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The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Start date: February 1, 2017

Finish date: February 28, 2017

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: February Bonus Read- Black History Month
[close] February Bonus Read- Black History Month

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Oct 22, 2017 Josh Caporale rated it liked it

The Underground Railroad has picked up a lot of hype within the last year in the literary world and while Colson Whitehead wrote five novels previous to this one, this has proven to be his biggest break. This is perhaps the most noteworthy book recommendation from Oprah's Book Club (2.0) since Wild by Cheryl Strayed, won several prizes including the Pulitzer Prize, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize this past year. Between this and the fact that it was the selection that a book club I a The Underground Railroad has picked up a lot of hype within the last year in the literary world and while Colson Whitehead wrote five novels previous to this one, this has proven to be his biggest break. This is perhaps the most noteworthy book recommendation from Oprah's Book Club (2.0) since Wild by Cheryl Strayed, won several prizes including the Pulitzer Prize, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize this past year. Between this and the fact that it was the selection that a book club I am taking part in chose this as this month's read, I took the opportunity to pick it up and read it. I wish that it was the most amazing thing I read during the year, but unfortunately I only thought it was okay.

This novel follows a slave named Cora, who lives on the Randall plantation in Georgia, alone since her mother left her to seek freedom. While any slave is in a terrible situation, things get worse when James Randall dies and the plantation is left to his brother, Terrance, to take care of. His vicious nature can be seen through one such action that he took against a slave that tried to escape (let's just say it was graphic). Cora learns about the Underground Railroad through another slave that arrived from Virginia named Caesar and the two, along with a friend named Lovey, take a trip northward toward freedom. Unlike the real Underground Railroad, which was a trail that the slaves walked to get toward freedom, this is an actual Underground Railroad that operates like those we are far more familiar with in the literal sense.

Of course, Cora is being hunted down by slave catchers that are looking to return her to where she came from, specifically Arnold Ridgeway. She presents an even greater target when she hurts and kills a young white boy while trying to escape. Throughout the story, we follow Cora on her quest for freedom and at the same time ask the question of what freedom truly is, when does one officially become "free," and then there is the topic of the American dream in the context of this given time and place.

The Underground Railroad has its powerful moments. Colson Whitehead does his best to present us each of the characters in the text, especially those that are crucial to the plot at hand, and sends powerful messages as far as what it means to be free.

A powerful line about the Declaration of Independence and what America is read:

"Her plot was a shadow of something that lived elsewhere, out of sight. The way poor Michael reciting the Declaration of Independence was an echo of something that existed elsewhere. Now that she had run away and seen a bit of the country, Cora wasn't sure the document described anything real at all. America was a ghost in the darkness, like her." (180)

There are so many questions that come with what America's foundation truly is and especially in the case of America's black citizens, whether or not this applies to everyone is really put into question. Freedom is very much an illusion for many, but this is especially true for the black slaves that are not even viewed as 100% human, take the last name of their slave owner, and are on their own as far as figuring out their birthday is concerned. Since they are not taught to read, this makes the situation even more difficult.

What I had issues with was the pacing of the story. I can see where a novel starts in the middle, looks back, and looks in different directions in order to give us the reader more information as we go along, but this novel seemed very jumbled and gargled. In some instances, there would be mention of an event that took place ahead of what was happening in the here and now and then they would return to this here and now. While I can understand how most of the novel is being told through Cora's journey, I wish that there was a little bit more of a solid story for each of the characters. In many cases, it seems like while we are given information about each of the characters and they begin to tell their story, these stories are not always finished efficiently. I felt as if the surface can have been scratched a bit more.

I feel that this is a well-written novel and Colson Whitehead has a great idea with what it is he is writing. As far as the finished product goes, I felt it was just okay and it would be worth checking out once it makes it way to paperback or at a lower price. I may consider rereading it on a future occasion, for the concept is really intriguing, but it did not hit the high expectations I truly desired. ...more

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Dec 04, 2017 Chérie rated it it was amazing

it is cry.ing. time.
my only regret is that I borrowed this as an ebook from the library. impossible not to read through and want to annotate, dog-ear pages.
I want to lay on my office floor and weep.

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Feb 11, 2017 Randy A. rated it liked it · review of another edition

I feel awful for not appreciating this as much as everyone else on the planet. But I really do give it something between 3 and 4 stars but closer to 3. Still, I think everyone should read it, and I want to acknowledge how impressive it was to see the historical fiction genre (not a favorite) turned on its head like this.

It's a challenging read - both because of the emotional content of slavery and white supremacy story and because the narrative structure can make it hard to tell where we are in ...more

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Apr 25, 2017 Judy Lindow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult-fiction

Underground Railroad is hard to put down. What a story and what an education. Being owned, being black, being less than and being hunted - a perfect storm for bad dreams and thinking more deeply on the reality of the not-to-long ago slave system. It's impacts then and now. I read somewhere that just before death sometimes people imagine being on a train - in many ways these deaths and rebirths reenacted several times by the main character - are analogous in the same way.

The Underground Railroad ...more

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