Invisible Man

Forget H. G. Wells. This is an extraordinary meditation on the nature of invisibility, how one becomes invisible, what it means, and the limits of what one can do to recover some visibility, some corporeal essence, when the world around you not only does not recognize you, but cannot or will not even see you in the first place. Yes, the novel has flaws, but the deeper truth within does not exceed one's grasp and is ultimately transcendent. Sure, you can pick nits, but in so doing is exposed, perhaps, the effort to render the work itself invisible. Take a chance. Turn on all the lights using electricity stolen from ConEd and see if you can see yourself, or better yet the Other, whom you would prefer to remain an Invisible Man.

Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, focuses on a young black man in the middle of the 20th century. The novel depicts the journey of an unnamed black man from “model student,” to member of a multiracial, communist organization called the Brotherhood to living in a man-hole.
As much as I enjoyed reading this book and appreciate the sentiment behind it, I cannot give it a full five star rating. While the book is obviously fiction, the majority of it is based off facts and seems very realistic. Knowing this, the whole idea of living underground to avoid the world, seemed strange to me and for that reason I could not give it five stars. I did however, still find the book very interesting. One thing specifically that I found extremely interesting and smart was the fact that throughout the entire novel, the main character remains nameless. This, I believe, adds to the persona of an, “invisible man,” as without a name it is nearly impossible to remain identifiable, especially in the case of the narrator as he wears multiple disguises and adopts more than one alternate personality.
While I’m sure Ellison did not hive this in mind while writing the book, I repeatedly drew comparisons between the “invisibility,” in this novel and the sort of invisibility one can take on now in the age of the internet. With just a few clicks now, someone can become a completely new person online and can keep their true identity unknown to all, much like how the, “Invisible Man,” is able to remain nameless throughout the novel.

Invisible Man / 0-679-73276-4

"Invisible Man", Ellison's master work, is breathtaking, indescribable, and completely unique. This long and careful allegory of the young black man making his way through the white world is filled with passages so crammed with myth and meaning that the closest comparison I can make is to Rushdie's carefully disjointed "The Satanic Verses".

Ellison is an absolute master of making simple events utterly unforgettable to the reader; secondary characters such as "Jim Trueblood" and "Mr. Norton" serve to underscore the complex and fascinating differences in the way crimes are treated across races. Jim Trueblood has 'accidentally' impregnated his own daughter, and this lurid incident has become a source of shame for the black community and a source of celebration for the prejudiced white community.

In contrast, Mr. Norton's reaction to this story seems intensely suspicious, and the writing may suggest that something similar has happened in his own past. And yet, it becomes immediately obvious that the same crime could be so much more easily covered up when the perpetrator possesses a respected skin tone and possesses significant financial resources. A rich white man may be able to cover up what a poor black man cannot; a rich white woman may choose to keep silent in order to preserve the social standing that a poor black woman cannot dream of; a rich white daughter may be sent off to a "private school" for a secret abortion that a poor black girl could never afford.

It is the power of "Invisible Man" that these issues are never answered and are not in fact even "explicitly" raised. The reader sees everything darkly, through a murky window into the world of the invisible man, but once the nuanced narrative nudges these issues into our minds we cannot let go of them.

~ Ana Mardoll

This novel, a model of creative writing, describes what it is like to land in a big city and then be sucked up into the black hole of urban life in America. It is a story told by a black man coming of age in the mid-1940s, and thus is about black anonymity in a white world. But one of the primary strengths of the novel is that its "meta-messages" are all about anonymity and thus makes it universal and applicable equally to any race and even to any urban culture.

It is existential in the sense that it is as much about cultural alienation in a modern world as it is about how to confront the barbaric social rules of a racist American culture. However, race is only one of the many themes in a subtext rich and textured with many sub-themes. Fear, distrust, betrayal, treachery, coming of age, and being invisible in plan sight, are just some of the other themes that run on parallel tracks in the subtext.

The story itself is a rather complex, if not altogether tortuous and improbable plot, betraying an otherwise cleanly written and logical structure. It seems to have been "jerry-rigged" to assist in the convergence of, and the resolution of, the many disparate threads and themes. That he pulled them all together in the end is itself no small technical feat, and probably accounts for the books inordinate length.

The author speaks in the (invisible) voice of the first person, leaving as few emotional clues as possible -- under the set of literary and emotional rules that he operates under and exploits. Other reviewers have compared his use of these devices to those used by Dostoyevski in his "Notes From the Underground," which is one of my favorite novels, and although I cannot disagree with these reviewers interpretations, I prefer to compare them with those used in Kafka's "The Trial." I believe the tensions created, and the way the novel is finally resolved, as well as the way he exploits the idea of being constantly controlled by larger forces, are equally palpable in both novels.

As for the issue of race, the highest marks must be given to Ellison both for his craft and for his artistic temperament, for not succumbing to a direct attack on American racism, using instead an oblique attack. Not that a direct attack was not a requirement of the times, but that it would have been viewed as being too angry, or too bitter. Quiet, sublimated rage worked much better, and as an unintended bonus, successfully linked all of the sub-themes up into another orbit of humanity. This was all to the good.

Among other things, this novel proves that good writing calls on all of one's inner strengths resources, as well as on ones talents.

Five stars.

