topic Re: Underground Railroad in Book Club

Underground Railroad

Patriot3 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 16:46:00 GMT

Has anyone read "Underground Railroad"? I am about 1/4 thru it and don't like it. Am not going to finish it. It seems so fragmented to me. The story doesn't flow right.

Re: Underground Railroad

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 16:51:34 GMT

Hi Patriot. I read it-and it was one of THE most disturbing books I ever read. There are books I will re-read, but this is not one of them.

If you are stressed out easily, I don't recommend reading this before bed.

In spite of saying all this....part of me wants to say everyone should read it.

Poodlepet2

Re: Underground Railroad

Patriot3 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 17:23:43 GMT

Poodlepet........Maybe I should keep reading it and stay focused more

Re: Underground Railroad

millieshops — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 17:52:38 GMT

@Patriot3I just finished the first section, so I, too, am about 1/4 in.

Once I realized just whether it was Cora or her mother or her grandmother who was being discussed at various times, I was not bothered by any feeling of fragmentation. I was unsettled by the narration at first though.

I'm going to stick with it. It 's a look at that culture I haven't read much about and it's Whitehead's take on the slave expThe experience that won him the Pulitzer.

I can tell you that you have company in giving up. This book was the selection of my book club a few weeks back, but I hadn't gotten the novel until too late to finish it. Among our group, those who had finished it were favorably impressed, but a similar number had not finished and I think I will be the only one who hadn't read the whole book who still will.

Of those who didn't finish, no one mentioned being bothered by the writing style - they had been unable to cope with the raw ugliness of many of the descriptions in that first section.

Re: Underground Railroad

Poodlepet2 — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 20:23:39 GMT

Hi @millieshops. The ugliness gets worse: this book was not boring whatsoever, but the inhumanity of man is what made it so hard for me to read to be honest.

Poodlepet2

Re: Underground Railroad

millieshops — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 21:17:55 GMT

@Poodlepet2That's exactly what several of my bookclub friends who finished the book reported. It's a tough read because of the ugliness. I suspect that one of the reasons I just couldn't read the whole thing in a few days was that I just had to put it down occasionally.

I had just finished reading Jodi Piccoult's The Storyteller and some of the scenes in that book regarding the Holocaust were like that - small doses were enough.

Re: Underground Railroad

Big Joanie — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 02:35:47 GMT

It was a tough read ... but what book about slavery isn't .....

Re: Underground Railroad

sunala — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 19:01:03 GMT

I waited a long time to get the eBook from my library. I started to read it, and decided this wasn't for me. At least not at this time.

Thanks for your posts. I guess I wasn't alone.

Re: Underground Railroad

Big Sister — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 23:15:36 GMT

OT, when I see the words "Underground Railroad" I think of Porsha from RHOA. Wonder if she has bought tickets for a trip. lol

Re: Underground Railroad

Group 5 minus 1 — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 23:46:08 GMT

This is OT but did you all know that in SF during the Viet Nam war that there was an UG railroad going to Canada. There was an Ironside sgment about it and I'm guessing it is true.