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A review by abeck99
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As the first chapter of this book was first published as a short story and the rest written as a novel afterwards, the tone shifts dramatically after the first chapter. The first chapter is a disturbing, violent almost surreal take on being black in America.
Most of Ralph Ellisons books are about being black in America, and this one certainly is too, but this book feels larger in scope. It's the American nature to be a rugged individualist. But it's also the American nature to be seen is a member of some demographic or group and have you individual self stripped away. If it's through politics gerrymandering demographics through wedge issues, or being marketed to your "lifestyle", or, the most obvious one, seen as a black person instead of who you really are.
This book is about the American struggle between being an individual and being seen and treated as a member of a group - it just so happens that most of that (but not all) is due to the main characters blackness. It's basically the main character going through many different scenarios where he is type-cast again and again, just when he thinks he is seen for who he really is, it turns out that, no it's just that his blackness is useful or attractive. This book more than any other made me understand the difficulty of being black in America, and the first chapter, though it's really great, almost trivializes it through it's shocking over the top take on it. The rest of the book exposes the subtle effects of stereotyping, and does so in a way that can be universally understood.
Additionally, this is the book that made me love reading, after plowing through books in high school and reciting facts, I read this in my mid-20s and it gripped me on such a gut level that I realized what great books are capable of. And this is a great book, it should be recognized as one of great American novels, despite the time it was written it's just as relevant today.
Most of Ralph Ellisons books are about being black in America, and this one certainly is too, but this book feels larger in scope. It's the American nature to be a rugged individualist. But it's also the American nature to be seen is a member of some demographic or group and have you individual self stripped away. If it's through politics gerrymandering demographics through wedge issues, or being marketed to your "lifestyle", or, the most obvious one, seen as a black person instead of who you really are.
This book is about the American struggle between being an individual and being seen and treated as a member of a group - it just so happens that most of that (but not all) is due to the main characters blackness. It's basically the main character going through many different scenarios where he is type-cast again and again, just when he thinks he is seen for who he really is, it turns out that, no it's just that his blackness is useful or attractive. This book more than any other made me understand the difficulty of being black in America, and the first chapter, though it's really great, almost trivializes it through it's shocking over the top take on it. The rest of the book exposes the subtle effects of stereotyping, and does so in a way that can be universally understood.
Additionally, this is the book that made me love reading, after plowing through books in high school and reciting facts, I read this in my mid-20s and it gripped me on such a gut level that I realized what great books are capable of. And this is a great book, it should be recognized as one of great American novels, despite the time it was written it's just as relevant today.