Amazing novel, as we follow the unnamed black narrator from his time as a meek, academic youth when he was 'praised by the most lily-white men of the town...considered an example of desirable conduct' through to his more worldly-wise older self.
The cynical older man, marked by his experiences, has at least become true to himself:
'I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest...On the other hand I've never been more loved and appreciated than when I tried to 'justify' and affirm someone's mistaken beliefs...But here was the rub. Too often, in order to justify them, I had to take myself by the throat and choke myself until my eyes bulged and my tongue hung out and wagged like the door of an empty house in a high wind. Oh yes, it made them happy and it made me sick. So I became ill of affirmation, of saying 'yes' against the nay-saying of my stomach- not to mention my brain.'
As a white reader of a different era, I still found plenty that I could identify with in Ellison's work. As he concludes 'Who knows but that on the lower frequencies I speak for you?'

"The invisible man times three/black, down and out, standing on the corner, no doubt," Public Enemy's Chuck D rapped in the much-overlooked 1999 song "I." Besides being a great piece of social observation in its own right, this song pays tribute to the greatest work of one of the masters of social observation, Ralph Ellison.

Simply put, "Invisible Man" is a titanic work of literature, and a must-read for any thinking American.

I say that without qualifiers; too often, people describe "Invisible Man" as a great piece of African-American literature, or as a great piece of black literature, depending on their personal level of political correctness and/or idiocy. But to say such things is to diminish this book, to suggest that, though it is a well-crafted and powerful piece of social satire, it is somehow still not on the same plane as books by great white (or should I say European-American?) authors like Faulkner and Hemingway.

Perhaps the best author with whom to compare Ellison is Franz Kafka. The journey of Ellison's unnamed narrator/protagonist from rural South to urban North, from a land of overt racism to one of more covert prejudice, is fraught not only with peril but with comic misadventure; its existential angst echoes "The Trial" and Josef K.'s odyssey through the terrifying but darkly comedic layers of of an inscrutable bureacracy that seeks, for no apparent reason, to do him harm. (The word "protagonist" scarcely applies to either character; both men are corks borne upon the sea, conscious of, and understanding of, but unable to control, their fates.)

But Ellison's book isn't simply "The Trial" with a change of venue. No, it is a far more realistic and convincing story, told with greater detail and sharper observations. In the early pages of the book, Ellison's narrator describes in chilling detail a "battle royal" down South, an event in which black men were blindfolded, put in a boxing ring, and forced to flail widly at each other until there was only one man standing, all for the amusement of a watching crowd of whites. Like all great art, the chapter leaves an indelible impression on one's mind, hitting not with the glancing blow of a sightless pawn, but with the sharp-eyed accuracy of a champion's right cross.

Importantly, Ellison pulls no punches when depicting Southern black culture in subsequent chapters. Had he framed the book in simple us/them, black/white, good/bad dichotomies, he might have written a good racial polemic, but it would not have been great literature. Instead Ellison and his narrator dare to show the seedy underbelly of rural black life; tasked with escorting a visiting white university trustee, his narrator takes the man off the idyllic campus, first to a shack where a black sharecropper farmer has impregnated his own daughter, and then to a bordello. This infuriates the school's president, who tells the narrator that "the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie!" As an exposition of the character of the school president, this line is great; as social satire, it is even better, a double-barrel shotgun blast devasatating both to those whites who want to hear only lies and to those blacks who want to tell them. But Ellison, in contrast to many of his characters, seeks and tells truths.

Perhaps the book's greatest strength is its descriptions of urban America. Upon arriving in Harlem, the narrator encounters "college boys working to return to school down South; older advocates of racial progress with utopian schemes for building black business empires; preachers ordained by no authority except their own, without bread or wine, body or blood; the community 'leaders' without followers..." It is an arresting sketch of black urban life, with elements that are as true today as they were fifty years ago; it is a depiction made more powerful by its economy and its brevity.

Unfortunately, the book elsewhere lacks those virtues. Ellison can be too long-winded; while reading it, I picked up this book frequently and eagerly, but I also put it down frequently. Also, his commentaries on religion seem sharply drawn but skewed, for they don't acknowledge the role Christian churches and charities play in seeing and helping those people whom society deems invisible.

Still, the length of the journey and the occasional bumps in the road shouldn't dissuade the determined reader, for this is a trip well worth taking. In his search for himself and his identity, the narrator proves to be not invisible but mirrored. For in his story, he reflects back on us our own journey, shows us the evolution people of all colors and shades and opacities must make as we determine both who society thinks we are, and who we really are.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is at its core a treatise on man's inhumanity to man. What could cause people to put up with the horrifying "Battle Royal" depicted early in the novel. It's very simple, actually, as Ralph Ellison repeatedly lets us know. Most human beings treat their fellow men as pawns to be manipulated in order to fulfill certain selfish means. We see this again and again in the novel. The white benefactor to the college views the main character and his university as nothing more than another tax write-off or an antidote to his nagging conscience. When he is confronted with the reality of the deep South, when the horror of the true conditions of most blacks is revealed to him during the road trip, the main character is expelled for exposing these members of society the dean wants to keep "invisible." The Communist Party also views blacks as nothing more than a special interest group that they can keep in check and manipulate through their rhetoric. To them, the main character, with his great legitimate success and intelligence, is a greater threat than Ras the Destroyer, a mindless thug. Ras is helping the blacks stay invisible, but the main character is pushing them to succeed and forcing society to deal with them as human beings, which the party finds unacceptable. Upon realizing this, the main character at first tries to "defeat them with yeses" as his father advised him and withdraws from the people who cannot see his inner being. However, he concludes that such an acceptance is a betrayal of himself. He decides to learn to start "saying yes and saying no" to the roles that are thurst upon him.
What is the universal message here? It is that in this world, social relationships have been established between human beings, but in almost all of these relationships we are restrained from exposing our inner self. Think about it. Try to count how many unwritten rules you follow in you interactions with other people. There are things you can and cannot say, feelings you can and cannot express, ideas that you can and cannot convey, parts of your soul that you can and cannot reveal. It all depends on who you are dealing with. How are we to respond to such a situation? We must "say yes and say no," we must accept certain boundaries but strive to look beyond them and, little by little, push them back.

