There are few books on this earth that I can actually say I hated. Hate is such a strong word, so is loathe...I don't even know if there are any books that I hated, for usually I can find some redeeming quality in anything I read, whether I appreciate it for its contribution to Western literature or if in the ending it somehow gives me my money's worth...In the case of The Portrait of a Lady for example(Kate, don't laugh), I disliked the book strongly(note the absence of the four letter h-word) for the first 400 pages! Then, the last 100 pages were MARVELOUS! Overall since the book only cost me something ridiculous like 12.5 cents, it was worth it, though not highly recommended. I think that's how I feel about Edward P. Jones' The Known World. Jones' novel received very high praise and I looked forward to reading it, not only because it won the Pulitzer in 2004, but because of its intriguing subject matter: Henry Townsend, the central character in the work, is a black man who was freed from slavery by his parents(two people who were also freed from the binds of that "peculiar institution"), but who chooses to buy a plantation and in turn(much to his parents' disapproval)own slaves himself. This affords him certain freedoms but also not at the same time, he looks like the people he owns, if he leaves the local area, he could be mistaken for being someone's property...What allows someone to own his own kind? How can one rationalize perpetrating an institution which is responsible for destroying the minds and bodies of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children when he has first-hand bourne witness to its atrocities? Jones' work does not set forth to answer those questions even though he raises them quite well, but that is all right, since I'm not sure that there is any specific answer to those questions. What Jones' novel does very well is it gives an entire picture of slavery and how it affects everyone from the local Native American who himself "owns" his own wife, to the sheriff who must keep the peace and keep track of runaway slaves, to the children of a plantation owner and his black mistress, to the slaves of Henry Townsend, to all the other peripheral characters: slave traders, townspeople...It is apparent that one of Jones' major influences is Faulkner(one of the other reasons why I was so excited to read the book), since in giving the reader a complete picture of slavery the author creates his own county(like Faulkner did for ALL of his novels except his county was in Mississippi), Manchester County, in Virginia, which is where the overwhelming majority of the story's action takes place. The one thing that I found very difficult about the book was the prose. It was stodgy and slow-going. I wasn't drawn into the work through the author's words at all. I only kept reading the book because I realized its importance in the American canon, because I need to to complete my project, and because I thought it might expose me towards something of which I could not have been exposed otherwise. Oh yes, and because I also have a really hard time shelving a book after I started it no matter how boring I find it(hence the fact that I actually FINISHED Portrait). This book is not for someone that wants a fast read or one that is even easy to follow. Characters are moving in and out all the time...but, I guess it's a more realistic picture of everyday life, people are connected to each other in the most interesting and bizarre ways, paths cross and years later links become apparent. Edward Jones reminds the reader that everyone has their own stories but the stories are all one. I think I bitched and moaned the entire time I read this book because I just didn't feel attached to any characters and the prose was not my style, but I have to be fair. The novel discussed a lot of skeletons in the big scary closet the American history books call slavery, via characters interactions with their masters, the law...One of the worst things is that Henry Townsend's dad(Henry Townsend himself dies at the very beginning of the novel, reminding me of one of my favorite Faulkner novels, As I Lay Dying, because in that book the matriarch of a family dies and then the rest of the book is how the family goes to shit, and in Jones' novel, Henry Townsend, slave and plantation owner dies and then his plantation goes to shit), a man who has been free for decades, is travelling one night, with his "free papers," and the local law enforcement, out to cause some trouble, decides to deny him his right to pass on a public road and one of the deputies eats his free papers(no I'm not kidding) and then proceeds to sell him back into slavery because even though Augustus(Henry's dad) protests, he has no legal documents anymore to prove his standing. What happens to Augustus and his wife after that is just sickening. As well, Moses the black overseer to Henry's land, ends up having a sexual relationship with Henry's wife(who is black as well), gets an idea into his head that he can become the new master of the plantation and all hell breaks loose. Lots of characters raise personal thoughts about how Henry's situation is different because of the colour of his skin and there are many characters in the work who could either "pass" if they want to, or through being the children of plantation owners and being educated, have certain rights afforded to them that other blacks may not, painting a slightly different picture of slavery than the one that is handed to us in our public school books. Jones also has a well-rounded character base, one of the characters may or may not be homosexual, there are various other people who have sexual perversions, people of all races and mental health status are included and allowed to give their voice to this patchwork quilt of slavery. What is interesting is at the end, Calvin, brother to Caldonia(Henry Townsend's widow), writes a letter to his sister, condemning himself and his role in the awful institution of slavery: he as a black man did not really enforce nor work to destroy slavery, he more or less just sat by and profited from its benefits. I wonder if he is harsher on himself because of the color of his skin or in spite of it? So, despite being sometimes hard to follow(my adult ADHD definitely kicked in a lot), it did have its redeeming factors, it made me think. And I was even able to pull some quotes that I liked...When Robbins, Henry's former master and future advisor in all things plantation related gives him advice at the beginning of Henry's career as an owner, he says "'Don't settle for just a house and some land, boy. Take hold of it all. There are white men out there, Henry, who ain't got nothin. You might as well step in and take what they ain't takin. Why not? God is in his heaven and he don't care most of the time. The trick of life is to know when God does care and do all you need to do behind his back'" (Jones 140). Interesting, very interesting. There is also this quote that is from one slave to another, towards the end of the work: "'Lord, I wish we could get some better days,' Celeste said to Stamford. 'I'm tired a this mess of a weather. I really am. I wish the Lord would reach down in that big bag a days of his and pull us out some good-weather days that would last and last. Some nice and plump days layin over there in the corner right next to day fore yesterday. God could give us some nice days, Stamford, if he had a mind to. He could even lend em to us. By now he should know we a people that take care a things and we'd hand em back just the way he give em to us'" (Jones 352). I can't fault a book for its prose if it makes me think. Actually, I feel like I should praise it even more than a book I love(though I probably wouldn't go that far...) because despite its inability to keep me focused, I still took a bunch away from it. Thanks to this book project too, I'm sure I'll have much more of that to come. Pulitzers-17, GG's-20.

