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.