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The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Why we're reading this: Kirkus: "startlingly original"…more
[close] Kirkus: "startlingly original"

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Jan 21, 2019 Emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, brrhc-2019

Let's go back to the days of the Underground Railroad, only this time, the Railroad is just that, an actual working train underground. This is where we find ourselves multiple times throughout the novel, underground and pushing onward to the next unknown destination in a desperate bid for freedom and survival.

This novel pushed me to re-imagine what I was taught about slavery and the abolitionists. It also forced me to put down that white-washed version of history we are so often given, so that w Let's go back to the days of the Underground Railroad, only this time, the Railroad is just that, an actual working train underground. This is where we find ourselves multiple times throughout the novel, underground and pushing onward to the next unknown destination in a desperate bid for freedom and survival.

This novel pushed me to re-imagine what I was taught about slavery and the abolitionists. It also forced me to put down that white-washed version of history we are so often given, so that white people don't feel so bad about what we did. There were moments that I really struggled to make it through a passage, or even just a sentence, because of the violence said and unsaid. I have always known that those horrible things happened. Torture. Beatings. Whippings. Lynchings. Rapes. Things humans should not even be capable of coming up with doing to another human being. It was another thing to be presented with them in a way that I could not avoid or pretend that I had not read.

The prose of the novel flows in a way that sucks you in and leaves you aching along with Cora and her companions. My heart broke for her, my blood boiled for her. I found myself clenching my jaw at parts of her story. I think the most magical part of this is that the author accomplishes this with minimal use of dialogue. There are entire sections without a single line of spoken word. It adds a richness and depth to the story.

I will say it was hard for me to keep it in my head that Cora was supposed to be barely an adult. I imagined her to be older, in her late 20s or early 30s, but she was supposed to be barely 20, if that. I felt disjointed from the characters at times. Other than that, it was beautifully written, the characters were distinct and clear.

The ending left me wanting more. I want and need to know Cora's story and what happens next. [I'm going to talk about the ending and the last few moments in the book and share my thoughts on it and its meaning, so I've gone ahead and attached the spoiler tag anyways just to be safe.] (view spoiler) ...more

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