Mmm...I'm not always happy when I REALLY WANT to like a book, but I'm just not feeling it...however, I'm plodding along...Pulitzer winner in 2004. 

Towelhead. Camel jockey. Sand nigger. These are the big 3: what Alicia Erian's 13-year old protagonist Jasira is called by her classmates and her neighbors, in the novel Towelhead. This, quite unfortunately, is far from the worst thing that happens to her in the course of the novel, however. Jasira, born to an Irish mother and a Lebanese father, has until the start of the novel lived with her mother in Syracuse, New York. Jasira is a typical 13-year old girl who is concerned about her appearance, who wants to be pretty. She also must face to an extent a desire to conform to the "American" style of beauty, since because of her mixed blood she clearly looks "Arab." Jasira is sent to live with her strict Lebanese dad because her mom's boyfriend is caught shaving Jasira's pubic hair. Okay, let's stop right here and talk about this, because from the root of this possibly stems the entire rest of the book. Jasira's thoughts over her personal appearance lead her to ask her mother if she can shave herself, her mother denies her that, and doesn't even want to embark in any kind of sexual conversation at all. Barry, her mother's boyfriend, takes the matter into his own hands and to Jasira's relief helps her out. Though, what does this say about a grown man if he wants to shave his girlfriend's 13-year old daughter's crotch? Jasira likes the attention from this man(she's only seen her father once a summer for the most part since she was a kid), he's caring towards her, and gentle, something it is somewhat apparent that possibly even her mother isn't giving her...Though her sexuality is clearly budding at this point, it is arguable how responsible she is in this situation. She's looking for someone to show affection to her, and she's confused by the kind of responses she's gotten so far. This will continue throughout the rest of the novel. Anyway, Jasira's mother sees her as a temptation for her boyfriend, so she sends Jasira to live with her dad. The burden of fault is placed on Jasira's shoulders! What the hell? This book is like Lolita from Dolores' point of view. We all wondered what the subject of lust in Nabokov's novel was really thinking the whole time she was involved with Humbert Humbert, now perhaps we have an idea...So, Jasira moves to live with her father in Houston, TX. She begins to babysit for the 10-year old son of the army reservist next door, and discovers his stack of Playboys. She looks at the pretty women, and begins to, unwittingly, but later very knowingly, masturbate. She especially desires one particular picture of a woman in a golf cart, because of her beauty and how her smile makes Jasira feels. When the boy's father discovers what is going on, he gets angry and forbids her to look at the magazines, but later, he anonymously leaves a "gift" on Jasira's stoop. It is the magazine with the picture that Jasira likes so much. Oh my God, there is so much to talk about with this book. Is Jasira looking for a mother figure that she has never successfully had, is that why she obsesses over the women in Playboy? Is she gay? Is she trying to emulate these women so that she can get attention from men? I could go on. The army reservist begins to develop a highly inappropriate relationship with Jasira, she falls in love with him(or his attentions rather) and he sexually abuses her, which she knows is wrong but which makes her "love" him more. This is combined with her father who is not warm at all, and even beats her when he is angry with her(enough so at one point she can't go to school...the army guy comes over and threatens to beat up Jasira's dad if he hurts her again, ironic since he's also sexually violating her at the same time). While all this is going on, Jasira meets a black boy her own age at school named Thomas, with whom she also initiates in a sexual relationship, unbeknownst to her parents who have not wanted her to have any contact with the boy at all since it will "ruin her reputation". By the way this book is filled with extremely graphic sex talk...Thomas also wants to shave Jasira, and they also engage in different sexual positions. But, he does care for her, in a 13-year old boy kind of way. The saving grace in this whole book is Melina, the other next door neighbor, a pregnant newlywed. She is the mother figure it appears that Jasira has never had and desperately needs, and eventually when things get so bad at her dad's Jasira moves in with Melina and her husband. Melina is a safe haven, where Jasira can just be, and Melina also comes to Jasira's defense in times of crisis. But, Jasira is holding onto so much inside, even Melina has no idea...at the end, when the truth all comes spilling out, and the neighbor is arrested, everyone realizes how much they are at fault, and especially her parents realize that by being so strict and straightlaced and unwilling to talk about sex or even feelings freely, their daughter was thrust into a mess of confusion, looking for love and caring through the only way she saw possible in the patriarchal porn magazines of our era: sex. Wow. This book is very sad, don't get me wrong. But, Alicia Erian does an amazing job at confronting social constructions of sex, using a 13-year old girl as a vehicle. Erian reminds us how impressionable we are at a young age, and how social standards can influence how we view the world and our place in it. Ironically(or not so ironically I guess), Erian's work has been published in Playboy and Penthouse. Is she doing a bit of her own commentary on the industry that has accepted her writing? Can Jasira be viewed as a sex object at that young age? Does she view herself as a sex object or is she just looking for love and to be loved? I don't really think that Jasira is sexy, as the males who desire her sometimes think of her, but just a lost little girl needing to grow up properly and be loved normally. I finished this book almost a week ago, and I'm still digesting. Sigh.