Reviews with content warning for Racism - Invisible Man

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

58 reviews

haileyeh's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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eyesofcrows's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.75

The journey and realizations was certainly a ride. I loved the slow progression of the protagonist’s thoughts and opinions as he’s pushed into the wringer on several occasions. It’s certainly a drag sometimes, it’s a long a book, but gosh darn is it something to witness. It’s explicit in its message, the struggles and all. There’s something so exposing with everything they do.

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nunchikoi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

An incredible work by Ellison who manages to balance a magical reality that is also prescriptive to quantum physics; thoroughly examining Black experiences in North America, Ellison uniquely incorporates specific 'Negro-American' culturalisations like folkloric motifs in his story-telling. This results in a magnetic kind of writing which swings between being poetic and clinical, a fictional story which testifies to real historical experiences and events, and a narrator who keeps the reader at arms length but also confides in and almost prays to you.

Through this, Ellison constructs a compelling portrait that his contemporaries otherwise neglected: he demonstrates how Black characters in a novel can be complex and nuanced, with fully-realised moral, philosophical, and intellectual capacities.

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endlessblankpages's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

2.5

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alexashabit's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

4.25

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crackedcoffin's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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sagelikesscats's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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lindseyas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A coming of age novel like you've never seen before. Set in the mid-1900s in a city where everything is happening all of the time, the unnamed southern Black man, our protagonist, is lost in the chaos. Told from an extremely early point in his life that he should just give in to the white man and white society, the protagonist goes with the flow easily, aiming to please and not be noticed as different. But when he makes his way to New York City, he's forced to be noticed. The protagonist is used as a political prop by a movement that cares little about him, is fought over by opposing sides and is worshipped only for his powerful voice and body — not for his character, his intelligence or his kindness. The protagonist is not treated as a human being, but as a way of being, as a set of values and to further an agenda that he is barely involved in. This novel is all about what being caught in the wave of history is like, and how invisibility, despite its loneliness and often futile attempt at security, is the only escape if we want to hold ourselves dear.

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sydneylmeyer7's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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kamilawithak's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.5

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