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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Speechless. Genuinely speechless. It's so rare to find a classic which strong good pacing, intellectual social commentary and stunning characterisation with beautiful prose writing. I still can't believe the book was around 600 pages longer and found myself wishing for more at the end of the book.
While in my own life I have read about and witnessed the impact of racism on one's self image never before had I considered how dangerous it is to try and balance racial identity and collective protest with individualism. I came away so angry that the narrator was used by everyone at every turn - thrown around because of his race to the point he loses any power or truth as an individual. He stands as an invisible man.
Special mention to the section about policemen and poetry which is the best piece of prose I have ever read in my life. I couldn't stop goosebumps from forming in 30°c Greek heat it was so simultaneously beautiful and devastating.
Usually I insert my favourite quotes from the book, especially in books which the prose can sell much better than my good-reads reviews! Just know for this book I haven't the room to include half the lines and pages I wish to note as some of my favourite and as such the image of 68 sticky tabs in my book (roughly) must serve to show just how important this book is.
---> "I remember that I’m invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers."
---> "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me."
---> "I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers."
---> "I was pulled this way and that for longer than I can remember. And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man."
While in my own life I have read about and witnessed the impact of racism on one's self image never before had I considered how dangerous it is to try and balance racial identity and collective protest with individualism. I came away so angry that the narrator was used by everyone at every turn - thrown around because of his race to the point he loses any power or truth as an individual. He stands as an invisible man.
Special mention to the section about policemen and poetry which is the best piece of prose I have ever read in my life. I couldn't stop goosebumps from forming in 30°c Greek heat it was so simultaneously beautiful and devastating.
Usually I insert my favourite quotes from the book, especially in books which the prose can sell much better than my good-reads reviews! Just know for this book I haven't the room to include half the lines and pages I wish to note as some of my favourite and as such the image of 68 sticky tabs in my book (roughly) must serve to show just how important this book is.
---> "I remember that I’m invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers."
---> "I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me."
---> "I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers."
---> "I was pulled this way and that for longer than I can remember. And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man."
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-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
Timeless. Extremely well written & an eye opener on race issues back then being present in today's society
challenging
dark
reflective
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
Themes still ring true and are clear. But it was a challenging read.
Wow... one of the most powerful and nuanced critiques of race and racial dynamics I've come across. I am so grateful it could come out in 1952 for so many to see. The idea of black identity existing against rather than independently of white identity, and the imminent need to thus create an independent identity, is very important. Also, the way the story blends reality with symbol is quite effective, as is its unique episodic structure and evocative prose. Would highly recommend!
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes