Very good book. I have to admit while reading this book on slavery I felt a little ignorant. I never knew that free (former) slaves bought and owned slaves themselves. Just another thing that I did not learn in American history. This book had many characters but the characters were not overwhelming. The characters involve a man who worked hard to buy his freedom and eventually the freedom of his wife and later their child only to see their child prosper and purchase slaves for himself. The book also focuses on his slaves and their relationships. There is also the sheriff and his wife who are given a slave girl as a wedding gift even though they are against slavery they raise her and think of her as their "child" All of these stories come together in The Known World.

So much has been said about this novel

At a certain point, I wonder about what I can say in a Goodreads review that will add something for friends who find and read these words. At this point, Jones has won the Pulitzer. Between Amazon and Goodreads, this particular novel is nearing 50,000 ratings. I also find that I'm far from the first among my friends and colleagues to "weigh in." My journalistic colleague Neely Tucker already has so eloquently lauded the praises of Jones' work that Neely is quoted near the top of Jones' Wikipedia page.

So, what else is there to say?

Well, one thing I can point out to friends is that I've often, over the years, explained that "a book is a community between two covers" and that a novel in particular "summons us to step into a real world." And this book powerfully illustrates both of those points I always teach in writing classes.

I also am chastened when I read this novel, which I have read and then re-read in passages where I have turned down page corners. I am discouraged sometimes, when I wake up to find myself going through some minor physical hardship in the course of a day—from a cut to a back pain from overwork the day before. In this novel, Jones reminds us that life in this era of slavery in the South was defined by pain. Life was short and discomfort and disability was a part of everyday life. From thorn-scraped skin to painful toothaches to the results of beatings or sickness—life was short and often brutal.

That also makes moments of pleasure or, more importantly in Jones' world, moments of wonderment all the more precious. There's a scene deep in the book in which one character feels driven to pick blueberries in a thunderstorm and he encounters lightning destroying a huge tree. I find myself returning again and again to that passage as an example of astonishing narration. Page after page, we find ourselves so close to this man that we feel his rain-soaked agony—and then the glorious, terrifying wonderment of a huge tree transformed into a lightning-ignited, full-scale blaze. There are details in that whole sequence that I can hardly imagine how Jones "saw" and laid down on paper these details that we can experience with his character.

Lots has been said about the moral complexity of this novel as it explores the world of American slavery and that's all certainly true. But I see and cherish other moments of visionary grace in Jones's writing that transcend even the evils of that world.

I loved this book. Very well written and well handled treatment of a difficult subject.
The time jumps confused me at first. This novel is told in a very different, non linear style. Peripheral characters have whole backgrounds and sometimes even what will happen to them in the future and sometimes even their descendants. It helped to balance some of the visceral horrors of chattel slavery. It adds depth, texture and richness to this novel. Also I like the exploration of a black, ex slave owning a plantation with slaves. I never really like or understand Henry, Caldonia and Fern who are the main black slave owning characters. I never really try to. I also like the way the white characters are handled.

good

La letra es demasiado pequeña y, aunque tengas buena vista, cansa y no puedes hacer largas tiradas de lectura. No lo recomiendo. La lástima es que es demasiado tarde para devolverlo, si no lo haría seguro. No se puede leer de forma placentera con una letra tan pequena y condensada. El libro es largo para adoptar una letra así. No lo recomiendo en absoluto. Gasta unos euros más y disfruta del libro con una letra más grande y  adiente para la lectura de placer.

I really liked this slow book about the life of a community in Virgina before the Civil War. I didn't know black people could own slaves back then. The story is tragically beautiful;it takes place on a plantation where the black owner dies. From then on, everything starts to go wrong on the plantation, and slaves keep disappearing..
The writing is astonishing : present and past are subtly intertwined to carry the plot until an inevitable conclusion. The characters are truly remarkable, and true to life.

