A review by hannia222
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

dark informative tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
<i> The Underground Railroad </i> is a historical fiction that kicks off on a cotton plantation in Georgia with our protagonist, Cora, an outcast among her fellow slaves. Circumstances lead her to seek escape from the cruelty that the plantation holds, and soon Cora takes off on a dangerous journey away from the only home she's ever known. 

At the beginning of this book, I was into it. Sure, the writing style screamed textbook, but the care that went into the setting intrigued me. At
the end of the 'South Carolina' chapter,
- I was still mostly hooked: the
medical experiment twist
shocked me, the dynamic between Cora and the other characters was at its best and I finally felt as if there were parts where the writing was emotive more than informative.  

After Cora
leaves South Carolina
, the novel starts losing direction and it becomes unclear what anyone's motive is or what we should be rooting for.  In
North Carolina
, though the suspense and the
'Freedom Trail'
did draw me in and keep me reading, I had no inclination of what Cora's plans were from there. As much as we are told that
Martin is trying to contact the Railroad
, the attempts felt shallow.
Ethel's chapter
was intriguing- I think it captured the superiority complex of white people who only helped slaves in their own interest and not because they thought slavery was wrong. Even though it was written more like a character study than anything else, I still enjoyed Whitehead's insight there.

Then we get to
Tennessee
and everything we thought we knew about Ridgeway and Cora as separate characters fall flat.  I know that their was a power imbalance which would've made them both act differently, but their interactions felt completely unrealistic to me. We are repeatedly told what type of reaction they are trying to get out of their dialogue, yet I struggled to read the tone in it that was intended. Additionally I thought the tension and the pacing at the end of the chapter was all over the place: the things that were meant to elicit shock did not; everything seems too easy.

Lastly,
Indiana.
The way in which the story unfolds there just did not work for me. Pacing and the passage of time lacked consistency, and the conflict at the end doesn't compliment the plot earlier in the novel. AND THE ENDING DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! As much as it seems like Cora is
getting the life she deserves, the fact that Ridgeway suddenly breaks character and doesn't pursue her, along with the notion that where there wasn't previously a tunnel, there suddenly is
, the denouement was unclear and unbelievable. Don't even get me started on
Mabel's chapter
- it could have been omitted and the book would've been better for it.

Overall, I'm quite sad about how this unfolded. I was ready to relish Colson Whitehead's insight and in the end I just don't think the way in which he inserted commentary was effective. Though full of horrific truths and the potential to be a great piece of literature, <i> The Underground Railroad </i> just fell flat in execution. The characters, even the protagonist, were very one dimensional and I couldn't connect to them for big chunks of their stories. To quote Dre, "Like when non-fiction books are turned into movies, so they need to act a cast of fictional characters to convey what the non-fiction is saying". 

I don't love the writing style but I am willing to read more Colson Whitehead. As much as I didn't like this book, I do think he has important things to say and I'm willing to listen.
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