From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead

Start date: June 15, 2017

Finish date: July 1, 2017

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Sherry

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 428 topics — 16,892 comments total

Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
By Lynn · 1 post · 41 views

last updated Jun 20, 2025 08:37AM

Circe - discussion with spoilers
By Jane · 17 posts · 23 views

last updated Sep 06, 2025 04:48PM

showing 8 of 8 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 12, 2016 Kecia rated it liked it

Shelves: obama, usa, oprah

I made the decision several years ago not to read fiction about the holocaust. The real thing was horrible enough. Fiction seems to trivialize it, to me anyway. I now feel the same way about slavery.

The characters in this novel did not ring true to me. They all seemed one dimensional. I heard Teddy Wayne on NPR talking about his new book Loner. He said if he had made is character David evil from page one he would have read more like a cartoon character than a human. That, for me, was the one bi ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2017 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: 100-nyt-books, book-club-choice, audible

I listened to this and probably should have read it instead because there are no clear chapter changes that come across in audio. It caused some confusion in the listening experience. That said, it was an extraordinary book. Well worth another read. The story of Cora's efforts to escape slavery is shocking in its inhumanity. Plantation life is horrifying in its rendering of what being treated as property really looks like. In her journey, she also experiences other variations on this theme. It g ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 06, 2022 Loretta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

Unlike most of my audio reads, I had to take this one slowly, in small pieces. It is, unsurprisingly, a hard read (any book about /set in chattel slavery should be a hard read, and if it isn't hard it's probably not an honest depiction). But it is a powerful, vivid, beautifully crafted word that should be read and taken in. And if you are a white reader, I do recommend taking it slow so you can notice your own reactions and defensiveness and desire to turn away. We cannot turn away. This history ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2017 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Whitehead reimagines the Underground Railroad as a literal railroad. I remember thinking of it that way as a child. His story focuses on Cora, a slave on a brutal Georgia cotton plantation. He highlights the way slavery twisted everyone involved. He also portrays the way different states could have responded to slavery short of abolition. An interesting book to read in companion to Underground Airlines, which reimagines the U.S. if slavery had continued to the present day in a few states.

Like · see review