The Underground Railroad in Overdue Podcast

Aug 04, 2016 Tracey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, netgalley, 19th-century, south

I havered over requesting this book. The description makes it sound so brutal, so scarring, that I wasn't sure I wanted to subject myself to that right now.

And it is brutal. Colson Whitehead is the AntiMargaretMitchell, point for point canceling out and more than canceling out any cheerful images of happy "darkies" unwilling to leave their comfortable slavery where they're looked after like kin. Bondage in this Georgia is the worst of all possible worsts, with arbitrary and severe punishments, I havered over requesting this book. The description makes it sound so brutal, so scarring, that I wasn't sure I wanted to subject myself to that right now.

And it is brutal. Colson Whitehead is the AntiMargaretMitchell, point for point canceling out and more than canceling out any cheerful images of happy "darkies" unwilling to leave their comfortable slavery where they're looked after like kin. Bondage in this Georgia is the worst of all possible worsts, with arbitrary and severe punishments, and slim-to-no chance of escape. In this Georgia there is no solace to be found even in fellow slaves, because every single man and woman in the quarters "would sell out their dearest to escape the bite of the cat-o’-nine-tails" and "Freemen informed on their African brothers and sisters". I think I found that even more disturbing than the creative tortures and executions the slave owners came up with.

I'm not sure how to put this without inviting attack, but it was … too much. Mark me: I have no doubt that there were plantations and slave owners just like this – far more, I have no doubt, than remotely resembled Tara. I think, though, at a certain point violence piled on violence topped with more violence becomes more like a comic book or The Game of Thrones than a story based on truth. I wouldn't say I was deadened to it by the end – the day I become deadened to violence of this sort is the day I want to be locked away. I will say I was skimming.

And while the central conceit of the book, the idea that the Underground Railroad was, in fact, a railroad which was underground, was clever and led to some extraordinary moments, it also, for me, did a disservice to the rest of the story. It's a clever idea – but it's ridiculous, and a bit frustrating: why on earth would so many spend so much time and money and labor to build something so easily derailed? Which is of course a pun, and also meant literally. Steel and wood for the tracks, all the materials to keep the tunnels open, and all the sweat and probably blood spent in digging mile after mile of tunnel – all to function painfully briefly before being destroyed … it was all so fantastical that it cast the whole book in the same light of fantasy.

I think perhaps if the fantasy element of the Railroad had been pushed even further it might have been more successful; also, the feeling persists that, in terms of the violence described, less is more. In addition to the simple excess is the simple fact that an evil and vicious slave owner makes a bad businessman, since slaves are an expensive investment to be destroying so liberally. I suppose that's part of the point, in a way; the owner from whom Cora and Cesar escape is not terribly interested in the running of the plantation.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
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Nov 05, 2017 Liesl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer, overdue, oprah, adapted-for-tv, ebook, nxt-chapter, 2017

Although not altogether that much different from other novels that I've read about slavery, Whitehead's excellent writing sets this book apart from the rest of the pack and makes reading it a rewarding experience despite the events depicted putting readers through the emotional wringer. The underground railroad existing as a real, tangible thing is a fantastic concept that unfortunately Whitehead does frustratingly little with, leaving many questions left unanswered; I also would have liked for ...more

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Sep 12, 2016 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: mooberry-library, book-club, rc2016

I liked that this book was not a straight up historical fiction take on slavery in America. It rose above traditional narratives and became a more fluid parable. A mediation on human nature and what it means to be a slave and an African American. The characters are not fleshed out as well because they are meant to be everymen. Each station was a stop in time not a physical place per say. It was a pleasure to read this book (pleasure used in a loose sense since reading about slavery is never a pl ...more

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Sep 04, 2016 Robin rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2016

Backed by Oprah, and with the intriguing premise of the Underground Railroad being a literal railroad, I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, the characters were underdeveloped and the prose never hooked me. Recommended instead: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

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Mar 05, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-for-book-club

To be reviewed after book club on Friday.

Update: Brilliantly written and more intellectual than emotional. Almost as if the author was trying to convey every experience of runaway slaves into one story. Possible disagreement about the ending and whether the idea of a physical railroad made the book into magical realism and if that device worked for a book based on real history. Still worth recommending.

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