He speaks truth to power, and when you speak truth, you are going to be despised.

One of my many favorite Ralph Ellison's truths:

"I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even just now I've tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was more satisfied -- not even I. On the other hand, I've never been more loved and appreciated that when I tried to "justify" and affirm someone's misgtaken beliefs; or when I have tried to give my friends the incorrect, absurd answers they wished to hear. In my presence they could talk and agree with themselves, the world was nailed down, and they loved it. They received a feeling of security. But here was the rub: Too often, in order to justify them, I had to take myself by the throat and choke myself until my eyes bulged and my tongue hung out and wagged like the door of an empty house in a high wind. Oh, yes, it made them happy and it made me sick. I became ill of affirmation, of saying "yes" against the nay-saying of my stomach -- not to mention my brain."

Never truer words spoken. I feel ya Ralph. Preach brother Preach! Ashe' an Amen.

I highly recommend this book, that is, if you ain't scurrred of the truth.

Ralph Ellison is a completely new generation of black literature. When I put this book on the syllabus of English Literature at the University of California in 1973, Fall quarter, it was the first time a novel by a black author was thus proposed to the wide public of the university (English III, Initiation to English Lieterature). I chose it because it is a book that goes beyond pure racial concerns and reaches a higher level. It is based on a « white » metaphor : the White House, a plant producing white paint, in short a whole metaphor about being whitewashed and brainwashed. This comes to the concept of invisibility. It appears in a Harlem riot. A black man is unseen by his white fellow citizens. Either completely, so he has no existence whatsoever, or partially and he is only seen within a « white » frame of mind and of existence. To be seen the black man must be white (in behaviour, in personality, etc), i.e. must conform to a stereotype that fits in white ideology, which of course justifies any kind of segregation. But the best of all vision in the book is the confrontation of the hero with the black general secretary of the Communist Party of theUS. This man has only one eye and the other eye is made of glass, and the confrontation is centered on the dropping of this glass eye into a plain drinlking glass. This man, who is black, who is a revolutionary, who wants things to be changed (in a stalinist way, maybe, but changed nevertheless) has a one-eyed vision of the world and he becomes the symbol of all politicians who can only see what they have decided to see, who can only have, due to there partisanship, a one-sided, hence biassed, vision. It is an allusion to the « two »-party system. It is an allusion to the division of Congress in two bodies : the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is an allusion to the division between Congress and the White House, to the division between the Federal Government and the States' governments, to the division between Congress and the states' legislatures, etc. The US is a dual system but anyone standing anywhere can only have a one-eyed vision, or at best several one-eyed visions that are contradictory and hence never brought together. So the end of the book is a metaphor of roots for the Blacks: underground in a cellar, a black coal cellar, entirely illuminated with white electric light, hundreds of white electric lights to make things and the hero visible, but in an egocentric cocoon that is centered on the black man himself. No one can see him. We are of course in 1952, before the Civil Rights Movement, before Martin Luther King, and many others, before the Black Nationalist Movement, the Black Culturalist Movement, the Black Panther Party, etc. These movements are going to make Afro-Americans visible, especially with the help of the media. These movements are going to highlight the invisible violence the Blacks were the victims of, and make this violence regress. But the new strategy, and it is contained in the book already, of white society will be to divert white violence into the black community so it became black violence against blacks, a self-destructing violence meaning that the whites can wash their hands of it. That is the meaning of the riot that destroys Harlem, but with fire and violence coming from the blacks themselves : they destroy their own community because they see it as a symbol of their being rejected and their being submitted to segregation. In other words it is a reaction without a dream. There is no dream. The black hero is trapped in his white-electrically-illuminated black-coal-cellar, entirely closed-up onto himself with no dream about the future of the American society as a whole, blacks and whites included, all minorities included. There is no hope at the end of this book and that is why it is the most hopeful and positive book on black condition in America, and it is still absolutely valid. Just ask Angela Davis what it means. She knows, with her Rainbow Alliance, she knows with her being expelled from the CPUS because she was supporting Gorbatchev, that is to say the end of the Cold War, that is to say the end of a one-eyed vision on each side of the divide between the two camps, though each side was looking at the world from a different eye. And this book also contains a vision of what may happen, or may be happening : white America being too ruthless in its vision and domination of a post-cold-war-world will recreate the divide...

When writing this book, Ellison decided that it was not going to be another racism protest novel, but a free flowing novel that could display some issues of race in America at the time. Invisible Man does an exceptional job of displaying the issues of race and the tension between whites and blacks during the time of the story without blaming one side exclusively. It can be a real eye-opener for those who did not know the extent of what was going on at that time in certain parts of our nation.

Plot
- Unnamed narrator tells his life story from about the time that he graduated from high school.
- Documents all of the events that changed his life, both good and bad.
- Narrator gets expelled from his college and has to move to find work in hopes of returning to school.
- Many problems arise throughout his search for a job with his letters from the head of his college.

Setting
- Story begins in the South.
- Through an unfortunate turn of events the setting moves to New York

Characterization
- The narrator begins as a college student who is eager to please all of those above him in authority as well as the white men associated with the school.
- Throughout the story many problems arise in the narrator’s life in which he must choose a certain solution.
- These problems that come up shape the narrator into who he is at the end of the novel, an invisible man.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what life was like for a black male back then as well as anyone who wants to experience severe oppression to some extent.

