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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
just really didn’t get into the style of it but i think it was overall a worthwhile read
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is very difficult for me to write how this book has moved me, or why exactly I love it the way that I do. I can empathize with the readers who say that the beginning and the end are the most “compelling” portions, and that the mid-sections might be considered slower and more demanding. That being said, what a book!
Inherently, this novel centers on life’s absurdity. Unlike The Stranger, or A Happy Death, both by Camus, however, Ellison provides us with a compelling perspective on absurdism *and* a way out of the despair of A Happy Death or contrarianism of The Stranger. That way out, revealed only in the final pages, is love:
“I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to the point of invisibility. And I defend because in spite of all I find that I love. In order to get some of [this story] down I have to love. I sell you no phony forgiveness, I’m a desperate man— but too much of your life will be lost, its meaning lost, unless you approach it as much through love as through hate. So I approach it with division. So I denounce and I defend and I hate and I love.”
That’s the rub — no pithy love or shallow sentimentalism, but a deep love borne out of righteous anger and a just vindictiveness. The love that can bring you out of shame at past ignorance and help you to rise above it and find a place in a world — our world — full of contradictions and divisions and diversities and imaginations.
Kierkegaard says that one element of despair is the result of willing to not be who one is destined to be. In the narrative world of Ellison, I would frame it as such: despair is the result of knowing one to be invisible and willing oneself to be complacent with such a state. To not move beyond the invisibility of inaction and move into an invisibility nevertheless marked by continued love, for oneself and in service to others.
Ellison provides us a complicated story with troubling implications, of an America deeply rooted in white saviorism, of opportunism, of false religion, of duplicity, of Machiavellian politicking, and of disorientation. But such is the real world, and we must find a way to rise above it. We may be invisible, we may be “plunged outside of history,” yet, even if just on principle, we must cling to love.
Inherently, this novel centers on life’s absurdity. Unlike The Stranger, or A Happy Death, both by Camus, however, Ellison provides us with a compelling perspective on absurdism *and* a way out of the despair of A Happy Death or contrarianism of The Stranger. That way out, revealed only in the final pages, is love:
“I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to the point of invisibility. And I defend because in spite of all I find that I love. In order to get some of [this story] down I have to love. I sell you no phony forgiveness, I’m a desperate man— but too much of your life will be lost, its meaning lost, unless you approach it as much through love as through hate. So I approach it with division. So I denounce and I defend and I hate and I love.”
That’s the rub — no pithy love or shallow sentimentalism, but a deep love borne out of righteous anger and a just vindictiveness. The love that can bring you out of shame at past ignorance and help you to rise above it and find a place in a world — our world — full of contradictions and divisions and diversities and imaginations.
Kierkegaard says that one element of despair is the result of willing to not be who one is destined to be. In the narrative world of Ellison, I would frame it as such: despair is the result of knowing one to be invisible and willing oneself to be complacent with such a state. To not move beyond the invisibility of inaction and move into an invisibility nevertheless marked by continued love, for oneself and in service to others.
Ellison provides us a complicated story with troubling implications, of an America deeply rooted in white saviorism, of opportunism, of false religion, of duplicity, of Machiavellian politicking, and of disorientation. But such is the real world, and we must find a way to rise above it. We may be invisible, we may be “plunged outside of history,” yet, even if just on principle, we must cling to love.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very witty and intersectional. An interesting exploration into the experience of african americans applicable to today.
Reading this was interesting as apparently nothing has changed since the 1950s when it was originally written, although maybe people are a little less invisible now. I thought the writing was a little choppy and I didn't always understand the main character's motivations for doing some of the things he did. It was a fine read, but not a favorite.