Jennifer’s answer to “Does anyone like that the author wrote the railroad as a physical, operating one? I felt it unnece…” > Likes and Comments
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this. exactly.
The author did quite a bit of research according to this NPR interview.
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/18/5025580...
I was so looking forward to this part of the story, because it seemed like such an interesting spin on a well-known story. But I, too, felt like it did nothing for the story in the long run. Magical realism works when it is needed for the story, and it felt like something tacked onto the story, instead. It could have been left out and replaced with the actual underground railroad and we'd get the same story, except maybe with better character development.
I feel same, and actually the whole reason why I came on GoodReads to read reviews. I like the explanations from readers for whom this worked because for me it was an eye-roll moment like this novel had jumped the shark. If I can ignore the physical railroad though, it's very well-done.
I agree Jennifer that people should know the actual history of slavery, the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad which was part of that movement. Whitehead's novel can be read as a metaphor for how some people view race relations in the 21st century. To me it is more about the present than the past because as history it downplays the role whites played in putting an end to slavery, including sacrificing their lives to keep the southern states part of America.
I picked this for my book club without reading it. Most really disliked it, but one woman's comment was that she never realized that the Underground Railroad was a real railroad. The way it is written, I think it can further disinform the uninformed.
I completely agree. And with Susan's comment. It's a real disservice. It yanked me right out of my immersion on this book which then never won me back. I wound up putting it down. I've since tried a couple more times, but I just can't get back into this book. The acclaim bewilders me.
I thought, however that the part right up into an actual locomotive showed up was excellent.
I find your analytical, overly serious review humorous. It is fiction, not nonfiction content meant to inform about the Underground Railroad
I agree. Making the Underground Railroad an actual railroad turned the novel into a fantasy, thus trivializing the story. He might as well have turned the slave hunters and flying monkeys and added a good witch who would tell Cora that if she just clicked the ruby slippers together three times, she would be transported to freedom.
The physical underground railroad was a huge distraction for me, so much so that I did not finish the book.
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Kimberly
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May 10, 2017 12:56PM
this. exactly.
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The author did quite a bit of research according to this NPR interview.http://www.npr.org/2016/11/18/5025580...
I was so looking forward to this part of the story, because it seemed like such an interesting spin on a well-known story. But I, too, felt like it did nothing for the story in the long run. Magical realism works when it is needed for the story, and it felt like something tacked onto the story, instead. It could have been left out and replaced with the actual underground railroad and we'd get the same story, except maybe with better character development.
I feel same, and actually the whole reason why I came on GoodReads to read reviews. I like the explanations from readers for whom this worked because for me it was an eye-roll moment like this novel had jumped the shark. If I can ignore the physical railroad though, it's very well-done.
I agree Jennifer that people should know the actual history of slavery, the abolitionist movement and the underground railroad which was part of that movement. Whitehead's novel can be read as a metaphor for how some people view race relations in the 21st century. To me it is more about the present than the past because as history it downplays the role whites played in putting an end to slavery, including sacrificing their lives to keep the southern states part of America.
I picked this for my book club without reading it. Most really disliked it, but one woman's comment was that she never realized that the Underground Railroad was a real railroad. The way it is written, I think it can further disinform the uninformed.
I completely agree. And with Susan's comment. It's a real disservice. It yanked me right out of my immersion on this book which then never won me back. I wound up putting it down. I've since tried a couple more times, but I just can't get back into this book. The acclaim bewilders me.I thought, however that the part right up into an actual locomotive showed up was excellent.
I find your analytical, overly serious review humorous. It is fiction, not nonfiction content meant to inform about the Underground Railroad
I agree. Making the Underground Railroad an actual railroad turned the novel into a fantasy, thus trivializing the story. He might as well have turned the slave hunters and flying monkeys and added a good witch who would tell Cora that if she just clicked the ruby slippers together three times, she would be transported to freedom.
The physical underground railroad was a huge distraction for me, so much so that I did not finish the book.
