The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am struggling to write this review in the same way I struggled to read the book. I am torn between tremendous admiration for the author’s creativity and thorough research and my grudging admission that the novel failed to truly transport me the way a five-star novel should. Whitehead’s unflinching portrayal of the savage inhumanity of American slavery is an important if not entertaining read. He manages to pack it all in, from slave ships, to depraved plantation owners, to medical experimentation and sterilization, to sadistic slave catchers. His overlay of magical realism by employing an actual, physical underground railroad to transport slaves from the deep south to the free north is brilliant. The writing is well-crafted and the pace is swift. Despite all of this, I had to push my way through this book, and my hesitation wasn’t solely attributable to the harsh and violent realities it portrayed. I agree with other reviewers who felt they were kept at a remove from characters, either because they were underdeveloped or because the story was told in the third person. I felt the nonfiction objective of this book overpowered the fictional structure it was built upon. It was as though Whitehead wanted construct a complete litany of the abuses associated with this nation’s heritage of slavery more than he wanted to tell a compelling story. The story was a vehicle for the litany. A well crafted vehicle, for sure, but not really a five-star novel. ~ Ms Dimmick