A powerful, Dostoyevskian novel, narrated by our protagonist who slowly discovers and realizes his invisibility to society's issues. Elegant writing that echoes T.S. Eliot and Melville. One review compares the invisible man to Ishmael, who narrates the totality of past events in symbolically structured settings. Our man is unseen, but the sheer force of his presence can move mountains for political change. Excellent and worthwhile.

I love this book. I love its clear and well maintained themes. I love its crisp and vibrant prose. I love its vivid and very well orchestrated imagery. I love its masterfully paced narration and resolution. I love tracing the countless literary and cultural allusions in it. I love its honesty about the interwoven pain, boredom and joy of being an African American in the USA. I love its prophetic endurance in our culture. (You'll notice Ellison didn't title it _Invisible Negro_.) I love its blend of mythic fantasy, apocalyptic surrealism and plain ol' gritty realism. I love how funny this book is. I love this book's musical prose and how its lyrical rhythms mirror and anticipate its narrative flow.
Most negative reviews about this book stem from a desire for a better story. _Invisible Man_ is a good story. It is only a better novel qua literary genre. Its primary value is not, however, that it is an "exciting" story or "a good read", but that it is a superb *piece of art*: philosophical, visual, musical, beautiful. And as for the criticism that Ellison is an Oreo, that he softpeddles his critique of U.S. racism, that he puts "Whitese" in a Black man's mouth - all these objections miss two major points of Ellison's aesthetic and moral philosophy. First, just as Ellison could be nothing but authentic in his writing, so too is his narrator authentic in his testimony - no matter what Huey Long or Eldridge Cleaver might say. The narrator is alive because he has his own voice; he is not a caricature. Second, Ellison resisted (essentialist) Black rhetoric for its own sake. He was too good a communicator to be a good Black Nationalist pundit. I'm willing to admit the prose nay seem pretensious at times. But the narrator's rare eloquence is integral to undermining the stereotype of "dumb darkies". Jack the Bear may street jive or he may wax philosophical - either way, his voice is the light that defies (and defines) his invisibility in a blind world.
This is one of the few books I've voluntarily read more than once. The other was Tolstoy's _Anna Karenin_.

"Stephen's task, like ours, was not in creating the uncreated aspects of his race, but of discovering the undiscovered features of his face. Our task is in making ourselves individuals. The conscience of a race is the conscience of its individuals who see, evaluate, record... we create the race by creating ourselves, and to our astonishment we would have created something far more important: we would have created a culture. Why waste time creating a conscience for something that does not exist? For you see, blood and skin do not think!"
Ralph Ellison, INVISIBLE MAN
This book is a treasure. This book is filled with all the elements of masterful storytelling, mythic-level subtext and spellbinding events, psychological depth, multi-dimensional characters and characterizations... it will be patently impossible for you to put it down once you have picked it up. I somehow found a way to avoid this book in high school and college- partly, I'm sure, because it became so fashionable to have a timely opinion on its social relevance that it made not having read it seem subhuman, while simultaneously making the act of reading it seem like an inhumanly boring chore. Thank God the spirit of excellence and truth kept calling me to this book. This one book does for the human soul what the authors of most of the last ten plus years of self-help books, sociological tomes, racial dialogues and popular novels COMBINED have both endeavored to do and practically proclaim could not actually be done in print. I came away from this book feeling rejuvenated, stunned, inspired, engaged, taught, challenged, exhilarated, simultaneously filled with both hope and despair- and never at any time did I stop feeling entertained. I not only felt what the character went through, but the sick side of humanity and how it fought the good in every human being he came across, in an insane, insane world that renders human beings, "invisible".
Ralph Ellison was from the school of writers who endeavored not just to write good, timely books but epic myth/epistles of the human condition wrapped up in the pains, sicknesses and triumphs of the present day experience. He didn't try to write a Black book; he tried to write a human book, about the spirit IN a Black man. He did it. He achieved it. He wrote THE book with this, and made our world that much better.
You will enjoy this book immensely.

Ralph Ellison, for starters, exhibits a masterful command of the English language and all of its literary power from therein. For the neophytes reading this, Invisible Man is not merely "a book about overcoming racial injustice" -- as it would appear on the surface to many. To typecast this work in such a way would do nothing short of a grave disservice to the late Ellison. Invisible Man, contrarily, transcends mere race and delves into, as Ellison calls it, "the beautiful absurdity of the American identity."
We are all aiding and abetting lies, Ellison says, by judging others in a coldly insular & scientifically calculated manner based solely upon one's outward appearance -- not unlike the The Brotherhood, Norton, Bledsoe, & Ras the Exhorter. As our hapless (and interestingly nameless), yet undeniably endearing, protagonist astutely states, "The truth is the light and light is the truth." As he is invisible without truth, the truth, conversely, is unattainable without light.
Ellison takes us on a circuitous, if not tumultuous, road to self-awareness that is tragically achieved through his naive and idealistic dreams being systematically shattered by the irrepressibly cynical charlatans in whom he has put his unconditional trust such as the Iago-like Brother Jack. In a book where perception is anything but reality, Ellison's cryptic characters (such as Brother Jack and his inexplicable use of a foreign language and inscrutable glass eye as well as the ostensibly omnipresent, yet never present, Rinehart) without doubt add to this mysterious, yet pervasive, feeling of uncontrollable helplessness of our protagonist who is being inexorably jettisoned into a blurry chaotic world grossly devoid of right and wrong.
Two FYIs: Appropriately, the only letters on the book cover which become "invisible" when looked at from a distance are the two I's. Also: read the prologue again after reading the entire book seeing, as Ellison succinctly states in both the prologue and epilogue, "The end was in the beginning and lies far ahead."

