A review by mmcloe
The Known World by Edward P. Jones

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A big and baffling and excellent novel that is sly in its strangeness. Temporal collapse and fabricated scholarship evoke Ishmael Reed and Borges and Bolano but the generally straightforward prose and well-trod historical setting obscure these oddities - mirroring how often historical records are banally built on false and misunderstood and seemingly unremarkable premises. I'm not sure how much I believe Jones' claim that he didn't do much research for this book but he's built up an excellent mythology around himself as well as the novel that I think is sorely missing in most artistic personalities today. Let the art speak for itself! 

I truly enjoyed (and struggled with) the vast network of characters and their constant negotiation and renegotiation with each other and their physical environment. The center fell out quickly leaving just the ties between people, which is an excellent collectivist turn that I still don't see often in ostensibly "postmodern" fiction. This makes for a more arduous read but also better depicts the odd courses and channels we dig for ourselves.
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