Today is the day for our second book club discussion. Please put your comments for the underground railroad book club discussion questions in the comment area below discussion questions. Dec 20, 2019 for little women, i provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order. To help foster the social experience of reading, weve made having a book club easier by establishing.
The basic premise of this novel is that the underground railroad was just that a real physical underground railroad. The underground railroad by colson whitehead book club. Discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead. This thrilling, genrebending tale of escape from slavery in the american deep south contains extraordinary prose and uncomfortable home truths. The perilous lure of the underground railroad the new yorker. Coras grandmother, ajarry, is stolen from africa and passes on her desire to survive to coras mother, mabel. Why do you think cora changed her mind and decided to leave with caesar right after that. In whiteheads ingenious conception, the underground railroad is no mere metaphor engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the southern soil. Ive been in a lot of book clubs, and i know its not always easy to get a conversation going on a book. New novel takes the underground railroad beyond the.
Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for cora. Does the underground railroad change the way you look at the history of america, especially in the time of slavery and abolitionism. Colson whiteheads the underground railroad is the newest oprahs book club selection. Im your host, steve meredith, and joining me in the studio, as he always does, is president wyatt. Join associate professor raymond malewitz in a discussion of the first third of the novel. In his new novel, the underground railroad doubleday2016, colson whitehead creates a literal network of underground tracks and trains for an enslaved woman to escape life on a georgia plantation. Underground railroad to be tuesday book club topic the. Aug 02, 2016 download an excerpt of the book, and print a copy of oprahs the underground railroad reading guide and book club questions. To get started, apply for a book club library card at your local branch. How did this aspect of magical realism impact your concept of how the real underground railroad worked.
Every 3rd meeting, we also choose the 3 books and the hosts for the next 3 meetings 6 months. Jan 23, 2017 discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead in an online book club. Colson whitehead, author of the underground railroad time. Dive into the latest pick for oprahs book club with these questions about colson whiteheads breathtaking novel. One of the most obvious themes is that of survival. The author of the underground railroad, oprahs new bookclub pick. Discuss the underground railroad by colson whitehead in an online book club. Oct 09, 2016 this thrilling, genrebending tale of escape from slavery in the american deep south contains extraordinary prose and uncomfortable home truths. Whitehead is using the story of coras escape to get at the multitude of ways that blacks, in particular, have been dehumanized and mistreated by whites throughout the history of this country. Some book guides disappoint, but this one was better than i expected. This gives the book a bit of dystopian feel, although this is an antebellum tale, with time appropriate technology. Brooklyn public library loves book clubs, and gathering people around the shared experience of a book is central to our mission.
North and south carolina didnt have the political structure described in the book. Do you feel that you now have a better understanding of what slavery was like. Every month, well ask you to vote on three different choicesranging from novels to memoirs to timely nonfictionthen well select that months read. I think he could have made an excellent book without changing the underground railroad to be a real tangible railroad, and also without creating. Underground railroad by colson whitehead and underground airlines by ben h. I decided to come up with a generic list of book club questions to compel us to dig deeper than did you like the book. We see that freedom is a perspective that changes with the person and the time. Why do you think the author chose to portray a literal railroad. Ann will lead a discussion about the nickel boys by colson whitehead. My latest book, the underground railroad, is an oprahs book club pick. The underground railroad book club discussion gbcn. About this book cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in georgia. The questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enhance your groups discussion of the underground railroad, a triumph of a novel by colson whitehead.
Whiteheads sixth novel, the story of a teenage slaves bid for freedom in 1850s georgia, is out. Aug 02, 2016 in a surprise announcement tuesday morning, winfrey chose the underground railroad as the next title for oprahs book club. As much as any literary classic, whiteheads novel poses beautifully shaped questions that speak not just to. Whiteheads sixth novel, the story of a teenage slaves bid. Underground railroad traces the terrible wounds of slavery the underground railroad is a literal train running underground in colson whiteheads new novel, which follows escaped slave cora. The read it forward book club is a place for readers to discuss, analyze, and rave about books that showcase voices of all kinds. Celebrate national read a book day with swfl book clubs. All of the book clubs meet once a month see specific days under each book club in the evening from 79pm at the shop and discuss that months book choice. The underground railroad represents a first in the nearly decadelong career i have enjoyed as a contributor to bookreporter. The underground railroad, published in 2016, is the sixth novel by american author colson whitehead the alternate history novel tells the story of cora and caesar, two slaves in the southeastern united states during the 19th century, who make a bid for freedom from their georgia plantations by following the underground railroad, which the novel depicts as primarily a rail transport system in. The underground railroad by colson whitehead on jan. Released within a month of one another, both address slavery through speculative fiction, though through very different settings and protagonists.