This book is 19th on the Modern Library's best 100 novels of the 1900s. As a classic, much has been made of its importance as a study of racial identity in the 1930s. The narrator is a young black man. He is expelled from a southern university in the beginning of the novel when he is assigned the task of chauffeuring a visiting benefactor, a white man, to a school function. The benefactor asks to go for a drive, and the narrator gives him a tour of the rural south that is a little too scenic, one might say.

Thus expelled, the narrator heads to Harlem to seek work and a real-life education. There he becomes a member of The Brotherhood, a mixed-race organization that seems progressive at first. But as the narrator discovers time and again, it's more hype than enthusiasm to actually change the status quo. And despite the repeated offering of help from others, the narrator can only depend on himself. Because, as he realizes, to them he exists only in terms of his ability to help them and forward their cause. To them he is not a person. To them he is an invisible man.

THE INVISIBLE MAN is a book about the politics of racial identity, but framed in the context of the greater philosophical question of identity itself. The narrator, who conspicuously is never named, encounters time and time again the paradoxes of identity. Perceptions, deception, propaganda. The way an action can change a person's image in a community forever. The way a group can push for social change in principle but fail to back that in action (reality). And for the narrator, the paradox of learning more and more but having less and less a personal identity.

This is a book of questions more than it is answers. Insightful social commentary that is as relevant today as it was when it was written.

* * * * *

(R E M I N D E R
of course it is VERY OUTDATED-its over 50yrs old-CAN NOT judge
IT BY TODAYS STANDARDS)

THE INVISABLE MAN--RANDOM HOUSE-1952--took *RWE* 5yrs to write.

author--RALPH WALDO ELLISON-3/1/1914-- to-- 4/16/1994 from OKLA-
HOMA CITY,OKLAHOMA.

Ellison ws a lit critic__scholar AND writer..FRIENDS with RICHARD
WRIGHT.

m a n...NATIONAL BOOK AWARD-1953 1998 PICKED AS one OF THE TOP 100
books
of THE 20th CENTURY. ABOUT a BLACK MAN who considers himself SOCIALLY
---INVISABLE.

HE IS IN THE present LOOKING INTO THE _______________----------past.

Ellison---A GREAT OKLAHOMAN !

bbp okc 65

Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" is a novel that forces the reader to discard conventional notions of race relations and look at certain issues of humanity in ways that are entirely unique and original. It is written in the first person by a protagonist whose name we never learn; by keeping him anonymous, we are able to relate to him better, and it helps to emphasize his "invisibility" with respect to the world. We know that he is a young black man, comes from somewhere in the South, is a bright student, and is thoughtful, introspective, positive, and ambitious. This novel is about how he is used, abused, and transformed into a cynic, but its tone is ironic rather than angry or bitter.
The novel begins just after his high school graduation, when he is invited to give a speech at a party for his hometown's most prominent white citizens. They award him a college scholarship, but they also want him to participate in a battle royal where he must fight other young black men for money while the white men watch with delight.
With the intention of becoming an educator, he attends a black college whose president is an arrogant pedagogue named Dr. Bledsoe. Assigned to be a campus chauffeur, he innocently takes a visiting white trustee of the college on an extended tour (on the trustee's request) to the cottage of an incestuous sharecropper and then to a raucous roadhouse. Bledsoe is enraged when he learns of this excursion and, as punishment for the embarrassment he imagines this has caused the college, gives the protagonist a "vacation" and sends him to New York with a promise to refer him for a job with one of the college's wealthy trustees.
Through a cruel trick played on him by Bledsoe, the protagonist ends up working at a paint factory in Long Island for tyrannical bosses, but not for long. He falls in with a group called the Brotherhood, a vaguely Communist organization that promotes humanism and racial harmony, and is hired to speak at rallies in Harlem. This fulfills his ambition to become a leader and a voice of the community; even though his fiery speeches are mostly platitudinous, they're what his audiences want to hear.
As a public speaker advocating multiracial brotherhood, he must contend with a vociferous black nationalist named Ras the Exhorter, who considers the protagonist a traitor to his race. When the murder of a young black man by a policeman incites a riot in Harlem, the protagonist realizes that the Brotherhood was just using him as a tool to aggravate Ras and divide the black community upon "with-us"/"against-us" lines.
The protagonist's personal condition has a universality in that everyone is born, lives, and dies without a purpose (except maybe a divined one), often leaving no trace of ever having existed in the grand scheme of things. It is this type of person that the protagonist refers to as "invisible" ("We who write no novels, histories or other books"), includes himself among the unseen, and strives to break out of this condition.
An important motif in the novel is that the protagonist is treated with condescension at almost every step in his life, not only by whites who ostensibly are helping him but also by blacks who want to display him to white people as a symbol of black progress. Indeed, the deferential placement of the novel at #19 on the Modern Library's list of the best English-language novels of the 20th Century ironically illustrates this theme. However, "Invisible Man" deserves its acclaim as one of the most complex and provocative novels of the American experience.

