![]() ![]() Most of her learning to read was self-taught when she was living in the attic at Martin and Ethel’s house. By chopping down the doghouse with a hatchet, she made a reputation for being crazy and the other slaves would leave her alone.Ĭora’s was also smart by learning how to read. Cora had the wits to make her mark as the crazy girl. Abandoned by her mother Mabel, Cora had to survive on her own. Next we have Ridgeway the slave catcher narrative and then South Carolina, and so forth. The opening story is about Ajarry, Cora’ s grandmother, then the story line moves Georgia. Whitehead also held my attention by breaking up Cora’s journey by including other character’s stories as well as genuine flyers for rewards for runaway slaves. ![]() Clearly, this is a reference to The Diary of Anne Frank. The author engaged us by putting modern day references in the story.įor example, when Cora was at the Well’s residence, she was kept in the eaves of the attic with no room to move and was bought food to eat at night. I think it mask the harshness and grotesqueness of slavery in a clever way by giving the reader a surreal experience.Īnother element that I thought was ingenious was the inclusion of references to events that were not related to that historical period. His eloquent prose, together with the subject matter of bondage, and the brutal nature of slavery, gives this book an unreal feel. This book is more of a character study in a story designed to enlighten us with the horrors of slavery. Starting in slave state Georgia, she travels to South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana and finally The North. The Underground Railroad was an interesting look inside slave girl Cora’s horrific journey to find freedom. I enjoyed the simple story line of the book. Here’s what I liked about The Underground Railroad. Not knowing Colson Whitehead’s writing style except what was on the book jacket, I was nicely surprised by his writing. His other works include The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, Apex Hides the Hurt, The Colossus of New York, John Henry Days, and The Intuitionist. I enjoyed the book mainly, but it was not the 5 stars book I was expecting.Īlthough Whitehead has written other books, this is the first book I have read by him. It was not what I had expected and I was somewhat disappointed. I was looking forward to reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead since it got so much attention and praise. Synopsis from hardback version, 306 pages, copyright 2016, and published by Doubleday. 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. 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. Like the protagonist of Gulliver’s Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey-hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. ![]() Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Cora and Caesar’s first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven.īut the city’s placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. 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. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. Matters do not go as planned-Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. ![]() Life is hell 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. The Underground Railroad: Book Review by Dinh.Ĭora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. ![]()
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