"Stolen bodies working stolen land. It was an engine that did not stop, its hungry boiler fed with blood."

Colson Whitehead's much-anticipated book [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1469725597s/30555488.jpg|48287641] tells the story of the antebellum South while centering on the escaped slave, Cora. Whitehead's sparse writing style makes the horrors of slavery -- and dangers for all those who tried to escape or aid and abet those who escaped -- all the more striking. These vignettes stand out like lone figures on a blank canvas.

The idea of being able to be the master of one's own decision-making plays a key role in this book, which I found to be unique among books in this genre. Of course slaves have no control over any aspect of their lives, but Whitehead explores to what extent well-meaning whites were willing to let free blacks have control over their own lives.

In many ways I can see why this book is a darling among the literati. However, much as I wanted to, I couldn't connect with this book in any way that would earn more than a 3 star rating. I found the pacing to be very slow with a plot line that was jerky. In some parts of the story I felt, as a reader, a connection to Cora, but in most cases there was quite a bit of distance. Whitehead wrote of the Underground Railroad as an actual train -- with platforms, and engine, a conductor, etc. This didn't work for me at all. Perhaps I am too literal. I went from thinking it was an allegory, to being confused, then back to realizing it was an allegory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.



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The Underground Railroad is a powerful story mainly well told. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, I didn't enjoy reading it, mostly due to the violence inherent in telling any true or fictional story of slavery. The appallingly brutal conditions of slave life are laid stark and bare, and it made for difficult reading. I was somewhat disappointed in the way that the alternate history - an actual underground rail line - was handled, and had expected more of it, given the novel's title. I can see why the novel won the National Book Award, as its call for abolition and fair treatment of people with black skin is almost as necessary in the 21st century as it was in the early decades of American history, but I was not a fan of the book. ( )

Great writing, interesting story, a little too abstract for me but still. ( )

An intriguing and frequently horrifying look at the experience of slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War, from the point of view of the slaves, with an interesting fantastical spin. In reality, “The Underground Railroad” was a metaphor for the chain of sympathisers and safe houses who conveyed escaped slaves from the South to the northern states. In this book, that metaphor is imagined as reality — literal underground rail lines and steam engines carrying escapees north.

Though this award-winning book is definitely well worth reading, at the end I wasn’t entirely sure what this fantastical premise adds to the human story of the slaves and the appalling treatment they had to endure. It made me wonder, in fact, how much of the story was based in actual fact and what was part of a dystopian historical fantasy. I’m tempted to say most of it is based on solid, sordid fact, but without doing more research I don’t know.

Certainly on its own terms, the novel is heartbreaking as we follow the fortunes of Cora and Caesar attempting to escape from a plantation in Georgia. The chapters are interleaved with actual historical advertisements placed by slave-owners seeking the recovery of their escaped ‘property’. And there’s nothing more chilling than the way the slave-hunter Ridgeway continually and casually refers to an escaped slave as “it” rather than “he” or “she”, the same way as one might refer to an escaped horse. ( )

An interesting, brutal and heart breaking book. I’ve seen some other reviews that call Cora unlikable or cold. Just don’t get it. She survives , and somehow, despite rape and torture, still cares if a child trusts her and rejoices in an almanac. Be prepared for a difficult journey, it is not sugar coated, but it is worth it ( )