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Title: A Soaring Piece of Fiction
Review: I finished reading The Known World yesterday, and it is still on my mind. Without a doubt it ranks as one of the most brilliant pieces of fiction I have had the pleasure of reading. Other than Morrison's Beloved, I do not think that there is another novel in the American literary canon that touches on the heart of slavery, and what it did to individuals who lived under this inhumane institution. Some of the reviews have said that it is a difficult read and hard to follow, but I guess as a teacher I feel that is often what good literature is. It makes us struggle and think about what is written in order to move us to a better understanding of human nature. Life is not linear and neither is Jones' story, but for those who finish it they cannot help but be transformed in terms of the way they look at slavery and the horrors it wrought on the American psyche.
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