Rating: 
Summary: abundant reader ( USA)
Review: This book is overrated.
The style is very hard to follow, he jumps around from character to character, scene to scene, giving it a random feel.
An award winner? No way.
Rating: 
Summary: What would it be like to be owned by a black man in 1840 VA?
Review: This historical fiction centers on the life of those connected to the plantation of Henry Townsend, a black slave owner in Manchester county, Virginia in the 1840's. The central point in the story is his death. When Henry dies, his widow Caldonia both treats her slaves as family and yet keeps them in bondage. In particular, the overseer, Moses comes undone by this ambivalence. Caldonia invites Moses to have sex with her and Moses assumes she will free him to become her husband. When she doesn't, he tells his wife and child to run away with mad Alice, who got kicked by a mule. Perhaps, Moses reasons, this is what is keeping Caldonia from freeing him. Does Moses' family make it to freedom? Will Moses follow them when he learns Caldonia will not free him? Indeed, where have they gone? While Moses can find his way around the plantation blindfolded, he cannot even tell North from South in the world at large.
While there are many characters in this novel, the quest for freedom and the resources needed to submit to bondage are the more crucial foci in The Known World. For instance, Augustus, Henry's father is shocked when his son buys slaves. He is further shocked when Counsel Simmington eats his free papers and Augustus is sold back into slavery. The story goes on like this exploring various characters, their relationship to one another and the norms of their day. It creates a world that could be real; and a very disturbing world it is.
Rating: 
Summary: rewarding but challening
Review: This is a masterfully written historical novel about slavery in the pre-civil war south. the setting is framed to provide a sociological feel for life in small, rural southern communities of that era. the voices of the characters are compelling and haunting; as in the best historical novels, they allow us to see and feel history through them. jones does not preach; the "moral ambiguities" which so many reviewers have mentioned speak for themselves. Potential readers should be forewarned, however, that this book is far from an easy read. the plot moves slowly and does not follow a strictly temporal sequence. there are so many characters it can be difficult to follow at times. and the incredibly sickening brutality and dehumanization of that era is set forth matter of factly by the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Much New in the Known World
Review: With all of the broughaha sourrounding this much ballyhooed book, I was expecting something special, something exciting to read. I am predisposed toward stories of the plantation South and especially of the plight of those slaves who tried to find comfort through freedom. Plotwise, however, was little new for the reader to find. Yes, the hero of the book was, for the first half of the book, a Black plantation owner, named Henry Townsend, during the pre-bellum South (in a no-longer-existing county in present-day western Virginia). His slaveholding IS, indeed, a shock to his father, Augustus, who had paid for their free status. Moreover, Henry's treatment of his slaves is interestingly reallistic in that it is modeled on that of his white backer, William Robbins. (He could not have bought slaves without Robbins.) But this is where the novelty ends. The slaves as usual bicker amongst themselves. ALL White men have eyes for Black women. Only one of the Black women is very strong of mind and heart. The local constabulary is all white and mostly trash. (The one Chrokee displays no behavior of his culture. And the Sheriff is a very God-fearing and fair man who has married a Quaker woman.) Indeed, the extreme hate of Blacks ingrained in a few of the deputies is so strong that one of them sells a free Black into slavery after eating the papers that certify Augustus's freedom. Explanantions for why the deputies (it wasn't the Sheriff's brother, which another reviewer suggests) were motivated to undertake this deed, which surely would deliver them a severe penalty, are left wanting. The writing style was also not exciting or new. The story bounces back and forth through time and across characters. And while it is not diffcult to follow, the bobbing and weaving did little to excite me. And, moreover, the authors tendency to give WAY too much info on the future disposition of some of the characters was downright annoying. Needless to say, it was a tough read that only got tougher as the book moved forward. You will not leave the book feeling uplifted either. It is a statement of repression both of slaves and of women during the pre-bellum South. It read as Jones had to write this book to meet a contract obligation. I am quite surprised it won him a Pulitzer.
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