The Known World

Author: Edward P. Jones

I decided not to give this book a star rating because I just could not get through it. It follows a bunch of characters who are connected to each other in various ways through the pre-civil war era, with an emphasis on exploring the relationships that arise in the institution of slavery.

It's also narrated in a very nonlinear fashion, with the author throwing random spoilers out there, like, "She would indeed see her sister again, twenty years later, in New York." (Not an actual quote from the book, as I got rid of it.) At first, you think Jones is going to explore these little asides, but he doesn't.

So, I read about a third of it. Nothing really happens, nothing seems to be in the works for happening, and I was just really, really bored.