tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398119.post1853885000539052223..comments2021-03-25T17:33:14.175-04:00Comments on The Gridbook Blog: The Known WorldJohn Whittemorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17021459149425573506noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398119.post-51081127119466598322008-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:002008-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:00I think Jones did a phenomenal job with this novel...I think Jones did a phenomenal job with this novel. The intricate web of characters created a strong emotional attachment, for me, with Manchester. After the first read I felt weighed down by the struggles that these characters faced. Jones is a genius in that he created characters that do horrible things, but as a reader I felt unable to job them because of the situations they had been placed in. I particularly enjoyed the role that Alice’s in/sanity played in the novel and the question of whether she feigned insanity to escape or if she became sane after reaching freedom (I read an article from the 1840’s in which a doctor claims that free blacks are more likely to have mental disorders than enslaved blacks and that slavery is actually saving the mentality of the African-American race…absurd). Also, after a second time skimming the book I realized that Augustus in fact owns his own son, Henry, and although he kicks out Henry for owning a man, he is unconsciously being a hypocrite. This reflects upon the less-thought-of notion that free black were in fact able to become slave owners and perpetuate the “peculiar institution.” Another thing that really interests me about this book is that Caldonia takes on the role of a white slave master when she sleeps with Moses and then questions if it is in fact “miscegenation?” This novel is stacked full of thought provoking ideas and I am very please that Jones won the Pulitzer for this. I look forward for literary criticism to begin to be published on it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398119.post-73562927532567924262006-11-08T22:52:00.000-05:002006-11-08T22:52:00.000-05:00Amy accidentally posted her response to this post ...Amy accidentally posted her response to this post on the "Passage of time" entry. <br /><br />You can read her response <a href="http://gridbook.blogspot.com/2006/10/passage-of-time.html">here.</a>John Whittemorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17021459149425573506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26398119.post-82918088989548692482006-10-14T20:20:00.000-04:002006-10-14T20:20:00.000-04:00sounds good, I think I'll check it out...sounds good, I think I'll check it out...Jasminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15571676029117768626noreply@blogger.com