The underground railroad is his sixth novel and by far his most successful. Whitehead is more this is a work of fiction, not historical fiction. The events thereafter are a flight through the slaveholding south, powered by locomotives through an elaborate network of rail tunnels. Colson whitehead reimagines the underground railroad wunc. The nickel boys book club discussion read it forward. An unlikely story invites patrons to a book clubstyle discussion with ann kingman, publishing industry expert and former host of the popular podcast books on the nightstand. Coatess debut novel mixes magical realism with historical fiction as it tells the story of hiram walker, who joins the underground railroad and then discovers he has a supernatural power called conduction that allows him to basically use water as a transporter. Our 23 hour meetings are primarily a social gathering with a mere 10 minute discussion about the book snuck somewhere in the middle.
Cora and caesars first stop is south carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. Feb 22, 2017 today is the day for our second book club discussion. Looking for the underground railroad book club questions and a reading guide for your next meeting. Stunned out of a gloomy kind of complacency about her situation by a brutal beating, cora accepts the invitation of another slave, caesar, to escape with him. The underground railroad s stations, located underneath. As readers complete their journey through the underground railroad, they can engage online at the. About this guide the questions, discussion topics, and suggestions for further reading that follow are designed to enhance your groups discussion of the underground railroad, a triumph of a. If youre ready to start a book club, heres 40 of the best book club questions, for fiction. We see that freedom is a perspective that changes with the person and the.
The underground railroad, by contrast, was personal. Download an excerpt of the book, and print a copy of oprahs the underground railroad reading guide and book club questions. Well, this has been a really fun discussion, kyle and steve. A followup to the pulitzer prize and national book awardwinning, the underground railroad, follows the harrowing experiences of two africanamerican teens at an abusive reform school in jim crowera florida. It delves into literary aspects and is well written. Aug 18, 2016 the underground railroad represents a first in the nearly decadelong career i have enjoyed as a contributor to bookreporter. Topic name the underground railroad by colson whitehead. Ive found that the best book club discussion questions are ones that are openended and that get people to share their personal opinions.
It goes beyond a mere summary in 65 pages i found what i wanted and more. For little women, i provide your book club with a brief summary, a recipe, and discussion questions in that order. The underground railroad colson whitehead, 2016 knopf doubleday 320 pp. The underground railroad is a winner of the pulitzer prize, the national book award, the clarke award for science fiction literature, as well as an oprahs book club pick. This book helped me better understand the use of fact and fiction in the underground railroad by colson whitehead. Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of anchor books. Jan 30, 2018 in whiteheads ingenious conception, the underground railroad is no mere metaphor engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the southern soil. I think theres no better book for a time such as this, oprah said on cbs this morning the novels of.
Our book club page for the underground railroad by colson whitehead includes book club discussion questions, author website, book. See more ideas about book club books, books and what book. Book discussion with ann kingman an unlikely story. Author colson whitehead discusses bestseller iu south bend. Please put your comments for the underground railroad book club discussion questions in the comment area below. Aug 02, 2016 oprahs book club has tapped colson whiteheads the underground railroad as its newest selection. Nprs scott simon speaks with colson whitehead about his new book, the underground railroad, in which slaves ride a a real railroad through time to see racism in different eras. It won the 2017 pulitzer prize for fiction, 2016 national book award, 2017 andrew carnegie medal for excellence, and also landed on oprahs book club. Aug 02, 2016 colson whiteheads the underground railroad is the newest oprahs book club selection.
Tuesday night, the library book club is meeting to discuss, underground railroad by colson whitehead. And remember to check out our other book resources. It is an excellent book though once you get passed the fictionalized ways whitehead changes history. The remainder of the meeting is devoted to discussion of the book for that evening.
Underground railroad traces the terrible wounds of slavery. I think he could have made an excellent book without changing the underground railroad to be a real tangible railroad, and also without creating the politicalsocietal setup of north and south carolina. The underground railroad won the 2016 national book award for fiction. Leaving aside its selection for oprah winfreys highly influential book club, what has made the underground railroad remarkable and notable is what happens at the end of this chapter. Novelist colson whitehead engages ud audience udaily.
The book emphasizes how slaves were treated as property and reduced to objects. The underground railroad pulitzer prize winner national. Dec 14, 2017 my current book club group is much more casual, but perhaps too much so. Little women book club questions and recipe book club bites. Little women book club questions and recipe this post is the beginning of a new series of posts i have decided to create for book club bites featuring the classics. Download an excerpt of the book and print oprahs reading guide. Reading guide for the underground railroad by colson whitehead. With our book discussion sets, its easy to check out copies for your whole club. The book picked for this month was the underground railroad by colson whitehead. The oprah book club page on goodreads will encourage book discussion and sharing. The underground railroad book club discussion questions. The underground railroad pulitzer prize winner by colson.