The History Book Club discussion

This is the discussion thread for the September Book of the Month Read - The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

This discussion kicks off on September 8th.

Note: This book is based upon the real events dealing with the Underground Railroad but is considered "historical fiction".

by Colson Whitehead

Publisher's Synopsis:

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, the #1 New York Times bestseller from Colson Whitehead, a magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell 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—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. 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. And 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.

Like the protagonist of Gulliver’s Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey—hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre–Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

About the Author:



Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Underground Railroad, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, the 2016 National Book Award, and named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review, as well as The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and The Colossus of New York.

He is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of the MacArthur and Guggenheim fellowships. He lives in New York City.

Other Books by Colson Whitehead:

by Colson Whitehead

Praise:

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE, THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE ALA ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL ** NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, WALL STREET JOURNAL, WASHINGTON POST, TIME, PEOPLE, NPR AND MORE ** #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Get it, then get another copy for someone you know because you are definitely going to want to talk about it once you read that heart-stopping last page.”
--Oprah Winfrey (Oprah's Book Club 2016 Selection)

“[A] potent, almost hallucinatory novel... It possesses the chilling matter-of-fact power of the slave narratives collected by the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, with echoes of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and brush strokes borrowed from Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Kafka and Jonathan Swift…He has told a story essential to our understanding of the American past and the American present.”
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Think Toni Morrison (Beloved), Alex Haley (Roots); think 12 Years a Slave…An electrifying novel…a great adventure tale, teeming with memorable characters…Tense, graphic, uplifting and informed, this is a story to share and remember.”
--People, (Book of the Week)

"With this novel, Colson Whitehead proves that he belongs on any short list of America's greatest authors--his talent and range are beyond impressive and impossible to ignore. The Underground Railroad is an American masterpiece, as much a searing document of a cruel history as a uniquely brilliant work of fiction."
--Michael Schaub, NPR

“Far and away the most anticipated literary novel of the year, The Underground Railroad marks a new triumph for Whitehead…[A] book that resonates with deep emotional timbre. The Underground Railroad reanimates the slave narrative, disrupts our settled sense of the past and stretches the ligaments of history right into our own era...The canon of essential novels about America's peculiar institution just grew by one.”
--Ron Charles, Washington Post

Table of Contents

Ajarry 1

Georgia 9

Ridgeway 71

South Carolina 83

Stevens 133

North Carolina 141

Ethel 189

Tennessee 197

Caesar 229

Indiana 237

Mabel 289

The North 297

SYLLABUS - WEEK ONE:

Week One Assignment: September 8th - September 16th - (pages 1 - 82)

Ajarry 1

Georgia 9

Ridgeway 71

SYLLABUS - WEEK TWO:

Week Two Assignment: September 17th - September 24th - (pages 83 - 188)

South Carolina 83

Stevens 133

North Carolina 141

SYLLABUS - WEEK THREE:

Week Three Assignment: September 25th - October 1st - (pages 189 - 236 )

Ethel 189

Tennessee 197

Caesar 229

SYLLABUS - WEEK FOUR:

Week Four Assignment: October 2nd - October 8th - (pages 237 - 306 )

Indiana 237

Mabel 289

The North 297

Introduction and Let us Get Started:

Folks please introduce yourself and let us know why this book interested you and what you hope to get from reading it?

What interested you about this "historical fiction" Pulitzer Prize winner?

This book is another path that we have taken to select books that are either history books, non fiction, historical fiction, award winners, classics, etc.

Let us know who you are - brief intro - your avatar name is fine but if you want to share your first name that is good too. Also where are you reading from - we love to know where in the world all of our folks are located - since we are a strong global community.

All, I have set up the thread so that we can begin discussion on September 8th - remember this is a single thread discussion so you must be careful about spoilers. We do not have this problem on a multi thread discussion.

However for my benefit and for everybody else's I am changing things a bit. If you are posting during the week of the reading schedule and you are only posting information about that week's reading and not going ahead - then you do not have to use the spoiler html. However, if you go ahead of the weekly reading and want to post ahead about some topic or page or quote that we have not been assigned yet and have not read - you are bound to use the spoiler html with the header or your post will be moved to the spoiler glossary thread.

At any time you can post on the spoiler glossary thread but on this discussion thread we are posting and staying with the assignments and not getting ahead if in fact you do not want to be bound to use the spoiler html.