An unnamed young black man becomes aware of his own unimportance. He is transformed from subservence to the white man to a pawn of both liberal whites and self important blacks.
Along his journey he encounters racism at its ugliest in the Southern town in which he lived. He also encounters a wealthy white man who views blacks as his destiny and a complex black university president who has his own self-centered agenda.
Our hero is sent to New York under false pretenses by the president of the university where he encounters union organizers and liberal whites promoting Communist like ideals. He is used by the liberals to organize harlem blacks for the party only to learn that the party leadership care nothing for black people other than to advance their own agenda. In reality the party means to martyr black citizens to advance their cause.
The young man is pushed around like a pin ball token as he is a pawn of everyone with an agenda. Finally he realizes that he has never had any individuality and really is an 'invisible man.'
I am sure that I did not understand all the symbolisms.Ellison truly was brilliant and this is powerfull reading.

The most striking part about reading The Invisible Man (and for the first time) is how depressingly relevant it still is. This book, written in 1952, could easily be placed into someone’s hands today with a falsified publication date claiming 2017, with the reader exclaiming upon completion how cutting edge it is. I say depressing because, while The Invisible Man will always be a relevant text, a text that matters in any historical context, it is still SO relevant that it begs the question, have we made any progress since it was written? But that’s not for me to say.

As a white male, I am not in a very popular social bucket right now. The most insidious component to ‘white privilege’ is that the privileged, by definition, are so often ignorant of their own privileged status. And if not, can easily be accused of it still. I’ll confess to not fully understanding the current social problems we have regarding race in this country, and also to not wanting to even hear about them anymore. That, I now understand consciously, is a ‘privilege’ I’ve had all my life. Willful ignorance. Or at least the desire for it. Reading the Invisible Man was a hard, not so enjoyable experience. Much of it feels raw and brimming with anger, and collectively (as we can see with the most recent current events), the defensive stance some whites have taken in the past is morphing into aggression. How to respond to what so often feels like blame? Fifty pages later I could be reading something that made me want to scream at the injustice. And not the injustice of things I’m reading about in a novel, but injustices that actually happened, and are still happening, and feel unsolvable. Then throw in that feeling of helplessness. Helpless to create change. Even to some degree, helpless to speak. Even contemplating the writing of this review, I feel as though my opinions aren’t justified or wanted, and can only add fuel to the fire, though unintentionally. So at that level, I feel like even this review is a risk for more discomfort. But I read the Invisible Man. And I feel like it’s every American’s duty, now more than ever, to seek out discomfort, embrace it, and continue to seek it out in careful doses, daily, for the rest of their lives until solutions start presenting themselves. The Invisible Man is a great place to begin.

I feel like I have to add a few caveats here though, especially after having glanced over some of the other reviews. In my youth, The Invisible Man was taught in a lot of high schools, and maybe still is, and with some supervision could be an instructive read, but I think it is more suitable for an adult that is willing to deeply engage the text. There are some heavy scenes that some parents may not be open to their children reading, and others that may prove overly provocative. That being said, I think this should be required reading, both for its historical context and the prophetic warning that still applies.

The quintessential novel serving as a precursor to the civil rights movement, "Invisible Man" explores the trials and tribulations of a gifted black man in the Depression era South and Harlem. Although racial strife and inequality is the central focus to Ellison's work, larger questions of individuality and conformity in an imperfect world abound. Even though the systemic racism and Jim Crow violence of this era has been relegated to the back burner of history, "Invisible Man" is still a potent story today, regardless of one's race or position in life.

"Invisible Man" serves as an apparatus for Ellision to espouse his own beliefs on the role of Blacks in America. Although Ellison rejects a philosophy of conformance to white society and the pursuit of economic success to trump racial inequality, he also vehemently rejects the black supremacy ideology, personified by Ras the Exhorter. Yet, the most damning condemnation is reserved for the organizations who manipulate and cajole blacks for their own agenda, as personified by the Brotherhood. Initially, the narrator (the unnamed "invisible" man) is offered a job as spokesman, who will spout their socialist propaganda at massive rallies in an attempt to organize Blacks into a vital force for socialist change. However, it soon becomes evident that the White power structure of the Brotherhood is using him as a means to dupe others. Indeed, the Brotherhood ultimately decides to "sacrifice" their Harlem contingency, a nice way of saying they they will let Blacks wallow in their own cesspool of racism and horrid living conditions.

Throughout the novel blindness plays an important role. In his attempt to advance himself, the narrator is blind to the true ambitions of the Brotherhood. Ras the Exhorter, the fiery demagogue, is blind to the race riot and violence he helps to incite. The white oppressors are blind to the black individual and his ability to succeed. Indeed, it seems as if no one is immune to the blindness of stereotypes, be they black or white.

On a higher level, "Invisible Man" explores the meaning of individuality and an attempt to define one's self. Throughout the novel, the narrator lets others define who he is. Only when he realizes that he's been living a pipe dream does he wake up and cast off the illusions of equality and manages to understand himself. However, this relates to anyone who as ever struggled to define themselves.

Overall, Ellison provides a multi-dimensional and thought-provoking novel. Although it was written sixty years ago and most of the systemic racism is gone, it is still relevant today. Indeed, it may be even more relevant as we attempt to break from the conformance of society and find our true selves.

