The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

“Freedom was a thing that shifted as you looked at it, the way a forest is dense with trees up close but from outside, the empty meadow, you see its true limits ."

"Small freedom was the worst punishment of all, presenting the bounty of true freedom into painful relief" 

After decided to read this book I searched in Google for "The Underground Railroad".  Very interesting to know how group of people helped slaves through their network of friends.The author beautifully mixes facts and fiction . This story follows the flight of Cora from her cruel master Randall in Georgia cotton plantation.She was born in slavery and her mother Mabel escaped when she was a child and no news of her ever after.Cora never forgave his mother for abandonment. Mable became a legend for slave catchers.

"White man trying to kill you slow every day, and sometimes trying to kill you fast. Why make it easy for him? That was one kind of work you could say no to."

The journey was one unrelenting horror.The initial idea of escape was planned by Casear , another slave who experienced period of freedom before he was bought by Randall. Casear through his acquaintances came to know about underground railroads and he was very sure Cora will join him.  This is where the author departs from the fact , there were no real physical railroads in those days. The author very cleverly creates characters around these railroads, even the conductors of the rails have their own story. The travel was through boxcar. Like magical realism Cora was transported to one state to another. Each state introduce Cora to new evil.

“Who built it?” Caesar asks. “Who builds anything in this country?”

No one believed in Cora as her search for peaceful life continued from state to state. Her stays in different states were brief and painful but she learnt many things including reading. She was followed by notoriously famous Ridgeway , a slave catcher. His only failure in his work was his inability to catch Cora's mother Mable.

No slave had ever keeled over dead at a spinning wheel or been butchered for a tangle. But nobody wanted to speak on the true disposition of the world. And no one wanted to hear it. Certainly not the white monsters on the other side of the exhibit at that very moment, pushing their greasy snouts against the window, sneering and hooting. Truth was a changing display in a shop window, manipulated by hands when you weren’t looking, alluring and ever out of reach.”

All characters are rebellious. The great pain suffered by the plantation slaves were unimaginable. The whites used various ways of punishing the slaves for fun and enjoyment. The chapters are interrupted by actual 19th century advertisement of slave escapes and rewards for hunting them. one particular section was very interesting - events at Museum of Natural Wonders.  The author beautifully used the characters at the museum to show the attitude of Whites towards blacks.

“People always got things wrong,” she thinks, “on purpose as much as by accident.”

“Look outside as you speed through, and you’ll find the true face of America" - I feel this statement is very important in the whole story.  Outside  was darkness. Those slaves experienced darkness everywhere.The author clearly portrays America as a nation built by slaves. This book takes whites history of blacks on its head by showing how history can be changed according to one's needs and wants. Imaginative , Inventive and Interesting.

Like last years "All The Light We Cannot See" , I felt this book surprised me with unexpected reading experience which i fully enjoyed (with sadness). Another must read !!