What critics say about the novel "Brother Man".

Some critics say that it’s very interesting to read Brother Man today, when Rastas and things Rastafarian have acquired such cultural charisma that their image, carried abroad by stars such as Bob Marley and other dreadlocked musicians, is now routinely used to advertise Jamaica as a tourist destination. Brother Man recently reissued by Macmillan (the original publishers of many of Mais’s books) to mark its 50th anniversary was the first Jamaican novel to portray a Rastafarian protagonist in positive terms. Writing in the early 1950s, a mere 50 years ago, Roger Mais captured the way Rastas were viewed then.

In addition others view it as being the best writing in the book. Especially in the scenes between Girlie and Papacita, capturing the quarrelsome passion between them, her jealousy and his lust, culminating in an episode of violent sexual struggle between two untamed creatures, a kind of consensual rape.

Furthermore it is grasped as the protagonist’s greeting of “Peace and love”.  With its unfortunate but conventional depiction of obeah as a negative force, and its stilted speech, Brother Man stops short of being a book for all seasons; it is, however, a narrative well worth engaging with, from one of the most interesting literary figures the Caribbean has produced.