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)

Very tedious

When this book started I was captured within the poetic descriptions and rich visuals the words conjured, but by about half way through I was wondering if there was ever going to be a point of any kind. Worse still I realised I had actually heard it before some time ago and had managed to forget the entire experience, something I didn't think was possible for me with any book.
I found myself board and desperate for something exciting to happen. It didn't.

A meandering audiobook...

This is one of the books that seems to have a never ending narrative. After about 4 hours I had no real sense of what was occuring other that the comings and goings of many, many people. My wife calls me the "goal oriented" man, and she is correct, as usual. I look for a theme or direction in a book.

Well written and gently narrated, it just never seems to go anywhere. The patient, poetic souls out there will likely enjoy this audiobook, but for me, I shall never know how it ends...

Lets call the whole thing off

You say non-linear, I say disjointed. You say complex, I say directionless. You say thoughtful, I say soporific. At last! a book I can/will not finish... read by someone who might want to consider a career change. A (possibly) interesting tale poorly told.

Disappointing

I was very disappointed with this book, the slow pace, the innumerable characters, the flashbacks and flash fowards were confusing. I also felt there was a lack of character development that would explain some of their actions. Although there were some interesting characters, I would not recomend this book. It was very hard to get through.

Hard to keep up

Would you try another book from Edward P. Jones and/or Kevin Free?

No, I don't think so.

What was most disappointing about Edward P. Jones’s story?

My husband absolutely loved reading this book, which is why I got it. I think the story is a really intriguing one, but I just couldn't keep up with all of the characters and the plot line while listening to it. I also found the voices that the narrator used really annoying. You also have to be emotionally prepared for the subject material, and as an African American woman, this was hard for me.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The voices of the characters just grated on me. I don't know if it's possible to use two actors -- one male and one female -- to narrate a book, but I think in this case, that would have been ideal.

Depressing, Disjointed, Annoying, Boring

There is not much I feel I can add to the wonderful reviews about this novel previously posted on this site except to say that I too am disappointed
I think I understand why the Pulitzer Prize....the subject matter. But for me this is exactly why I'm so disappointed with this book. It could have been so rich. It could have included characters the reader/listener cared about. But because the story is told in flashbacks and flash forwards and long rambling tangents along with the plethora of characters who come and go, the reader/listener never has chance to become invested in any one of them. All of this makes following the story difficult. Another reviewer considered taking notes just to be able to keep up. I don't want to think myself shallow but I'm not a happy camper. I don't like listening to a book wishing it would end soon so I can start my next book. Not good.

Does Writer Have ADD?

I found this book very frustrating, particularly for an Audiobook. The book jumps from character to character, and from scene to scene, from time to time, and place to place so often, that it never has time to capture one's interest in the characters any particular story line. I tried to give the book a chance by listening for 4 hours, and when it had not tied itself together in an interesting way by then, I finally gave up. Perhaps, if one can bear on past the first four hours, one would be able to "get" this book, and why it would be recommended by anyone. I found it confusing, without any consistent story line that would flow on for more than 5 or 10 minutes. The author has so much interesting material. Too bad it did not gel for me. If you do elect to listen to this, buy the book and make a list of all the characters so that you might be able to follow along - and be prepared for the long haul. Too bad, the author had such interesting material to work with.

Ugh! No point!

Has some redeeming historical value, but no plot, no point. It flys back and forth through time and its difficult to follow. Main characters are killed off but you dont really care. I did finish the book but really would not recommend it to anyone. I guess I kept hoping the story would go somewhere it never went.

Lacks cohesion and has way too many characters

I completely agree with the other reviewers who said this book was meandering and had too many characters. I loved the premise of the book, but I was so confused trying to make mental notes about which of the approximately 20 characters were related to which and when events happened that it was a major chore to just get through the book. I did enjoy several of the story lines within the book, but the book as a whole lacked cohesion and a sense of purpose.

Hard to follow

I listen to audio books during exercise and while driving. This book is structured in a complex way, jumps back and forth in time, and has too many characters to count let alone remember. While I respect the high purposes of the author and the prose, such a book is impossible for me to ingest in audio format. Rather, I would recommend buying the book so you can flip back through the pages for reference.