Colson Whitehead - The Underground Railroad

Colson Whitehead - The Underground Railroad

Author: BBC Radio 4 October 8, 2019 Duration: 27:11

Colson Whitehead talks about his novel The Underground Railroad with James Naughtie and readers

The novel is a devastating and imaginative account of a young slave's bid for freedom from a brutal Georgian plantation in the American South. All the slaves lead a hellish existence, but Cora has it worse than most; she is an outcast among the slaves and as she approaches womanhood is at greater risk of abuse from the owners. When Caesar, a slave recently arrived from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to escape to the North

Colson Whitehead explains how the history of the Underground Railroad is taught in American schools, although it's a metaphor for the escape networks that ran in the antebellum South, as a child he understood it was real. so in the novel the idea assumes a physical form: a dilapidated boxcar pulled along subterranean tracks by a steam locomotive, picking up fugitives wherever it can

At each stop on her journey, Cora encounters a different world, where she must overcome obstacles as she makes her way to true freedom; reflecting, Colson says, the epic journeys from Homer and also Gulliver's Travels.

And as Colson Whitehead recreates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, the novel weaves the saga of America, from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day

The Underground Railroad won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a place on Obama’s summer reading list, and was included in Oprah's book club.

To take part in future Bookclubs email bookclub@bbc.co.uk

Presenter : James Naughtie Producer : Dymphna Flynn

November's Bookclub Choice : Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)


For over two decades, Bookclub from BBC Radio 4 has offered a unique and intimate space where literature is unpacked by the very people who brought it to life. Guided by the insightful James Naughtie, each episode gathers a small group of engaged readers for a candid conversation with an acclaimed author about one of their most significant works. This isn't a formal literary critique, but a deep, spoiler-filled discussion that feels like the best kind of book group meeting. Listeners are invited to sit in as the author revisits their creation, often sharing surprising stories about their inspiration, the challenges they faced during writing, and how they feel about the work years later. The questions from the readers are always thoughtful and often unexpected, leading to revelations that shed new light on familiar novels. This podcast provides a rare opportunity to move beyond the page and understand the craft, the choices, and the person behind a beloved book. It’s a consistently enriching experience for anyone who has ever finished a novel and immediately wished they could ask the author, "How did you do that?" or "What did you really mean here?" Tune in for thoughtful, revealing, and deeply human conversations that will change the way you think about your favorite stories.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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