The Printed Page

Welcome to By the Chapter. This week’s featured book is The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Sharing hosting duties with me this week is Judy from Intergalatic Bookworm. Elizabeth from As usual, I need more bookshelves will be joining us today.

***

If you’re not familiar with this award winning book here’s a little background:

Henry Townsend, a black farmer, bootmaker, and former slave, through the surprising twists and unforeseen turns of life in antebellum Virginia, becomes proprietor of his own plantation — as well as his own slaves. Following his untimely death, Henry’s widow Caldonia succumbs to profound grief, and their carefully-maintained plantation starts to come undone: slaves take to escaping under the cover of night, and families who had once found love and loyalty under the weight of slavery begin to betray one another. Beyond the Townsend household, the known world also unravels: low-paid white patrollers stand watch as slave “speculators” sell free black people into slavery, slaves and their masters chafe at the social confines of their relationships, and rumors of slave rebellions set white families against slaves who have served them for years.

***
The subject matter of this book is what initially caught my attention. When I think about the American civil war and slave owners I think ‘white’. It never dawned on me that blacks owned blacks. It wasn’t in any of my US history lessons and I don’t believe I’d ever heard mention of this owner/slave relationship before picking up The Known World. After browsing the Internet in hopes of finding more on this subject I came across very little information. It appears that much wasn’t documented in historical records regarding black slave owners. I did find this article by Robert M. Grooms written in 1997. Wikipedia also lists a reference to this topic in the Slavery in the United States section.

***

As to the book itself it’s a struggle to read. Not because of the subject matter but the writing. It’s a jumbled mess. At first I thought it was just me and that I was confusing characters and time frames. But the deeper I’ve gotten into this novel the more jumbled and random the story line becomes. Paragraphs suddenly appear that lead nowhere and don’t have anything to do with the current place in the story. I’ve actually found myself re-reading sections because I’m lost. I keep thinking that I’ve missed or overlooked a paragraph but it doesn’t change on the read through. I’m hoping to make it to the end but at this point I’m not holding out much hope.

***

If you’ve read, or are currently reading, The Known World please share your thoughts with us.

***
This week’s reading scheduling:
Monday: The Printed Page/Elizabeth from As usual, I need more bookshelves
Wednesday: Judy from Intergalatic Bookworm
Friday: The Printed Page/Judy from Intergalatic Bookworm

***