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bexlrose's review against another edition
4.0
Politics in 1950s America. A precocious, gifted black boy with a knack for writing grows into an intelligent, driven young man with a talent for public speaking. But along the way and throughout he has to battle with an incredibly unlucky set of circumstances. Used and abused by almost everyone he meets, it's a story of race relations, societal injustice and disillusionment. I'll give it 4 stars, though not an 'enjoyable' read, it feels important and relevant and certainly very well written.
clameron's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
courtbcook's review against another edition
5.0
I had to put it down because of school. I did get really pumped (after only the intro!) and blogged about it. So, here is what I had to say before grad school bullied me into required reading (which is really pretty interesting required reading)...I intend to read this in its entirety as it has been pretty moving thus far.
From my blog:
In the silent speed of summer disappearing, I can hear graduate school approaching like a caboose to the train of freedom and reading for pleasure. In this time I struggle continuously to balance my stress with excitement and my feelings of accomplishment with those of inadequacy and the whole time I find myself wondering, "Is anybody out there?" Are these feelings that stir me from my sleep "normal" for a change of this kind?
This struggle has pushed me to read as much as I can in order to prepare for school and today I have taken time to begin Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. I was asked to read this novel in a class on Jazz and Popular Culture as an undergraduate, but as undergraduates often do, I neglected all chapters past the second one. So I have spent my morning slowly and deliberately moving through the introduction to this masterpiece (and after reading only the introduction I can't help but believe that I am about to delve into what will soon be one of my favorite novels...a true masterpiece) and am intently considering the whispers of fledgling thoughts that say that Ralph Ellison is one of America's greatest novelists, and all of this after only the introduction.
In his introduction he discusses the processes that led him to beginning this novel, the awakening of consciousness he experienced in the conceptual phases of this piece in a barn in Vermont. While I was lost wading through remarkable intentions that Ellison describes in the making of this novel I was struck most was his intention of using this work as a response to violence in relationship to the war and, more loosely, in relationship to the "moral blindness" plaguing his global communities.
I will not go on much more, but I will provide some of the most moving passages from this introduction:
“Perhaps it was also to remind me that war could, with art, be transformed into something deeper and more meaningful than its surface violence…”
“And while fiction is but a form of symbolic action, a mere game of “as if,” therein lies its true function and its potential for effecting change. For at its most serious, just as is true of politics at its best, it is a thrust toward a human ideal.”
“...a novel could be fashioned as a raft of hope, perception and entertainment that might help keep us afloat as we tried to negotiate the snags and whirlpools that mark our nation’s vacillating course toward and away from the democratic ideal.”
So, if you read it, and finish it, tell me what you think.
From my blog:
In the silent speed of summer disappearing, I can hear graduate school approaching like a caboose to the train of freedom and reading for pleasure. In this time I struggle continuously to balance my stress with excitement and my feelings of accomplishment with those of inadequacy and the whole time I find myself wondering, "Is anybody out there?" Are these feelings that stir me from my sleep "normal" for a change of this kind?
This struggle has pushed me to read as much as I can in order to prepare for school and today I have taken time to begin Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. I was asked to read this novel in a class on Jazz and Popular Culture as an undergraduate, but as undergraduates often do, I neglected all chapters past the second one. So I have spent my morning slowly and deliberately moving through the introduction to this masterpiece (and after reading only the introduction I can't help but believe that I am about to delve into what will soon be one of my favorite novels...a true masterpiece) and am intently considering the whispers of fledgling thoughts that say that Ralph Ellison is one of America's greatest novelists, and all of this after only the introduction.
In his introduction he discusses the processes that led him to beginning this novel, the awakening of consciousness he experienced in the conceptual phases of this piece in a barn in Vermont. While I was lost wading through remarkable intentions that Ellison describes in the making of this novel I was struck most was his intention of using this work as a response to violence in relationship to the war and, more loosely, in relationship to the "moral blindness" plaguing his global communities.
I will not go on much more, but I will provide some of the most moving passages from this introduction:
“Perhaps it was also to remind me that war could, with art, be transformed into something deeper and more meaningful than its surface violence…”
“And while fiction is but a form of symbolic action, a mere game of “as if,” therein lies its true function and its potential for effecting change. For at its most serious, just as is true of politics at its best, it is a thrust toward a human ideal.”
