The Known World

By: Edward P. Jones

Narrated by: Kevin Free

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2004

National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction, 2004

Henry Townsend, a black farmer, bootmaker, and former slave, has a fondness for Paradise Lost and an unusual mentor, William Robbins, perhaps the most powerful white man in antebellum Virginia's Manchester County. Under Robbins's tutelage, Henry becomes proprietor of his own plantation, as well as of his own slaves. When he dies, his widow Caldonia succumbs to profound grief; and things begin to fall apart: slaves take to escaping under the cover of night, and families who had once found love beneath the weight of slavery begin to betray one another. Beyond the Townsend estate, the known world also unravels: low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave "speculators" sell free black people into slavery; and rumor of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.

An ambitious, luminously written novel that ranges seamlessly between the past and future and back again to the present, The Known World weaves together the lives of freed and enslaved blacks, whites, and Indians, and allows all of us a deeper understanding of the enduring multidimensional world created by the institution of slavery.

©2003 Edward P. Jones (P)2003 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2005

"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon." (Time)

"This remarkable novel, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and short-listed for the National Book Award, deserves all the acclaim it has won and then some, especially in this flawless rendition.... Kevin Free's narration is so accomplished that when a woman character speaks, you utterly forget that she does it through a man's voice. He gives each character color, personality, and heft, without ever vamping or straining for effect. The novel bears comparison with Trollope and Faulkner, and Kevin Free's performance of it is in the same league." (AudioFile)

"A complex, often startling picture of life in the region....[Jones'] narrative achieves crushing momentum through sheer accumulation of detail, unusual historical insight, and generous character writing." (Publishers Weekly)

"Jones has written a book of tremendous moral intricacy." (The New Yorker)

A soft-spoken treasure

This book is a real pleasure to listen to. It's not a plot-driven book, so be forewarned, if that's what you're in the market for. Instead, it's an empathetic, nuanced, and often poetic look at a certain historical time and place. Jones is just an extraordinarily humane writer; every character is painted in painstaking detail and with unusual sympathy. This is one of my favorites of the audiobooks I've listened to.

Tedious!

The premise of this book is very intriguing: freed slaves owning slaves. However, the novelty of this premise wears off somewhere around hour #4, and you still have about 10 hours of listening to go! All-in-all, it is a well-written book, but one that could have gotten it's point across in less time.

2004 Pulitzer Prize/Ntl Bk Critics Circle Award

Winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a National Book Critics Circle Award Winner. An excellent book. It is much more than a story of free blacks owning slaves. It is a complex story set in times of American slavery and involves good people, bad people, good people who become bad people, and wonderful things and terrible things happening. The word "Property" is used to describe and call the slaves. An excellent story line, woven in elaborate time warps and beautiful language. Well narrated.

This book is great literature and carries itself along with well-developed characters with whom you will identify -- painfully so at times. This book is attractive for its quality writing, memorable characters and intriguing story line, not for page-turning suspense.

This African-American author's first novel.

Book prizes are no guarantee of a good book, but this book clearly well deserved its awards.

The last ten minutes of the audio is a fascinating interview with the author.

excellent journey

quite a wonderful journey - really makes the long commute to work a grand pleasure - you'll even turn the cell phone off!!

The Known World, a novel about slavery in America

Jones has written a work of genius about a much overlooked chapter in American history, black slave owners in the antebellum South. Set 20 years before the Civil War, The Known World allows us a glance at this neglected fact of history by entwining the past and future narrations of freed and enslaved blacks, along with those of white slave owners and civilians. Meticulously narrated by Kevin Free, it's a grand, brilliantly written novel that I highly recommend.

History in fiction-things I didnt know

Enjoyed following the lives of black slave owners, learning about the shades of color meaning a sort of pecking order, and the hardships of all layers.

I tried...I really tried...

But I just couldn't grab hold of this story. The author has a wonderful unique way of writing and I certainly appreciated that, but oh goodness... too elongated for me...at least for now. I lasted 2 hours and had to move on to something more contemporary. I will come back to this book because I realize it is a worth while read. But for now I favor stories that are so compelling I just want to lie in bed, close my eyes, and do nothing else but listen.

Would be a great book if I can follow it

First the bad news... The book is hard to follow. There are too many characters (which in itself is not that bad)... but the constant shifting between timeframes and characters makes it hard to follow. It took me until well pass the half way point before I can start to follow it ;-(
The good news is that it is actually a very good story. The characters had a lot of depth; and it provides a good glimpse into the world of slavery.
So at the end of the day, 1 star off for a story that do much bouncing around. Otherwise, could have been a 4 (if not 5 star) book.

FIVE STARS

If you are looking for light, simple reading - don't read this book.

BUT, IF YOU WANT a truly quality read that gives you insight into a world you might never have known, you HAVE TO READ!! It's got depth of characters, love, action, adventure, fear, worry .... and it makes you think about today.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

Powerful and boring

In some ways this is a story which really moves the listener, unfortunatly it's couched in prose which is not particularly thrilling. The person who said this book meanders, is right on target.