"They met by the cotton after the village quieted down. Caesar made a quizzical expression at her bulging sack of yams but didn’t speak. They moved through the tall plants, so knotted up inside that they forgot to run until they were halfway through. Their speed made them giddy. The impossibility of it. Their fear called after them even if no one else did. They had six hours until their disappearance was discovered and another one or two before the posses reached where they were now. But fear was already in pursuit, as it had been every day on the plantation, and it matched their pace" - Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
We have contemporary writers who are writing the classics of tomorrow and one such writer is Colson Whitehead. He has won multiple literary awards for many of his books and his historical novel The Underground Railroad was awarded The National Book Award in 2016 and The Pulitzer Prize in 2017. I can see why. The Underground Railroad is a wonderfully written novel that tells an important story about a dark period in American history.
The protagonist of The Underground Railroad is Cora, a young slave girl working on the Randall plantation in Georgia. Cora never knew her father and when Cora was ten she woke up to find her mother Mabel had escaped from the plantation and was never seen again. The Randall plantation is hell on earth run by two brothers one of whom is a sadist.
When Cora reaches 17 she decides to escape the Randall plantation with a fellow slave named Caesar. Escaping is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. You will be tortured and killed if you are caught so that others on the plantation know the repercussions for trying to escape. But Cora and Caesar decide to take the risk anyway. Caesar's story is particularly heartbreaking. He wasn't born on the Randall plantation. He and his parents lived in Virgina and the mistress they worked for was an elderly lady who treated them decently and when she died she promised they would be free but she never left a will:
"Her only relative was a niece in Boston, who arranged for a local lawyer to liquidate Mrs. Garner’s property. It was a terrible day when he arrived with constables and informed Caesar and his parents that they were to be sold. Worse—sold south, with its fearsome legends of cruelty and abomination. Caesar and his family joined the march of coffles, his father going one way, his mother another, and Caesar to his own destiny".
Caesar and Cora decide to head north via the Underground Railroad and to quote Amazon "the railroad is no mere metaphor: "engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil." Prior to reading The Underground Railroad I had my doubts about historical fiction being mixed with magical realism. But I shouldn't have worried. This is a very grounded and powerfully written novel about a terrible time in our nation's history the legacy of which we are still grappling with today.
Thanks for reminding me about this book. It's one I meant to read when it first came out, but then never did. And I was hesitant about the mix of historical and magical realism. But your review makes me want to put it back on my TBR list and actually read it this time. :D
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your review Lark. The underground railroad is a real railroad in the book but the way Colson Whitehead describes how it operates is believable. I left alot out in my review. There are other characters in the novel besides Cora and Caesar. The book can be very intense at points about the horrors of slavery but it really happened and the story needs to be told. Also Colson Whitehead is an excellent writer
ReplyDeleteNicely reviewed. I think I tried this once on audio but put it down. I think I want to read it in print. I have read Whitehead's The Nickel Boys which was effective and tense, and also had a harsh history. But Whitehead is good. I'm impressed you picked this one up this summer. It's certainly dark.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan. I have been trying to read more of the critically acclaimed contemporary authors this year and at first I was going to go with Whitehead's Crook Manifesto but it was too long on hold and The Underground Railroad ready to borrow. I think it's a book that works better in print but it is dark. Agree he is very talented.
DeleteI know I should read this book but it seems like it would so difficult to read.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy, I know what you mean I often feel that way too that there are books out there that I should read but we shouldn't put that kind if pressure on ourselves because time is short and we should only choose the books we want to read.
DeleteI honestly have mixed feelings about this book. I loved the writing and the characters and thought it was a compelling story...but, I wanted a story about the historical Underground Railroad, not a fantasy about a metaphor come to life. That said, it is a powerful story and I agree that Whitehead is writing classics.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a fantasy buff either and yet it seems to be all the rage right now. What I was grateful for though was that though Whitehead included magical realism in his histirical fiction he kept the story grounded with believable characters and an easy to follow story. He is such a great writer.
DeleteBTW, I am the Anonymous poster. Not sure I was Anonymous, but oh well.
DeleteI really admire this book. Like you, fantasy is not really my thing but I think Whitehead really pulled off this melding of fantasy and historical fiction very well. The fantasy aspects of the book seemed to contribute as much to consider about those times as the more realistic parts of the novel. I think this is one that will be remembered for a very long time - and it made me a Colson Whitehead fan forever.
ReplyDeleteAgree Sam, Colson Whitehead and the Underdground Railroad will be remembered a hundred years from now first because it's a great book but also the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award will always keep his novels alive. It's why these awards are such a big deal and should not be given out lightly. And this time they got it right.
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