From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Start date: June 15, 2017

Finish date: July 1, 2017

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Sherry

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Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
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In Winter I Get Up at Night by Jane Urquhart Spoilers/Discussion
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What Members Thought

Jan 14, 2017 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: 100-nyt-books, book-club-choice, audible

I listened to this and probably should have read it instead because there are no clear chapter changes that come across in audio. It caused some confusion in the listening experience. That said, it was an extraordinary book. Well worth another read. The story of Cora's efforts to escape slavery is shocking in its inhumanity. Plantation life is horrifying in its rendering of what being treated as property really looks like. In her journey, she also experiences other variations on this theme. It g ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Mary Ellen rated it liked it

I read this book for an online discussion group, and forced myself to finish it in a rapid-skimming fashion. And worse yet, I feel guilty for not having, if not liked it (I think "like" would be a wholly inappropriate response to this novel), then not having appreciated it; not having been awed by it; not, as a white woman, having felt duly chastised by it.

Instead, I was sometimes horrified (the gruesome slow death of a captured escaped slave, taking place in close proximity to a luncheon atten I read this book for an online discussion group, and forced myself to finish it in a rapid-skimming fashion. And worse yet, I feel guilty for not having, if not liked it (I think "like" would be a wholly inappropriate response to this novel), then not having appreciated it; not having been awed by it; not, as a white woman, having felt duly chastised by it.

Instead, I was sometimes horrified (the gruesome slow death of a captured escaped slave, taking place in close proximity to a luncheon attended by guests of the plantation owner, really did me in), at times confused (view spoiler) at times - sorry - just not caring what happened next, because I knew it would be awful.

When I picked the book up, I expected to learn; I knew that entering into the experience of an enslaved woman on the run for her life would be daunting. Had I not studied the American experience of slavery way-back-when in college, had I not seen Twelve Years a Slave (which I now am more motivated to read) nor Amistad nor read and seen Beloved, I might have appreciated this book more. Obviously it has a number of influential fans, having garnered the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize. I guess I just did not take the time to see what their judges saw in this difficult and ultimately off-putting novel.

A couple of people have compared this to THE ODYSSEY. To me it was an anti-Odyssey. Odysseus has a destination that is the driving force of his actions. Cora, instead, has no destination - she is journeying away from, not journeying toward. (view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 30, 2018 Inder rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, 21st-century, fiction, southeast, race, read-2018

I don't want to spoil anything, but very cool use of steampunk, scifi, alternative history, and apocalyptic (you can't really call it "dystopian" which so much of it is so close to the truth) genres to describe the institution of slavery and early 19th century America. The reader is moved from harsh (realistic!) realism to alternate realities and back again without losing the flow of the plot. Very well done and a brisk page-turner to boot. ...more

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