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A review by kntaylor1216
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
4.0
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by a literal Underground Railroad, when the back tells you there is one. But suspending reality long enough to imagine a train running underground with no light, no way for smoke to escape, and no clear cut way of knowing how the operators manage to run back and forth between stops? It was a little grandiose.
I liked the idea of the book, and maybe naively wanted a happier ending for Cora than she got. Though, I suppose freedom is the greatest happy ending for her?
I did not like Whiteheads way of interjecting character background/morality reasoning into actionable chapters. It felt disconnected from the plot in a self serving way. I think he could’ve told the same stories and relayed the same information in a way that better flows. Additionally, the graphic violence of the physical beatings Cora and her fellow slaves endured is hard, as it should be. It gives heft and tension to the underlying plot. Will she return? What will happen to her? I didn’t think Whitehead gave appropriate weight to the sexual violence Cora and the other women were subjected to.
I wanted more. More character development. More insights. More. I enjoyed it as a book, but as a great, long standing story? I don’t think it will stand that test.
I liked the idea of the book, and maybe naively wanted a happier ending for Cora than she got. Though, I suppose freedom is the greatest happy ending for her?
I did not like Whiteheads way of interjecting character background/morality reasoning into actionable chapters. It felt disconnected from the plot in a self serving way. I think he could’ve told the same stories and relayed the same information in a way that better flows. Additionally, the graphic violence of the physical beatings Cora and her fellow slaves endured is hard, as it should be. It gives heft and tension to the underlying plot. Will she return? What will happen to her? I didn’t think Whitehead gave appropriate weight to the sexual violence Cora and the other women were subjected to.
I wanted more. More character development. More insights. More. I enjoyed it as a book, but as a great, long standing story? I don’t think it will stand that test.