For more information on the United States of Books (click here for details).
The United States of Books the State of Vireginia
by Edward P. Jones
Review by Laura at 125Pages.com
½ Star
This
week takes us to Virginia with The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Entertainment
Weekly says - This
award-winning examination of man's ownership of man refuses to succumb to the
calcifying effect of history, presenting Virginia's past as raw, urgent and
human.
~ Synopsis from Goodreads~
One of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, The Known World is a daring and
ambitious work by Pulitzer Prize winner Edward P. Jones.
The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
The Known World tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order, and chaos ensues. Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all its moral complexities.
~ Review ~
The Known World by Edward P. Jones is a read that made me question. It made me question if editors actually read the whole book. It made me question if the Pulitzer judges read the whole book. It made me question if I had picked up the wrong book, because this could not be the book with all of those rave reviews. This novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and it was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award. In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000. The book I read was a disjointed mess. No seriously, I can read difficult books. I like non-linear time lines and twisty prose but this took it to a whole new level. The synopsis tells us that this is the tale of Manchester County in Virginia during the antebellum era and a black former slave who is now a slave owner himself. This sounds like a deep and thought provoking read right? It would have been if it was actually readable.
There were approximately 80 characters, so I had no idea who anyone was.
The Known World by Edward P. Jones is a read that made me question. It made me question if editors actually read the whole book. It made me question if the Pulitzer judges read the whole book. It made me question if I had picked up the wrong book, because this could not be the book with all of those rave reviews. This novel won a National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2004. In 2005 it won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and it was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award. In 2009, the website The Millions polled 48 critics, writers, and editors; the panel voted The Known World the second best novel since 2000. The book I read was a disjointed mess. No seriously, I can read difficult books. I like non-linear time lines and twisty prose but this took it to a whole new level. The synopsis tells us that this is the tale of Manchester County in Virginia during the antebellum era and a black former slave who is now a slave owner himself. This sounds like a deep and thought provoking read right? It would have been if it was actually readable.
There were approximately 80 characters, so I had no idea who anyone was.
The white man at the front door was
from the Atlas Life, Casualty and Assurance Company, based in Hartford,
Connecticut. His talking to Calvin at the door was what kept Bennett so long.
Calvin eventually came back with Bennett and when Moses told him, Calvin went
back and returned with Caldonia, followed by Maude, and Fern Elston.
The
time line skipped back and forth often times decades in the future to tell what
happened to just one person or object and then skipped back.
This series was Anderson’s most
successful, and nothing was more successful within that series than the 1883
pamphlet on free Negroes who had owned other Negroes before the War between the
States. The pamphlet on slave owning Negroes went through ten printings. Only
seven of those particular pamphlets survived until the late twentieth century.
Five of them were in the Library of Congress in 1994 when the remaining two
pamphlets were sold as part of a collection of black memorabilia owned by a
black man in Cleveland, Ohio. That collection, upon the man’s death in 1994,
sold for $1.7 million to an automobile manufacturer in Germany.
There
was so much unnecessary description.
Clarence sat beside his wife and
after a time he put a hand, the one not stained with milk, to the back of his
wife’s head and rubbed her hair. The cow swung its tail and chewed its cud. It
farted.
His horse, Sir Guilderham, was
idling two or so paces behind his master. And just as the horse began to wander
away, Robbins turned and picked up the reins, mounted. 'No more visits for a
month,' he said, picking one piece of lint from the horse's ear.
Seriously,
I do not care about lint on a horse and a cow farting. This really detracted
from the story for me. The Known World by Edward P. Jones could have and
should have been a powerful read. Instead I got bogged down in the minutia and
was not able to process the tale.
I
had originally picked this up at the library and then, when I found the style
to be so odd, I got the Audible version. I really want my credit and the 14
hours I spent listing to this back.
No comments:
Post a Comment