So it is up to you. If you stay with the assignments and do not post about something ahead that is coming up - you do not have to use the spoiler html but if you don't and you get ahead or you want to talk about something expansive then you MUST use the spoiler html or post it on the glossary spoiler thread.

Those of you who are going to read The Underground Railroad. Use the spoiler html if you plan to post about pages ahead of the weekly discussion because this is a single thread discussion.

1. Read messages (); those messages show you the rules for the BOTM discussion and how to do the spoiler html.

2. Messages and actually show you the spoiler html code. Use it on this thread if you plan to go ahead of the weekly assigned reading or if you become more expansive. You can post expansive material on the glossary thread with spoiler html but here you must use the spoiler html if you get ahead or become too expansive.

3. Where is the Table of Contents and the Weekly Reading Assignments? - for this selection - check message 4 for the table of contents and messages 5, 6, 7 and 8 for the syllabi for all four weeks - so that your reading schedule matches the assigned reading for that week.

Remember the following:

Everyone is welcome but make sure to use the goodreads spoiler function if you get ahead of the assigned weekly pages.

If you come to the discussion after folks have finished reading it, please feel free to post your comments as we will always come back to the thread to discuss the book.

The rules

You must follow the rules of the History Book Club and also:

First rule of Book of the Month discussions:
Respect other people's opinions, no matter how controversial you think they may be.

Second rule of Book of the Month discussions:
Always, always Chapter/page mark and spoiler alert your posts if you are discussing parts of the book that are ahead of the pages assigned or if you have become expansive it your topics.

To do these spoilers, follows these easy steps:

Step 1. enclose the word spoiler in forward and back arrows; < >

Step 2. write your spoiler comments in

Step 3. enclose the word /spoiler in arrows as above, BUT NOTE the forward slash in front of the word. You must put that forward slash in.

Your spoiler should appear like this:
(view spoiler)

And please mark your spoiler clearly like this:

State a Chapter and page if you can.
EG: Chapter 24, page 154

Or say Up to Chapter *___ (*insert chapter number) if your comment is more broad and not from a single chapter.

Chapter 1, p. 23
(view spoiler)[I know everything now about chapter one and I am going to post it here - oops I better place this in a spoiler alert so I do not ruin the book for others (hide spoiler)]

If you are raising a question/issue for the group about the book, you don't need to put that in a spoiler, but if you are citing something specific, it might be good to use a spoiler.

By using spoilers, you don't ruin the experience of someone who is reading slower or started later or is not reading the assigned pages.

Thanks.

All, we do not have to do citations regarding the book or the author being discussed during the book discussion on these discussion threads - nor do we have to cite any personage in the book being discussed while on the discussion threads related to this book.

However if we discuss folks outside the scope of the book or another book is cited which is not the book and author discussed then we do have to do that citation according to our citation rules. That makes it easier to not disrupt the discussion.

You can copy and paste below to get your spoiler right:

(view spoiler)[Put Text Here (hide spoiler)]

This is the discussion thread folks and is the non spoiler thread.

The other thread is the glossary which is the spoiler thread.

Welcome folks to the discussion of The Underground Railroad.

This week's assignment:

SYLLABUS - WEEK ONE:

Week One Assignment: September 8th - September 16th - (pages 1 - 82)

Ajarry 1

Georgia 9

Ridgeway 71

Be sure to remember that on this thread for this week you cannot discuss anything beyond page 71 without spoilers. Additionally for this week if you want to go beyond that page - you must post your comments in the glossary thread for this book.

Let us kick this off by introducing yourself and tell us why this book interested you and why you wanted to read and discuss it.

Also if you have begun Chapter One - what are your initial impressions?

My name is Bentley and I am from the Metro NYC area and I am very interested in reading this book and comparing this narrative to the original events which are the underpinnings for the book's theme.

Hello, my name is Elizabeth, and I am in the metro DC area. I'm interested in reading this book because it's been quite some time since I've studied anything about this period, so I'm looking forward to refreshing my memory about the history and seeing how the story integrates itself with what I know about facts from the time.

I did this week's reading assignment on my way to work this morning. Originally I was planning just to start the first chapter, but then I got carried away!

So far, I'm enjoying the narrative style of it, especially how Whitehead provides his readers with background on the characters as he goes along rather than dumping it all on us from the start. It's obviously not a fun read, but I've found it thought-provoking, and I appreciate the focus given to Cora and her fellow slaves, while not disregarding the impact of the various white people in their lives. It already feels like the main characters have full personalities, which enhances the story right at the beginning.