I first read Ralph Ellison's masterpiece "Invisible Man" in high school and was struck with the enormous number of layers and nuances throughout the book. Having re-read it as an adult, I saw even more than I had as a teenager. Ellison's facility with giving different scenes different levels of meaning is comparable to the great Herman Melville, who constructed "Moby Dick" in much the same manner.
Ellison makes his point about the invisibility of blacks in America before you even open the book; the title itself has no article, no "An Invisible Man" or "The Invisible Man," but simply and starkly, "Invisible Man." This simple ommission (or commission, depending on how you want to approach it) sets the story afloat by subtly establishing that the main character is seen to be almost suspended in the ether, noticed not at all by whites until they attribute to him whatever prejudice, odd ideas, or assumptions they have about the black race.
In the prologue, Ellison lets his hero (anti-hero?) ramble on and on about different experiences, not telling us directly who he is and what he's like, but leaving it to the reader to do the work of harvesting from this field of memory what impressions he or she can about the character. The story begins with the hero giving a tour of the local county to an important visitor from the college the hero attends. A harrowing firsthand account of incest follows--one of the tensest, most intense scenes I've ever read in any book--and somewhat thereafter, the hero is forced to leave the college. He drifts hither and yon, from country to city, from friend to friend, never quite getting his bearings and not really understanding why. When he finally hooks up with a political group towards the end of the book, you find yourself relieved that he's found some purpose--but even this turns out to be ominous and unfortunate.
It's a testament to Ellison's talent (and his willpower) that he ends the book on a hanging note. We don't know what will happen next--we have no sense of it at all. And isn't that entirely Ellison's point?

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is many things, all of them great: one of the twentieth century's best novels, a landmark identity exploration, one of the most brilliantly vivid dramatizations of existentialism and other Post-Modern intellectual concerns, one of the most relevant sociopolitical works since World War II, a revolutionary novel in structural terms that proved highly influential, and a milestone of African American art. It is essential for anyone even remotely interested in such things and, indeed, anyone even slightly concerned with twentieth century literature.

Invisible is often called a "black novel," and while this sells it incredibly short, it has much to admire in this regard. The protagonist and most major characters are black, and the book gives a fascinating peak at mid-century African American culture, especially black intellectuals, political dissidents, early black power movements, and urban blacks. We get a good idea of such movements' ins and outs as well as their members' thoughts, speech, and behavior. The novel memorably deals with many themes of great importance to African Americans, from poverty to racism to identity issues. It is also steeped in black history. However, it is important to realize that Ellison did not set out to write a "black novel" in the sense of Richard Wright or James Baldwin. He was in fact disturbed by those pressing such strict sociopolitical readings, stressing that he wished Invisible could be seen "simply as a novel." To be sure, it has much to say about African Americans and their status then and now and is at least as political in its way as anything overtly meant as such. However, it is extremely complex and ambiguous; critics and readers still debate just what Ellison meant more than half a century later. This was clearly intentional; nearly every aspect of the book has great sociopolitical relevance, but it never even comes close to didactic. Ellison dramatizes supremely meaningful themes and raises many profound questions but knows better than to give answers; that is up to us. As with Zora Neale Hurston, his refusal to take a definite stand on "black" issues did not sit well with the more forceful politically engaged black leaders, but this is to the book's literary benefit. Released in 1952, it is an important link between Modernism and Post-Modernism; its relentless staging of profound philosophical issues with an existential awareness of the impossibility of definitive answers is distinctly Modern, while its political aspect is very Post-Modern. It walks a similar line between African American literature and general literature with the former's trappings and the latter's breadth. The bottomline is that it has the strengths of both and is great on both fronts.

Important as Invisible is to black concerns, it is also grandly universal - politically, philosophically, and otherwise. Above all, it is an eloquent illustration of the underdog in all facets - an extremely vivid account of what it is like to be an outcast in various societies. The Invisible Man symbolizes everyone who is downtrodden, whether from race, class, beliefs, or whatever else. It is thus a supremely searching and stirringly affecting portrait of modern alienation; whether in the rural South or Harlem, the Invisible Man is essentially down and out and in the most fundamental sense alone. There is a strong criminal, even revolutionary, element to his plight that shines a much-needed light on the vast dark side of a mid-century era that many think of as idyllic. A far cry from the official Leave It to Beaver world, it was a loud wake-up call to a complacent society and remains a vibrantly relevant paean to outcasts everywhere.

Many Post-Modern themes abound - paranoia, distrust of authority, etc. -, but identity crisis is preeminent. One of the most truly existential novels, Invisible focuses largely on the prime existential question - how to find oneself in a world where traditional authority, from government to religion, has become extinct. One can no longer rely on higher sources but must find the answer in one's own heart and mind. Invisible is thus a bildungsroman on top of everything else - one's man's struggle to find the answer. Traditional fallbacks fail one after another, and he is left truly alone but not without a certain dignity and even a certain (very unconventional) strength. His fight for true independence has some success, and the self-awareness and clear-sightedness he gains is in many ways at least as valuable as the illusions he loses. Probably no one would want to be him, but all honest thinking people can see themselves in him - a disturbing thought reinforced in the unforgettable closing words. We certainly do not envy him, mainly because we can see ourselves becoming him so easily; he is an extreme version of the darkness that can befall an intelligent, capable person unable to fit into modern society. We identify with the darkness at his heart because we see it in ours - hopefully barely kindled but in danger of becoming a conflagration at any moment, just as his unexpectedly does when he seems on the very brink of success.

