Last November, I attended a reading of The Underground Railroad at Ludwig Maximillian University. Throughout this event, I was struck not only by Colson Whitehead’s personal eloquence, intelligence, and charm but also by his dedication to authenticity. During the interview portion, for instance, he described himself as feeling unprepared to do justice to a subject matter as substantial and serious as American slavery when the idea for The Underground Railroad first came to him. I’m glad he eventually did feel ready because what he produced was a smash hit, able to speak not only to the America of the nineteenth-century but to that of twenty-first as well.
Colson Whitehead began his career as a novelist in 1999 with the publication of The Intuitionist, but the New York native reached new literary heights when his most recent novel, The Underground Railroad, became the recipient of the coveted double-O stamp of approval—the O’s referring to Oprah and Obama, who featured the novel in their book club and reading list, respectively. Beyond these undeniably influential celebrity endorsements, Whitehead’s novel has also been nominated for and won a veritable slew of prizes and awards including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award.
I first discovered Colson Whitehead’s work my junior year of college while delving into what would become an unbridled passion for American literature. While taking part in a course called “American Fiction since 1960,” I read not only Whitehead’s debut novel, The Intuitionist, but also his 2006 novel, Apex Hides the Hurt. From that moment on, Whitehead crashed into my personal “Top Authors Alive Today” list and has failed to budge ever since. Stylistically, Whitehead’s novels exhibit a heart comprised of play and whimsy. Thematically, he frequently draws from his own experience. Often, he melds mundane reality with quirky, original and humorous plot points. The unbridled creativity with which his novels approach the real world is an art in and of itself. Even as he boldly jumps across genres, his particular voice remains clear and intact.
“If you want to see what this nation is all about, you have to ride the rails.”
In The Underground Railroad, Whitehead tackles America’s dark history, providing us with a thoroughly researched representation of the nineteenth century slave narrative. In many ways, the opening of Whitehead’s novel is reminiscent of famous works like Frederick Douglas’ autobiographies and Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Whitehead’s harrowing depiction of plantation life is guided by a clear drive for authentic representation. Certainly, this commitment to accuracy is one of the reasons his novel has found such success. It is only after Whitehead’s heroine, the teenage slave Cora, sets off on her journey to freedom via the Underground Railroad that Whitehead’s specific style and intelligent wit are revealed. In Whitehead’s alternate history, the Underground Railroad is not only a metaphorical system of goodhearted individuals guiding runaways towards freedom, but a literal railroad, cobbled together in secret, coursing through the foundation of America’s sweat-stained soils.
Follow Cora’s journey north as a passenger of this alternate railroad and join her as she discovers the truth of the American way. After all, as one of Whitehead’s railroad conductors claims, “If you want to see what this nation is all about, you have to ride the rails. Look outside as you speed through, and you’ll find the true face of America.” The America Cora discovers is one of racism, violence,
Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. New York, Doubleday, 2016.
