Book Review : Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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"I have a dream...", the first time I ever heard this speech by Martin Luther King Jr, the speech reverberated through me for a very long time. The lives of the people affected by the evils of Slavery can never be compensated and this was also depicted brilliantly in one of my favourite classics till date, Uncle Tom's Cabin. So, recently when I picked up this book, me and 2 of my friends decided to buddy read this one. Though it took me quite a bit of time to finish the book, but it felt like an achievement as it was my first book for 2018.

Blurb:

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven - but the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

What's good with the book:

1. I don't know where to start praising the book but this book is one of those brilliant masterpieces that brings a lump to your throat.

2. The characters touch you in numerous ways possible. One literally feels for Cora and her companions as she tries achieving freedom.

3. Though the term 'Underground Railroad' is a metaphor which is given a shape as a character in the book, one gets to relive the horrors while reading and at times wish that the railroad existed for those souls who were denied freedom for the sole reason that they were black.

What's wrong with the book:

1. A very difficult thing to do but the only negative point about the book was the non-continuous flow of the story. It takes a reader time to get to know the characters but the author does justice to them as the story progresses.

My take on the book:

Looking for a brilliantly written book - Pick this one up. Looking for a book that will haunt you for a very long time - Pick this one up. Looking for a book where eventhough there is no happy ending, it satisfies your hunger for reading - Pick this one up. Just pick this one up. A book that well deserved winning the Pulitzer prize.

My Rating : 🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2 out of 5

Book in Three Words : Gripping. Emotional. Hard-hitting.

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