rachael_a 's review for:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

3.0

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*3.5 stars. Let me preface this by saying I picked up this book by mistake from a mini free library thinking it was The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells from a glance, so I was not in the mindset I would have been in going in had I sought this out. Having said that, I am definitely glad I read this book and would shelve this with my classics. I would say that I found the first half of the book more easy to read (after the shock of incest pretty early on in the story), but the later half was a bit of a chore to get through where I would find myself needing to take some mental breaks. Although the later half was a challenge, I think that the density and almost abstractness adds to how well the author used writing to further the purpose of the story to parallel the reader to the narrator as he becomes more and more disillusioned through the book. I also think the later half of the book was very confusing because of how the author used "The Brotherhood" organization as an allegory for communism in the 30's and 40's. I can see how implementing literary devices to show how the faults in communist ideologies relates to the character development of the narrator, but I think it could have been more impactful if it wasn't so abrupt in the book. I enjoyed reading a well written classic again for the details that really make a classic interesting, like how this is really about how the narrator struggles with finding his identity as an individual, an identity so hidden from himself that we never know his name as the audience, he simply remains as the narrator, the invisible man. Overall, I would recommend this read to those who like reflective books that are dark and comment on the interaction between sociology, society, and ones identity of self.