With 'The Underground Railroad', Colson Whitehead displays his considerable imaginative powers by transforming the metaphorical network of abolitionists in nineteenth century America into a bona fide subterranean train system intended to spirit fugitive slaves to northern states in their quest for safety and freedom. This device cleverly plunges the reader into feelings of shock and angst whilst following the flight of Cora, a determined fugitive slave from Georgia who experiences ups and downs during her nail-biting voyage northwards. Whitehead recounts his tale with considerable finesse :
Cora's multiple betrayals at the hands of deceptively kind strangers whether on the part of seemingly benevolent white Americans or even her black brethren demonstrate the author's lucid yet bleak vision of the human condition. A gripping and stimulating read-- a powerful reminder of the unique cruelty of that 'peculiar institution' tolerated for too long in the American South until the Civil War.
That 'peculiar institution'
With 'The Underground Railroad', Colson Whitehead displays his considerable imaginative powers by transforming the metaphorical network of abolitionists in nineteenth century America into a bona fide subterranean train system intended to spirit fugitive slaves to northern states in their quest for safety and freedom. This device cleverly plunges the reader into feelings of shock and angst whilst following the flight of Cora, a determined fugitive slave from Georgia who experiences ups and downs during her nail-biting voyage northwards. Whitehead recounts his tale with considerable finesse : Cora's multiple betrayals at the hands of deceptively kind strangers whether on the part of seemingly benevolent white Americans or even her black brethren demonstrate the author's lucid yet bleak vision of the human condition. A gripping and stimulating read-- a powerful reminder of the unique cruelty of that 'peculiar institution' tolerated for too long in the American South until the Civil War.