Though it's likely obvious for anyone picking up a book on this topic, I just want to warn everyone that there are instances of various kinds of abuse right in this first week's reading assignment, so please do not select this book if you wish to avoid that.

Overall, I've enjoyed what I've read, and I look forward to reading further next week!

Hi, I'm Connie from Connecticut and I've read the first three chapters. It's a good time to revisit slavery and prejudice with all the discussion going on in the US about Civil War monuments. After reading reviews when Colson Whitehead won the National Book Award, I've been curious how he will incorporate important events in black history into the book along the Underground Railroad.

The first chapter really drove home how the slaves were viewed as just another commodity to be traded with no humanity, and how many middle men were involved before the slaves were sold. There were a large number of people personally involved and financially profiting from the institution of slavery.

I'm impressed with the inner strength of Cora, a slave who has not had a lot of support in her young life, since she'll certainly face adversity as she travels on the Underground Railroad. Female slaves were subject to all the kinds of abuse that male slaves feared, plus they also had to worry about rape. So it seems like a good choice for Whitehead to make his main character female.

Hello, my name is Portia and I live in Northern Virginia (NOVA). This book has been on my tbr for a while. Time to begin.

Hello, all. My name is Dusty, and I am reading from Raleigh, North Carolina. I have been very interested in this book for quite some time after having seen it featured on several recommended reading lists.

I am looking forward to reading this novel and joining the discussion.

I can't believe I missed seeing this group assignment until today. My book is due to arrive from Amazon on Monday, so I'll dig in along with you guys later next week. Anyway, Matt from Tallahassee, Florida. I have been reading a lot on slavery and civil rights in America in the last four years and I understand this is a great book, which takes a good bit of liberality with the concept of the UR while conveying whatever points the author wishes to convey. It sounds like an exciting read. I recently read "The Good Lord Bird" by James McBride and I enjoyed how, on a similar topic, McBride treated the historical topic of John Brown well, even while taking some liberties with the record. by James McBride

Hello, I am Debbie in Kentucky. As others have mentioned, this book has been on my list for awhile. I started reading it a couple of days ago and have not wanted to put it down. Excellent writing.

@Deborah - welcome - I am glad that you have started digging into the Week One assignment.

@Matthew - that is fine Matthew there is no rush - we will be discussing the week one assignment into next week so no rush at all.

Yes, there is quite a bit of liberality taken - historical fiction with a fantasy overtone.

But I think that is a good way to discuss what is historical and what is not and what is the author's point of view and what you agree with and disagree with.

You did pretty well with the citation but are missing a couple of things.

The book cover is first, then a space, the word by, then another space, then the author's photos if available and then the author's link which you have.

Here is an example of how the book you posted should look:

by James McBride

@Dusty welcome - we hope you will enjoy the book and post often.

@Portia - welcome and we are all digging in together so that is a good thing

@Connie - welcome from the wonderful state of Connecticut - I agree that a strong female lead character is an interesting as well as great choice for the book - for all of the reasons you cited

@Elizabeth - thank you for pointing that out to the membership. I think though that when talking about slavery - most folks are familiar from historical accounts - what exactly were the hardships and abuse many slaves faced every day. Some were much more fortunate and had good owners but that was not always the case and just simply being a human being and being owned by another is abusive in and of itself.

However, sometimes these accounts might be too graphic for some and a warning is a good thing.

I am glad that you are enjoying the book.

Folks post your hellos and initial impressions.

Hello, I am Beatriz from Guatemala (Central America). I bought this book last year, and hadn't had the chance to read it until now. I finished it last weekend, and loved it.

Hello, Jeff from Missouri. I joined this discussion mostly because I hadn't taken part in one yet this year, but I am growing increasingly eager to read this book (going to try to wrap up One Hundred Years of Solitude first, this weekend). I have been reading presidential biographies and have recently finished #18 Grant, so I have seen extensively the slavery issue from the executive, judicial, and legislative standpoints; now it is time to see it a little more from the inside -- albeit a fictional interpretation. I'm excited!

(I have sixty pages to go in:
by Gabriel García Márquez.)

