The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)

Stupendous book, hard to follow in audio

I started this on a drive but ended up buying the Kindle version and reading it. It's one of the best books I ever read; deeply moving, vivid, and important. But his time cuts and character introductions make it hard to follow as a listener. The reader was fine; it's the book's structure that's challenging.

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Hard to follow in audio format

Any additional comments?

The story is fascinating and important, but there are aspects to the story that make it hard to follow in this format. It felt like there were opening quotes, or ads searching for missing slaves at the introduction of each chapter, which didn't translate well in audio. There is also quite a bit of reminiscing done by the characters which also became difficult to understand.I may go back and re-read this sometime because I feel like I kept missing parts. I would recommend the book, but I would recommend reading it as opposed to listening.

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Narrator is fantastic and the story is a Good one

What did you love best about The Underground Railroad (Oprah's Book Club)?

I like the narrator a lot. I can't make it through a novel unless the narrator is competent, no matter how good the narrative is.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I liked all of the characters. Even the unlikable characters were fun to hear about.

Have you listened to any of Bahni Turpin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I have not, but I will listen to more in the future if she narrates novels in which I am interested. She was the perfect narrator for this story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not laugh, as this is not a comedic novel, and I have never cried while listening to an audiobook. My reaction was not extreme, but I was interested in the story for the entire way through it.

Any additional comments?

This is brilliant concept in regards to the actual Underground Railroad. I like what the author has done here, and I imagine this novel will be studied in literature classes in the future. I do suggest giving it a try.

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Wait! What?

Mr. Colson does a excellent job of portraying the abhorrent cruelty of slavery as it was practiced in the United States. However, it’s difficult to find a reason why he veered so far away from credible history. In Colson’s underground railroad, steam locomotives actually travel through early nineteenth century stone tunnels under the South. There is also a high-rise in South Carolina. In this version of American history, the antebellum South Carolina government is rescuing slaves from the plantation by purchasing them and teaching them to read. While, at the same time forcing tubal ligations on the emancipated women, a procedure not performed until after the Civil War. Is this supposed to be allegorical, and I missed it? And all of this in the first five chapters. I quit reading at this point.

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Great info, weak story

The subject matter is wonderful and I applaud the efforts of the author to include many details that are often isolated to academic articles. However, though strong on the academic side, the storytelling failed to engage me in the way that really good historical fiction should. I feel almost bad giving a book with a fantastic subject less than a fantastic review, but it simply didn't live up to the hype. The good news is that there is still room for an author who can provide excellent research *and* an engaging story.

I would say that the subject matter is important enough that I would recommend this book, even if the story could have been better.

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Disappointing Departure from Reality

I love historical fiction, and I even like a bit of historical "fantasy", but I draw the line when the writer changes the facts of history. This book depicts the unjust life of a slave, and the reasons that he or she would risk everything for freedom, but I just could not suspend my disbelief enough to accept that the Underground Railroad was an actual train that ran underground. Also, some of the stops on the railroad were just plain unbelievable. I consulted with an expert of that time and place, to find out if there was anything like the comfortable welcome for escaped slaves in South Carolina, which provided them with food, shelter, clothing, vocational training, and job placement. She assured me that she'd never heard of such a thing. The author's use of language was good, but the characters became stereotypical cardboard cutouts without much soul, moving through an unrecognizable series of settings on their way north, stopping in every state along the way. These are my personal reactions to the book, and I'm sure others would like it, but it's not for me. It's modeled on Candide, I think.

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Why?

The narration is fantastic. The story line though? Why did the author choose to revise the history? It makes me wonder what in the book was based on factual research and what was conjecture.

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Under ground railroad

I have read faster moving books this was very slow. Narrative was very good and the story content was very poor. Nothing new here.

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Disappointing

Historical fiction within the confines of reality is one thing and wholly acceptable, but remaking a fantasy out of a make believe train is another. I read the first half of the book thinking it an accurate historical presentation of slavery and then realizing later in the book that it’s a fantasy. It’s not even a good marriage of history and fiction, but a splicing together of reality with fantasy and creative license. All of a sudden there was a make believe underground train. What?! I couldn’t finish it. This is not a historical fiction work. Not worth the read.

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Hard to follow

I was interested in the premise of the book. For there to be an actual Underground Railroad is a very interesting concept. However, the story was very difficult to follow because you were constantly changing back and forth in time. Trying to maintain who was speaking in reference to what was confusing. It was just not as interesting as I'd hoped it would be.

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