The Fuller Book Group met this week to discuss The Known World by Edward Jones. This Pulitzer Prize winner and Go Read! selection is a novel about Virginia slavery, specifically African American slave owners. Talk about upsetting.
If you like Southern storytelling style, he manages to capture in written form all kinds of quirky examples of that style in an original way that makes this literature, perhaps requiring a capital L. If you are annoyed by that style, the liberal dollops of foreshadowing as narrative device are most likely going to irk you.
Members of the book group liked how the author portrayed the women characters and his use of supernatural elements. Those of us from the South felt that he captured an authentic sense of place. All agreed that we were glad we read it and would recommend it to others, even in light of the many tragic elements.
There are still some spaces left in the Fuller Book Group. Our next meeting is on Monday, October 9 at 7PM when we will discuss Wonderful, Wonderful Times by Nobel prize winner, Elfriede Jelinek.
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