The Underground Railroad by Colson WhiteheadMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Who are you after you finish something this magnificent -- in constructing it you have also journeyed through it, to the other side... a new person steps out into the light. The up-top world must be so ordinary compared to the miracle beneath, the miracle you made with your sweat and blood. The secret triumph you keep in your heart."
This is my second Colson Whitehead book, and one of the deepest pleasures of reading is the challenge of profiling an author's style after reading different works.
What I like about Whitehead is his ability to surprise the reader: you don't see the twists coming, especially towards the end.
His use of non-linear narrative was put to heartbreaking effect, when he allows you to go back in time and view the world through a deceased character's eyes. He lets you mourn them, then gives you a brief chapter's reunion, and you feel the pain of their loss even more deeply.
Whitehead's take on a literal railroad dedicated to smuggling slaves to freedom is still full of truth, and while the actual railroad did not exist, the generous souls who risked life and limb to help free others certainly did. And the real thing is even more miraculous.
"We may not know the way through the forest, but we can pick each other up when we fall, and we will arrive together."
How wonderful to discover that a day ago, the teaser for the upcoming Amazon series was uploaded! See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai_94...
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