"The Known World" is the author's first novel eleven years after publishing an anthology of short stories, "Lost in the City." The names, locations, and characters are all fictional and created in his mind during eleven years of planning. The depth of detail of the plantation in Manchester County has been compared with Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. The Mirage Book Club members' take on the book was mixed and atypical. One member liked the first chapter but not the rest of the book; the second member was impressed with the images and descriptions of the scenes but not the meandering of the narration; some said the book was well written and explored an unknown view of slavery; a few were very impressed with the book: "Jones did a very good job discussing and disclosing slavery, and the title of the book was very fitting," said one member. "And the non-linear story telling and consistent narration was constructed masterfully." another member said, "There are two major considerations here: 1. the system [slavery] is unchangeable and slaves have no choice but to comply, and 2. unlike Faulkner's South who represents only whites, Jones writes about blacks too, as did Ernest Gray and a few other African-American writers."

"The book was tedious to read yet some characters were interesting; Alice was stunning," said a member. "I didn't believe the story." next person read the whole book and found it informative, "A pleasant way to write about slavery." Another member was not convinced, "Winning the Pulitzer Prize could be a political matter." But another person found the book very interesting and enjoyable to read. "I liked Fern Alston, a noble person in a deeply corrupted political society." A member who likes every book she reads said, "I learn something from the book we read, though this one was a very different read, I liked the characters especially Augustus and Alice [she was crazy but she was fun]; but another member found the characters unreal and the descriptions tedious. "The prose was well constructed but the dialogues were excessive and inconsequential." A doctor/member listened to the audio version. "The author is telling a very believable story," said he, "An untold version of slavery."  The moderator's husband talked about the voice, the writing style, and the dialogues. "This book compares well to the notable novels about slavery," said he, "The author is African-American and when he was working on his M.F.A. in creative writing in Boston he read an article about a few black citizens of the South who were slave-owners. Then he collected shelves of books about slavery, the stories about the slaves who were ill, pregnant, and crippled or hobbled but still forcefully worked six days a week from sunrise to sunset," said he. "The author also collected stories from the earliest published black writers many of whom were slaves and abolitionists. The voice is constant and the narrator is omniscient, he is everywhere, sees everything, and knows what's going on in every cabin.

*****
The Known World was unique among fiction books I have read in the last twenty years or so.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable read.  I would not call it an easy read, because it was some work to keep track of all of the different characters, but nevertheless, so very well worth it.  Despite the work, it was entertaining.  Like other reviewers, it kept me up at night, and kept me reading.
The book caused me to wonder how I would behave had I the same cultural background as the various characters in the book---the white slave owners, black slave owners, the black slaves.  I had always thought before that I "of course" would be against slavery, would fight for rights for all races, and absolutely never do anything so repulsive as to own slaves.  I wondered how anyone ever could!  The Known World opened my eyes to how this could happen, and how easily one of those slaveowners---black or white---could have been me.  Or how easily I could have been a slave.  It also provided insight into the psychological world of the slave.  All of this was done by showing, not telling, so the reading was more of a powerful emotional experience rather than an intellectual experience.
What made this so different for me is that I picked this book soley upon the Amazon reviews and rankings.  I had no inherent interest in American history or race relations or the Civil War era, but this book GOT me interested.  I think that the only person who would not enjoy this book would be the person who is not open or interested in challenging themselves, not interested in thinking, or afraid to find out about or explore the dark side of the human experience.
Because of the complexity of the book, as far as the feelings of the characters, the layers of meaning, and the strong impact, I know that I will read this book again and again, and am therefore glad that I spent the money to get it in hardback.  It is well worth the money, and is a beautiful "rough cut" book.  I have thought about its message again and again since reading it; I would call it haunting, thought-provoking, disturbing, and honest.

I've been reading through the 'Best Books of the Century' and puzzled at a couple of them. But Edward P Jones is an astonishing storyteller who captured me from the outset of this epic tale.  His style means you can almost hear him narrate, even down to his 'interrupted' timeline when he suddenly remembers something to tell us (I loved when I am reading something he has told the reader before).
The Known World describes a place and the characters that exist within it; one that will stay with me for a long time - I feel like I've almost been there!  Brilliant book.

You have to read this novel! The characters, style of writing, and historical accuracy make it difficult to put this book down.