Reviews tagging 'Racism'

El ferrocarril subterráneo by Colson Whitehead

193 reviews

melissabristol's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I hate magical realism, and this book is basically magical realism (or has huge elements of it).  Yet somehow it works for me (I realize my tastes aren't typical!), because Whitehead is a fantastic writer.  Evocative, and perhaps it's the strength of the writing that makes me overlook that it's mixing reality and fantastical elements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

troyb3's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Slavery

sakisreads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

✨ Thrifted ✨

Wow. Far out. This was (obviously) going to be a heavy book, but I was unprepared for it 😳 The content warnings as usual will be included below.

Initially I found it difficult to get into, in the way that it was written, but once we delved into Cora’s life I found it difficult to put down. Usually multi-generational stories are challenging for me to read for some reason, but this one I was able to find the links between Ajarry, Mabel and Cora.
Cora and Royal also made me go 🥹

OBVIOUSLY we hated Ridgeway - he was fucked up. I found Mingo interesting; as someone who’d bought their freedom looking down on others felt bizarre and complicated and difficult to contend with.

4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you so much ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

nycsquirrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Whitehead mixes truth and fiction by creating a world with a physical underground railroad, which establishes the tweak on reality to allow the story to pull together true horrors from various points in American history as inflicted by the white populations

(e.g., slavery, Trail of Tears, the Tuskegee experiment, stop and frisk)

. Each state crossing presents a different demonstration of race relations, though the hierarchy is clear no matter the presentation. Whitehead's language is beautiful yet cutting, and the story is justifiably jarring.  An excellent and important read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

lifesarosch's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

5.0

Devastating and beautiful and a searing look at what America is and was and will be. If republicans could ban books for adults, they'd ban this one, and that is a complement. Wow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

catherinemb's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

01ivia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Death of parent

baielleebooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This book is really encompassed by its visceral expanse, the breadth of its subject matter tracked with deep thought and reflexivity. The Underground Railroad acts richly as a piece of historical fiction, covering the terrors of the slave trade and racial prejudice of its time in its many guises; colonial legacies, scientific racism, egregious white savourism, the haunting psychic imprints left upon those who suffered, and those who ultimately outran these torturous systems. Knowledge was the most invaulable aspect of the novel.

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Cora was also a terrific protagonist. Her plight, her courage, and Colson Whitehead's rendering of her read so humanely. 

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A critique that arose for me was that, from the story's structuring, I would've expected the railroad to act more as a throughline throughout the novel. In addition, though the passages that captured the intimate worlds of varying characters rounded out the novel and gave it fuller character, there was the occasional tendency where they would dizzy the central plot of Cora's escape and survival, and gave it a slight feeling of delay.

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The Underground Rail's prose was bountiful,  lending vigour and stirring emotion to Cora's arduous journey and the world and people around her. Moving and affecting, this books offers a significant and wide outlook in a cultural milieu still ruptured by acts and systems of racial discrimination.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

marnash's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Was highly anticipating this one. I loved the diverse cast of characters, getting to know each of them. It was a tough read, no doubt. I didn't love the writing style, sometimes seemed a little... amature. But the plot was gripping, ever-changing and twisting. It was a honest mix between hopeful and gut-wrenchingly sad, which is a good description of life and especially black lives in the slavery times, I guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder

tigertheory's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

„A plantation was a plantation; one might think one’s misfortunes distinct, but the true horror lay in their universality.“

A capitivating read, especially interesting if you’re familiar with other (neo) slave narratives. Focusing purely on the reading experience I found the book a bit predictable and the style alienating from the character’s emotions and suffering - but I think it fits the narrative. The story is not indulgent in recounting the emotional and physical horrors of slavery (though they’re there, no doubt about it) but focuses more on perseverance and persistence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism