It’s been one wild ride after ‘Railroad’
Colson Whitehead’s best-selling 2016 novel The Underground Railroad — winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, a selection of Oprah’s Book Club and a favorite of former president Barack Obama — is being released in paperback for the first
Q: Since August 2016, you’ve been an Oprah pick, President Obama told Americans to read your book, and you won two major literary awards. What’s the past year and a half been like?
A: It’s been pretty wild. Usually I’m used to putting out a book, after a month no one cares or wants to talk to me (laughs) and I’m back in my little office working. When I was writing it, it just seemed like a regular book for me; I wanted to do my usual thing of not screwing up. When I handed it in, the enthusiasm grew and grew.
Q: Why did you choose to portray the Underground Railroad as a literal, physical railroad?
A: It’s a “What if ...?” A lot of my books have started with an abstract premise. My first book ( The Intuitionist) was about elevator inspectors. What if an elevator inspector had to solve a case, become a detective? Taking these kind of weird ideas and seeing what kind of story I could generate has been appealing for this or that project.
Q: Cora, your heroine, is such a strong, wonderful character. Did you base her on anyone in particular?
A: No. People have asked if there is any of me in her, and she’s, like, my least autobiographical character. Maybe that’s why people like her. (Laughs.) In trying to figure out who she was, I’m projecting myself into this terrible situation — slavery — and trying to imagine the courage (it would take to survive) and how you find hope in that depravity.
Q: Was The Underground Railroad emotionally difficult to write?
A: The hardest part was not writing it, it was doing the research, realizing with an adult perspective the true, vast horror of slavery. Realizing that in order to be realistic, I had to put Cora through terrible things — that was depressing. Realizing that I’m the descendant of people who somehow survived. In some ways it’s a miracle that I’m here and that my ancestors didn’t die at this or that junction. Grappling with that was the hardest part.
Q: Barry Jenkins, writer/director of the Oscar-winning Moonlight, has signed on to adapt The Underground Railroad as a series for Amazon. Any idea who you’d like to play Cora?
A: When (Jenkins) approached us, the book had been out a month. This was before Moonlight had come out. We saw an early screener of the movie; he was really smart, and we’re like, “Take it away!” Oddly, once he got the Oscar, all the contracts came through, so he’s been working on it, writing it, and it’s very exciting. As for casting, Cora would be 16 or 17. I’m not really sure who that actor is. Probably will be someone new, so we’ll see.
Q: You know Oprah Winfrey, you’ve been interviewed by her, and as you know there was a groundswell after the Golden Globes of Oprah for president. Your response?
A: I’ll wait for her to say “I’m actually running.” Obviously, I think a dead cat probably would do a better job than our current president. But I think I saw someone say “Why would you have a nice life and then run for president? It’s a terrible 18 months (campaigning), and then it’s a job where everyone hates you.” I think Oprah has a nice life.