The Known World by Edward P. Jones Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Known World
Book Review: Best book I've read in a long time!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is one of the best I have ever read. There are lots and lots of characters to keep track of, but after a while it's easy to remember who is related to whom, etc. I never knew that free black people also owned slaves back then. This was a revelation to me. I enjoyed reading this book so much, that now I'm ordering the other books written by this author.Book Review: Cather-like....
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, so expectations did not interfere with the reading. The novel is a strange mixture of two dimensional characters acting out their lives upon a three dimensional world. Normally, flat characterizations are infuriating, but in this novel, more depth would actually have ruined the story. It can be squished into the historical fiction genre, but unlike most of the books bloating this genre, this novel allows the setting and plot to take precedence over the people. I don't know if the writer intended this, but it has proved to be a very successful product very much in the spirit of Willa Cather.Book Review: Could have been better.
Summary: 2 Stars
I give this a little lower rating than I normally would because this book seems so over rated.
-The good.
Makes you think and look at the complex issue of slavery from many different angles. I spent a lot of time thinking about this book between readings. The various sides were equally considered. Black-White, men-women, slaves-owners, and everyone and thing involved, was considered in an equal way. There was good and bad, right and wrong in every character and story line.
-The bad.
For all the awards, I did not think the book was well written. The non-liner jumping around was confusing and made the storyline (if you could even call it that) hard to follow. The extra information would have been more justified if the information was factual not fictional. Frustrated to learn at the end of the book that the historical trivia was mostly made up. All of the characters seemed incredibly ignorant and unintelligent. All of them were painfully simple minded to me, which made it hard to feel much for any of them. By the end of the book, I disliked every single character in it.
The book reminded me a great deal of the "Grapes of Wrath". Characters were not as deep, but "The Known World" had a similar feel. If you liked "Grapes of Wrath", you will probably like "The Known World".
Book Review: Couldn't put it down
Summary: 5 Stars
This man is a literary genius. The book is a fine, fine piece of fiction. Compelling and original, I could not put it down. I'm waiting for Jones' next one eagerly.Book Review: Depth of characters drive the story
Summary: 4 Stars
People who are plot lovers won't like this book very much. It is one of those books where not a lot happens per se, but A LOT happens in the bigger context of things.
It is a testament to the author's inegenuity and trust in his own voice that a story which does not fold chronologically can be so mesmerizing. Every character begins as a sketch and throughout the book, reappears: the nuances in their being as colorful as a kaleidescope. Examples include a town sheriff who is no friend to slavery but must enforce the rules, an overseer owned by a black man who makes a botched plan toward freedom and a slave woman named Alice whose escape is play-acting crazy. Every character is multi dimensional, complex and conflicted in their own way. The ways in which they respond to their communities, the social norms and rules of the time are direct results of who they are as people and the author manages to surprise you as the reader and pull you in while holding nothing back. He does not rely on plot twists, is generous with what he knows (i.e. tells you how certain characters will die long before you get there) and yet you don't feel cheated out of any piece of the story.
This is a terrific read for anyone searching for character-driven stories and for people who appreciate the nuances of life: that freedom and enslavement do not exist as dichotomies and people are not just bad or good. The book challenges stereotypical notions of what it means to be "free" and with characters that reflect pieces of yourself.