The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

In April, Fixed on Fiction met to discuss The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead-

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven - but the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

-Summary courtesy of Goodreads.

The Underground Railroad received very mixed reviews with Fixed on Fiction: 3 thumbs up votes, 6 so-so votes, and three thumbs down. Here are some initial comments readers made while discussing their reaction to this month’s title:

• Hearing about what life was like at that time was fascinating. I just wasn’t especially attached to Cora and Caesar. The characters felt flat. I finished the book and thought: “What was the point of that?”
• I had high expectations and I was a bit disappointed. We only heard about what the characters were doing not what they were thinking.
• The writing felt choppy. I wanted to like Cora but I didn’t really feel attached to her. The story itself was interesting.
• I loved it! I read it twice. Loved the chapter about Mabel at the end.
• I was confused by the grave robber scene (why was that there?) I can’t even imagine the difficulty of a life in which you continuously live in fear. I enjoyed Cora’s love of reading and almanacs, specifically.
• I liked it for the historical fiction aspect, but it almost went on too long. Disappointing ending.
• I felt like the author was trying to pull in 16 years’ worth of research into one book. This story is not done yet because this story is still out there.
• I wish the author had fleshed out the smaller characters, I wanted to know more (i.e. Chester).
• I was fine with the characters! I liked the historical context and the symbolism of Cora’s garden.

These are just a few highlights from our discussion. Feel free to leave additional comments on The Underground Railroad below.