Book Review: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

I’d been wanting to read The Underground Railroad for a long time but kept putting it off because books about slavery are intense and difficult reads. I have to be in a certain kind of mood to read a book like that. I kept not being in that mood. One day I decided to bite the bullet and put the book on hold at my local library. When it became available, there was no more putting it off.

My main interest in the book was its a magical realism element. In the book, the Underground Railroad is an actual railroad that crisscrosses the country underground. The story is about a young woman, named Cora, who was born into slavery in Georgia. When Cora was just a baby her mother, Mabel, decided to run away from the plantation and never returned leaving Cora a kind of orphan. Cora is an outcast on the plantation who feels resentment toward the mother who abandoned her. One day a new slave on the plantation shares with Cora his plans to run away and partly because it was something her mother did she decides to go with him. He has a connection to the Underground Railroad, and when they get there, they find a kind of railroad that runs underground that can take them to freedom. The promise of freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

I listened to an interview with the author who said that each place that Cora ends up in as a result of the Underground Railroad is meant to reflect American possibilities. He called the book a kind of Gulliver’s Travels. I think that each state represents a type of racism black Americans experience. The book is an allegory.

Don’t go into this expecting to read a historical novel with a slight bit of magic thrown in. It’s not that at all. Historical events from different time periods are interwoven with completely fictional events. I think the book is more enjoyable if you remember as you read that it is an allegory about race in America.

While most of the book is told from Cora’s perspective, there are the odd chapters that further explore minor characters’ points of view. There is a chapter that tells you what happened to Cora’s mother. Another chapter is told from the point of view of the slave catcher chasing Cora.

There are some brutal scenes in this book which is to be expected from a book about slavery. I have difficulty reading those kinds of scenes so if you have difficulty too I want to warn you. This is a book that mixes unspeakable brutality with a kind of fantastical reality. There is a magical quality to the railroad and the idea of stepping into the unknown and coming out someplace where your life can be completely different. The wonder and awe the characters experience when they encounter the railroad is counterbalanced by the horror they see in their everyday lives.

The writing is simplistic. Focusing more on the plot than the prose. The style of writing adds to the allegorical feel. I think it works for this book.

If you haven’t read it yet, definitely check it out. Happy reading.

Buy the book here.

 

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