the protagonists and antagonists - the Chris Blackwells and Scratch Perrys - the hanger-on-ers and the End. Marley's life is better than any fiction - as can be said for each of the players in this true tale. In a way, Chris Blackwell even offers an unexpected "Bond" connection.... The book will give you an escape from wherever you are now and a deeper understanding of the person behind the stage persona you see in the videos... Like a perfect cup of coffee in the morning, or a great album such as Marley's "Legends" album filling the air of your room, you will enjoy the read this book provides.

If your into Bob Marley this is a must have book. You will love this book and get hooked on it and won't want to stop reading it. This is a heartpounding book that explains the time period that he lived in and how he made a big impact on the whole world with his music and his attitude towards life. So go to your nearest book store and purchase your book today!

xoxo rhino

Whether you are a Music lover or a Passionate historian like myself Mr. Marley is simply a fascinating individual. Born in poverty in one of the worst ghettos of Jamaica he found Music to be his passion, and through it he weaved Politics, history and love into a common mosaic. Marley's new style, his conversion to Rastafarianism, much to the surprise of Haile Sallaise when he visited Jamaica and was almost crushed by crowds, and his exporting of his music and values to America and Africa is an extraordinary story. From Marley's impassioned plea for feuding politicians Manley and Seaga to 'come together' as well as Marleys succesful tours of the States and his appearance at independence celebrations in Africa. This is the standard text on Marley and it covers everything from the intricate details of his musical breakthroughs, to the history of his religion and even the current affairs of Jamaica.

You will not be disappointed with this excellent, fast paced read which brings the story to a close with Marleys cancerous toe, discovered while playing Soccer in Central Park.

Seth J. Frantzman

I write to say as a stolen African whose Family made it through slavery WITH our last name in tact, it never ceases to amaze me how loving someones cling to ideas and structires constructed to keep them from re-constructing a prid ein themselves and acceptance of themselves as card-carrying members of the HUMAN (ONE) race. Not only was my Family's name, QUASHIE, bastardized predominanatly in Jamaica to mean fool, boy (condescending reference to an adult male of African Ancestry, but the QUASHIE Warriors mostly Farmers in Their free time, originally from Ghana were sent to Jamaica by the British for it was, for lack of a better way of putting this a holding pen for the unruly. It therefore come as no surprise that a land so rich in resources, is unable to rise and soar, since its masses are so content to keep their brains constipated by continually swallowing whatever band food, their lost souls have been, are being, and will probably go on being fed. By the way, We tend to have Black gums, did they tell You that means Our bites are poisonous. OH AND ALL OPF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS BORN ON SUNDAYS, ACCORDING TO YOU ARE IDIOTS. That should make for a great discussion over your next pepper pot. But wait, You probably dont remember how to cook that, do YOU?

I picked up this book because I'm a fan of Marley's music but I realized I never knew too much about the guy himself. I wasn't disappointed with the content. "Catch A Fire" takes you through Bob's early childhood into when he first started singing and recording, all the way through to his death, with great stories and details along the way.

In addition to a book about his life, this is also a book about Jamaica's history, rastafarianism, and reggae music. It goes into some depth on these three topics, putting Marley's life into historical perspective.

My gripe is that the writing in the book was only OK. For a topic that I was interested in reading about, the book did a poor job of holding my attention. However, I would recommend the book to a Bob fan, because it is filled with stories and anecdotes about Bob's life that I never knew about. I would not recommend this book to the casual Bob fan. You are probably better off just watching that documentary about him. I forget the name of it right now.

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.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it provided great insight into Bob's early life as well as Rastafari and Jamaican culture. Having said that, it seemed like Mr. White devoted so much space to certain aspects of Bob's life that he skimmed right over others without much comment. The recording and release of "Catch a Fire" is barely covered as is Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer's departure from the Wailers. I would recommend reading this along with "Bob Marley" by Stephen Davis as his book covers the Island years in greater detail.

This book is the best biography on Bob Marley. It talks about his life and his rise to stardom. It also discusses the Rastafarian religion, and Ras Tafari (Haile Salassi). The way this book uses the Jamaican patois (The Jamaican English) is wonderful, making you divulge even farther. I could not put this book down. If you like reggae at all, read this; it will tell you the story of the most influential reggae artist of all time.

Bought this in college, read it again the early 90s, and it had hlf again as mch info. Last week I got the the John Adams book, and and I saw this ook again, I realized the author had put in 100 pages more of great stories and info. No other music book takes its subject so seriously.