For a look at the opinions on slavery of the people that Lincoln placed around himself:
by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

I'm June from Barbados 🇧🇧 in the Caribbean. I have always been intrigued by slavery and neo-slavery narratives. This book has generated quite a bit of hype since last year. Honestly I was waiting for the hype to die down before reading. But whilst it is not an enjoyable read, it seems to be one of those contemporary must read books given ongoing racial tensions. When a book wins the National Book, Pulitzer and Arthur C. Clarke awards I wonder about its merits. And having recently joined this group I finally get to read a book of the month and explore this historical fiction which managed to win a literary science fiction award.

Hello, I'm Harmke from the Utrecht area in the Netherlands. This book was on my tbr-list for a while because of all of the buzz in the press. I read the book this summer.

I really liked the writing and story telling in the first chapters. You get familiar with Cora and her life at the plantation very quickly. It's not a pleasant read considering the fact that this was daily life for slaves on plantations.

I am reading it now. I too have difficulty reading the horror of Cora's and other slaves treatment. But the writing can relate to so many other ways of life: "to escape the boundary of the plantation was to escape the fundamental principles of your existence: impossible." Descriptive of my own life as a white, middle-class, educated, female over 150 years later. Not even trying to compare my life to Cora's, please do not misunderstand. I am just relating how well the author places the reader in empathy with his verse.
This is an excellent literary story and would be appreciated by many who prefer an elevated read.

I am from West Virginia. Forgot to add that. I am reading due to Bentley's invite and thankful for it. I am in the process of editing my own book and have not allowed myself the pleasure of reading other's but I am glad Bentley suggested it.

Hi all! I have had this book on my tbr list for months and I'm so excited to finally read It! I first heard about this book from an NPR interview with the author. Naturally it caught my attention. I also seem to have a thing for female protagonists. That being said, I am from Sarasota, FL. My family evacuated last night to Tennessee to escape Irma. I have internet right now, but not sure what will happen as I go back home. However, I am eager to keep up with the discussion and I'm eager for the distraction!

Prayers for Kaleen and her family for their safety and swift return to home and that all will be well.

Hi, I started the book this weekend. I usually don't read Historical Fiction. I am always afraid that if I read it I might forget if it was a story or historical fact. I started the book this weekend and I think I have caught up with the group. So far I am enjoying (if you can use that phrase considering the content). The author did a good job of developing the characters and setting the background for the book.

I read this book earlier this year after some people talked about it at a dinner party. I had seen some good reviews and several book groups were talking about it as well so I checked it out from the library. One of the women who really liked it is black and originally from Baltimore. She said that when she was a kid she thought that the Underground Railroad was really a railroad with trains and stations; she was particularly interested in this book because it meant that someone else had the same idea.

I enjoyed reading it and it fits in with some family research I have been doing going through the records of old Patrols from the early 1800s in North Carolina. I read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi soon after I finished Underground Railroad.

Jenny, I've had those two books sitting next to each other on my to-be-read list for a while too. Not having read either one of them, they just seem to go together.

by Yaa Gyasi

I have read a few slave novels in the past so I was prepared for the grim realities presented in the first chapters. I especially like how Mr. Whitehead incorporated the backstory into the first two chapters. I'm thinking of re-reading the views of Ridgeway since this was least familiar voice for me. But I will say the characters are all well fleshed out and the world building is solid. Honestly undecided about the railroad portion at present.

But the balance given to both slaves and owners, freedmen as well as slave catchers and other Caucasians has been good. And so far a solid start.

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania in the middle of the last century. (I just LOVE saying that!) Both my also mid-Cen spouse and I believed, as children, that there really was a railway under the ground, like the NY Subway or the D.C. Metro, so we believers are many!! His family in Ohio had a real stop on the railway. Pfc, imho.

June wrote: "I have read a few slave novels in the past so I was prepared for the grim realities presented in the first chapters. I especially like how Mr. Whitehead incorporated the backstory into the first tw..."

I was a history major in college focusing on the period in and around the Civil War. Therefore, I too was prepared for the horrors presented in the first few chapters, but the level of brutality never fails to disgust and anger me. Out of this unimaginable life rises Cora, a character to which I quickly took a liking. She is fierce, independent, and brave beyond description.

It is interesting to see this period through the eyes of so many different characters. This was an unexpected twist to what I had imagined the novel to be. Ajarry, the Randalls, Cora, Ridgeway - each perspective is so unique and adds to the story in a creative way.

However, I agree with June. I'm not so sure how I feel about the "railroad" being an actual railroad. Initially, I'm sort of put off by it. I am keeping an open mind though and interested in how it will develop throughout the story.