“...a novel could be fashioned as a raft of hope, perception and entertainment that might help keep us afloat as we tried to negotiate the snags and whirlpools that mark our nation’s vacillating course toward and away from the democratic ideal.”
So, if you read it, and finish it, tell me what you think.
ashction's review against another edition
4.0
Truthfully, I didn't fully finish this, but overall found it an excellent American novel and mediation on race and identity.
milesszwarc's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
hannahflora's review against another edition
2.0
While I understand that the point of this novel was to not have a clear identity formed in your mind for the narrator, I feel like his lack of identity made him really hard to connect with and read about. I liked the concept of this book but didn't love so much how it was portrayed. However, the symbolism used by Ellison was a very unique way of writing. It was like the more I learned about the novel in class, and researched it on my own time, the more it made sense and the greater my appreciation for it grew.
I would probs not recommend though outside of for literature educational purposes.
I would probs not recommend though outside of for literature educational purposes.
allisonwhite167's review against another edition
5.0
“But deep down you come to suspect that you’re yourself to blame, and you stand naked and shivering before the millions of eyes who look through you unseeingly.”
second time reading this all the way through, and it still holds up as one of the best books i’ve ever read. no where else have i encountered a work of fiction so incredibly jammed with intense meaning and purpose in every detail paired with an unfolding of an incredible dream-like narrative that ultimately reveals the narrator’s eternal state. one of the most meaningful texts i’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering.
second time reading this all the way through, and it still holds up as one of the best books i’ve ever read. no where else have i encountered a work of fiction so incredibly jammed with intense meaning and purpose in every detail paired with an unfolding of an incredible dream-like narrative that ultimately reveals the narrator’s eternal state. one of the most meaningful texts i’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering.
ledimirnunez's review against another edition
5.0
Invisible Man sits beside Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Herzog by Saul Bellow and The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. These are the books to read before you die.
In my second reading, nearly two years after the first, I find myself again engrossed in the latter half of Ellison's novel. I am 26 years old now, and will be turning 27 years old in a month. Perhaps it is age, or living in Harlem, or the mere coincidence of my experiences and those of the narrator's who starts out aiming to please.
By now it's evident that the books I am drawn to are those that ponder the questions of identity: who am I? What am I? What am I to do? Would these be the same questions that an artificial intelligence asks upon awakening? I digress, but to err is human and to ruminate on your errors is torture. The slope so slippery.
It's the vet that awakens you, but he was in the first half. It's Grandfather's curse that keeps you up, and though its repeated throughout, it haunts you. To agree them to death? Well isn't that the pain we're avoiding? And so everybody must suffer together or there is no other way. Who else? Brother Tarp - because you are who you are before you got here, and you can change but that's just the top layer. At the end of the day, we know who you are, we know what your place is. Stokely Charmichael said the Civil Rights movement wasn't for black folks who needed to know about equality, it was for white folks who needed awakening. That must be a terrible paraphrase, but listen to his speech delivered at UCLA in 1960-something.
Something inside of me exists that I don't want to see. Why do I make myself invisible to me? I could stand it if others believed I was invisible, but what about when I think I'm invisible too?
In my second reading, nearly two years after the first, I find myself again engrossed in the latter half of Ellison's novel. I am 26 years old now, and will be turning 27 years old in a month. Perhaps it is age, or living in Harlem, or the mere coincidence of my experiences and those of the narrator's who starts out aiming to please.
By now it's evident that the books I am drawn to are those that ponder the questions of identity: who am I? What am I? What am I to do? Would these be the same questions that an artificial intelligence asks upon awakening? I digress, but to err is human and to ruminate on your errors is torture. The slope so slippery.
It's the vet that awakens you, but he was in the first half. It's Grandfather's curse that keeps you up, and though its repeated throughout, it haunts you. To agree them to death? Well isn't that the pain we're avoiding? And so everybody must suffer together or there is no other way. Who else? Brother Tarp - because you are who you are before you got here, and you can change but that's just the top layer. At the end of the day, we know who you are, we know what your place is. Stokely Charmichael said the Civil Rights movement wasn't for black folks who needed to know about equality, it was for white folks who needed awakening. That must be a terrible paraphrase, but listen to his speech delivered at UCLA in 1960-something.
Something inside of me exists that I don't want to see. Why do I make myself invisible to me? I could stand it if others believed I was invisible, but what about when I think I'm invisible too?
katy_ryn's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written, absorbing, and still deeply relevant. A truly classic book.