Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Invisible Man

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

43 reviews

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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vickymcckey's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the kind of book that needs a separate book to explain all the references you missed the first time. My advice to anyone reading it who wants to derive as much meaning as possible is to annotate like a nerdy high schooler. Color code references and keep wikipedia by your side to look up any word that seems even a little bit intentional. Because I promise you, it’s all intentional. Parts of this book are disturbing, parts dryly humorous, parts hopeful or sad, but every word has thought behind it.

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reeses_reads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

this book takes place in the 30’s, so the very small women role in this book is extremely sexualized and objectified

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slymberis's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I hated this book until the last 250 pages and I wanted to love it.I would not have finished this if it wasn’t something i had to read for school. The writing was dense and wordy, and the plot was confusing. As I read, there were moments of genius in Ellison’s writing and this book provided me with a much-necessary new perspective on the world. It was a challenging read, and although I was fighting for my life to finish it, the ending was worth it.

Favorite quote: “How does it feel to be free of illusion…and now I answered, ‘painful and empty’” (569).

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littleclerk's review against another edition

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Man describing how impregnates his daughter with his wife in the same bed

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needlebrook's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Dense- so very dense. it'll be helpful to pull up the litcharts summary webpage for some of the chapters. It can get real confusing at times.

The beginning of the book is intriguing but can get to be a bit of a slog after the first handful of chapters(was considering abandoning this book during the dreamlike narration from Trueblood. Very glad I decided against it.)
But, after the narrator arrives in Harlem and starts to adapt to his surroundings, the book quickly picks up the pace and seemingly goes at break-neck pace for the rest of it.

All in all, I won't be forgetting this book very easily.

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feefeeberry's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s so unbelievably well written. Almost every little detail comes back in some kind of way. It’s woven and written so well. Literally the smartest book I’ve ever read. Anyone who says this is boring has the reading comprehension skills of a toddler.

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