I too, am unsure of how the railroad being an actual railroad is going to play out but I am keeping an open mind. But how Whitehead wrote it was an "...inconceivable source and shooting toward a miraculous terminus." His words are mesmerizing. I love the strength of the characters. Though I hate what Ridgeway does, I understand teenage rebellion of not wanting to follow in your parent's footsteps. "the footsteps of a destiny that never drew closer" If Whitehead reads these, Bravo. He will regret his thoughts of his father one day. I was surprised where the two stopped first. (Trying not to alert a spoiler for those who haven't read past Ridgeway). I thought they would go further north. I visited Charleston, SC once and cried my eyes out at the slave mart that is now the city market. I am surprised that SC was written to be an understanding southern sate. I liked how Whitehead made you understand that cotton was just not enslaving blacks but also whites in some ways.

Hurricane Irma is holding my book hostage in the mail.

Dang it Irma

This is soooo gooood! (on p. 61) I do not know anything about the real underground railroad and little about the real-life conditions of the worst-treated slaves. As if slavery itself wasn't bad enough!!?? I can't help but be angry, even though this is fiction. But they say that truth is stranger than fiction... can it be more savage, too?

I hate spoilers so much, I may tend to overuse the hiding code, so forgive me. I don't like long movie trailers, Netflix synopses, or book reviews for this reason. So here goes:

Chapter 3 (Ridgeway), page 80.
(view spoiler)[Great insight on "the American imperative." Also known as, "he who who owns the gun owns the world." Or the bigger gun. (hide spoiler)] Why can't it be the bigger heart that prevails, as a rule instead of an exception?

I'm stoked, my book just arrived in the mail

Yea. OMG. That's wonderful

I'm only about half-way through this week's reading, but I found the beginning interesting. I visited Charleston, SC, last month for the first time, despite growing up in and living in the South all of my life. In Chapter 1, "Ajarry", pp. 4-5, there is a reference to stopping on Sullivan's Island so the slave ship could be cleared for landing in Charleston Harbor. I was on Sullivan's Island a few weeks ago, and visited Ft. Moultrie there. But long before Fort Moultrie was built, the island was used as a quarantine station for slave ships to prevent the spread of disease to the city. The slaves were basically dumped on the island at the mouth of the harbor, and, if they did not appear diseased after a certain amount of time, they were cleared to land in the city proper. Interestingly, this barren sand spit of an island has gone down in history books as "the Ellis Island of black America." We Americans have been taught to be proud of our Ellis Island and how it represents "the melting pot" of all cultures. All except one--the African-American culture. Their experience was not the same as the experience we choose to exalt.

Also, in the same paragraph on p. 5 there is a reference to, "Another busy day on the Exchange," and it goes on to talk about the slave auction of Cora's grandmother. This is a reference to Charleston's Customs and Exchange Building at the harbor end of Broad Street right on the Cooper River. There is a spot on the street just north of the Exchange building that is marked with a historical marker, "Slave Auctions." The slaves were brought off the ships and led up to the north side of the Exchange building where they were auctioned off right on the street. Later on in the mid-1800s, the City of Charleston decided this was just too prurient and ugly of a thing for an upscale city, so an ordinance was passed to move slave auctions indoors. Now, right around the corner on Chalmers Street, you can visit the old indoor Slave Mart museum, which testifies to Charleston's conscience at the time, which was only pricked enough to keep such things out-of-sight and out-of-mind. I've included a link in Message 11 of the other spoiler thread of a woodcut of an open air slave auction at the Exchange building.

Thanks for that information!

Hi, this is Mary Ellen from New Haven, CT. I read this book a couple of months ago for another GR group. I was interested because of all the attention it was receiving.

Unfortunately, I had to return the book to the library so I must rely on my (unreliable!) memory.

The brutality of the treatment on the plantation struck me in the gut. Especially the punishment meted out to one slave who ran away - a very dragged-out execution. What truly horrified me was that some ladies, guests of the plantation owner, were enjoying their luncheon - prepared, of course, by other slaves - in view of the torture this man was undergoing. I would like to think this could not possibly be true, but I suspect Whitehead got his ideas from contemporary writings, and found no need to exaggerate.

I was initially intrigued by the "railroad" idea, but it became just a gimmick for me. I look forward to everyone's comments on its significance as we go along.