Reviews

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

awkwardsnitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

A heartbreaking and unfortunately very real story about life as a slave in the American South.

acsaper's review against another edition

5.0

Oof, this book is a gut punch. Whitehead's narrative races forwards, gaining momentum with each chapter, almost as though it's pumped along like one of the underground locomotives in his quasi-fantastical underground railroad - where the rails are no longer a metaphor for escaping slaves who ride a true series of underground trains.

The story centers around young Cora, born into slavery in the American south. The pain, torture, and inhumanity of slavery seep from the first few chapters. Yet, the horrors only grow as Cora moves north. On the run, with the help of the underground railroad, Cora's fleeting freedom is constantly ripped from her grasps - reminding readers that no matter how free she gets, some aspect of the country was always there to rip her back, be it through forced sterilization, slave catchers, or simply the commons.

The most terrifying part of the book is Cora's constant brushes with slave catchers. Who hunt her down and capture her as if she were prey, or, property-to-be-returned. Terrifyingly, I finish this book only to end up watching body camera videos of police chasing down a car full of young black men, whose only crime was not returning the rental on time. They are dragged out of the vehicle, shackled, and sat, shoeless, on the scorching hot pavement for hours - begging to be released, and insisting that they had done nothing wrong and have no contraband on them (an assertion that, despite the officers' insistent searches) is verified over the course of hours. To compare a vehicle stop to slavery misses the mark, I understand. But, the painful mirroring of human beings hunting another, and doing so on no more than the basis of the color of their skin, is an ugly and brutal reality that is no less real now than it was for Cora - if only undertaken in a different form.

This is perhaps the true power of Whiteheads tale. That is draws a story from history that thoughtfully weaves the atrocities of slavery through the lining of the entire county, both historically, and right up through the present. A powerful and worthwhile read.

a_rov's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective sad medium-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

3.25

 Spoiler: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead is a decent book with a lot of important messages scattered throughout the historical landscape of mostly South States of the US. I would like to start with the praise of this book, since you can see the amount of work that went into it and how skillfully the surroundings are depicted, those of Georgia, Indiana, South/North Carolina and others. I don’t think that this book will suffice in terms of learning about slavery, classes, US history, etc.. But you can definitely use it as a good example of reflection upon the times which now seem so distant away. People with no names, countless deaths of people without names, past, present or future. 

The spirit of this book is desperation, you can see throughout the whole narrative. Now, looking back we can see the steady (not always) way of progress through the abolitionist movement and all it’s supporters. This, however, is the story from the other side of the coin, from the people to whom the progress is some shining end of the dark tunnel, just as the underground railroad takes you somewhere you cannot now, before you step in it. 

The ideas of freedom and hope for the future are reflected in a quote said by an agent: “If you want to see what this nation is all about, I always say, you have to ride the rails. Look outside as you speed through, and you’ll find the true face of America”. 

The historical accuracies and attention to detail in both surrounding environments and language have a downside of a very weak main storyline. To clarify the book has a main character arc and chapters devoted to specific people throughout the story. The funny thing is that for me personally, those small stories contained more value than the main storyline protagonist of the book. 

To sum up: I enjoyed reading this book to a certain extent, but it does not posses re-read value to me, thereby earing a 3/5 stars verdict. 

taylorfan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

3.5

The author’s writing kind of threw me off, but I was always wondering what was going to happen to Cora. 

leekaufman's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

jasarahines's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

holliewong's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring sad 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

4.0

jesse5's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

nujibuji's review against another edition

2.0

I really wanted to love this book because of the subject matter and the raving reviews, but something fell short for me. There is no doubt the stories in this book needs to be told over and over again, especially in the climate we're living in today, but the author's writing style may not be right for me. I felt too much distance to the protagonist. It was written in third person, which allowed for the author to explore other characters' perspectives and build in social commentary but did not allow for me to connect with any one character. The structure of the story was fragmented and so was the timeline, which left me confused at times and lent to the disconnection. The author tried to address too many aspects of slavery and its affects on the people, making it more like a tour rather than in-depth exploration of any one area. The voice of the characters and attitudes expressed felt too modern, like something people would say in hindsight (which is exactly what the author has at his disposal to write this story). Perhaps that is what makes this work unique and innovative and lauded so highly, but it lacked the emotional connection I was hoping to make with the characters and their journeys.

Can I also add that I was pulled into this book by the title and the blurb, thinking this book would completely revolve around this literal underground railroad - which sounded like a unique take on a popular subject matter, but that ended up just being a small part of the bigger story.

laura_atthe_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective 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