The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I just read this, coming to it after it's been out for some time. In addition to all its other accolades it was second in the Locus Awards science fiction novel category--that's how I found it. Mostly it's an alternate history, with a very near resemblance to the real thing.

I am not sure what to think. A lot of important critics like this book, giving it a Pulitzer is a pretty big deal. Maybe it's the feeling that I'm supposed to like it. There's some good writing here, I found Cora's introspections more meaningful than some reviewers did. Partly that would be because early on I let go of the notion that the characters would have authentic period voices. Colson Whitehead is living now, during the rise of the Right and of Black Lives Matter, and his characters seem like the hardest, most extreme and most self-aware versions of current activist-type people. It's a harsh, tell-it-like-it-is novel so he's getting points for that.

It's not the sort of book you actually like. But if it were put together better it would have more impact. I'm with many of the more disappointed reviewers--it's hard to engage with the characters, they are closer to caricatures and rather thin. The shocking violence gets the point across about the times and the very clear way in which white settlers took what they wanted from anyone in their path. But in the end I was pretty remote from it.



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