Important as the content is, the structure is also integral. The back of the book claims that Invisible gives "an entirely new model of what a novel can be," which is not much of an exaggeration. Non-linear and distinctly anti-realist with a highly symbolic, often surreal plot, it again straddles Modernism and Post-Modernism. This is one of the main reasons that calling it a "black novel" is severely limiting. For one thing, it is highly allusive, referring to many works by non-blacks; Homer's Odyssey is an important source, and Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and H. G. Wells' Invisible Man are essential antecedents acknowledged by Ellison. Though not near-impenetrable as the likes of Joyce, Faulkner, and Pynchon are at their most abstruse, Invisible is challenging; the content was audacious and is still provocative, and the protagonist is not the usual sympathetic one, but the structure itself is demanding. One can read - and even enjoy - Invisible on a surface level, but those willing to dig deeper and truly engage themselves will get so much more out of it. We must make an effort to identify with the protagonist even when he seems most alien precisely because this is when he is really most familiar, and we must be alive to the frequent symbolism. Those willing to do so will be well rewarded; few novels are broader in scope or more complex in execution, not to mention more thematically meaningful and relevant. Invisible is a masterpiece on every level, making the fact that Ellison never finished a second novel a truly tragic loss to literature; it thankfully stands alone as a towering monument that will make him a literary immortal. It is a canon in itself, essential for anyone struggling with or curious about modernity's unique problems.

Ellison's narrator has essentially beat a retreat from the world. He holes up in a subterranean room, where he reflects on the the injustices society has dealt him. The Invisible Man beats and almost kills a white man he confronts on an empty street, simply to rationalize his own existence.This novel is filled with self loathing. Yet, the narrator does achieve a sort of spiritual progress and affirmative self-knowledge. He goes from being a pathetically exploited non-being that must acceed to the whims and wishes of the white opressor (the often anthologized battle royal scene at the beginning of the book), to a point near the conclusion of the book in which he can state he is free to pursue "infinite possibilities."
in an overall favorable review of this novel, Ellison allows the narrator to almost become a different character separate from the rest of the novel in the section where the narrator falls in with "The Brotherhood" portrays the communist party in an unrealisticly vain matter. Yes, the "I" in Invisible Man is harder to see than the other characters, but that is part of the author's construct. It's the very point he makes over and over throughout the novel. How better to portray an "invisible man?"
You are in for an unforgettable impactful read.

This great American novel begins by articulating what it means to be an intellectual, young Afro-American in the South around the time of WWII. Invisible man meets with deceit, distrust and manipulation at every turn and decides to move North to New York City where he finds more of the same. After living hand-to-mouth in Harlem, he becomes a spokesperson for a social movement in Harlem seeking to mobilize for reform. He becomes a pawn in the hands of the leadership of this radical reform movement even as he articluates their messaging. During riots in Harlem he becomes an underground man, literally hibernating below the streets of New York in a hole. The link to Dostoyevsky's undergound man becomes inescapable. Nevertheless, his elusive identity and absence of voice and powerlessness in the hands of his society and culture become paralytic for him. He is a nameless intellectual struggling to assert his identity to overcome the cosmic void intent upon swallowing him through animosity, poverty and bigotry. He becomes a man who has lost his illusions and determines that "humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat." There are extistential themes at play in the novel when that philosophy was in its heyday after Europe crawled out of the bunkers and rubble of the decimation of World War II: "...for all life seen from the hole of invisibility is absurd." He decides after living in the hole that he must shed his snakeskin and come up for breath. "Thus, having tried to give pattern to the chaos, which lives within the pattern of your certainties, I must come out, I must emerge." Invisible man does crawl out of his underground hibernation with full recognition of his invisibility and cognizant it's possible that even an invisible man has a "socially responsible role to play." He admonishes us, powerfully, that his voice is also ours. Saul Bellow was right to consider Invisible Man a "book of the very first order." Even more impressively, this was Ellison's first novel and could be considered one of the best, first novels even written by an American. Read Invisible Man: these American Notes from Underground are powerful and moving and prescient. In so profoundly articulating the nothingess, Ellison is really something -- immortal. Invisible man is us.

Ralph Ellison's THE INVISIBLE MAN is justly celebrated as one of the outstanding American novels of the twentieth century. Though not lacking in universal themes, it truly is a novel rooted in the American experience, a book that explores many of the complexities of race relations in the United States. The book ends by refusing to offer an facile answers or to identify any simple villains. The novel's many villains number as many African Americans as whites, and no true heroes of either race. The sense at the end is that where race relations are concerned, we in America are getting it wrong from beginning to end regardless of our race. Moreover, all political persuasions also seem to be guilty of getting it wrong.

Structurally, THE INVISIBLE MAN owes a great deal to that genre of the English novel that deals with the coming of age of a youthful hero. Indeed, this novel could be profitably be compared to TOM JONES, only without the philosophical sidetracking one finds in that novel and set in the United States with a black hero. Like Tom Jones, the narrator of THE INVISIBLE MAN is thrown by fate from one bizarre experience to another, never being an actor in his own story, but merely a reactor. The narrator does not seize his own fate, but allows himself to be passively shifted about. His story is largely told through stringing together a number of bizarre incidents: a surreal Battle Royal in which a group of young blacks are blindfolded and forced to fight one another for the amusement of a group of whites, who later listen to the battered narrator present a speech that he hopes will win him a scholarship to college. At college he serves as driver for one of the school's white benefactors, but instead of it being an occasion for furthering his career, the day degenerates despite his best intentions into a pure nightmare, which results in his expulsion from school. He travels to New York to seek work, but the only thing he gets from his one day of working in a paint factory is a concussion and short term disability payments. Finally--and this embraces most of the last half of the novel--our hero inadvertently becomes a political speaker for the Communist party (an experience that reflects Ellison's own experience as a political writer for the Communists in the 1930s, though in the novel he refers to them only as The Brotherhood). His work as a Communist organizer is contrasted with an African Black Nationalist agitator named Ras, who in the tradition of Marcus Garvey believes in the separation of the races. What links all these adventures together is that throughout the Narrator is never affirmed or perceived for who he is in himself. All without exception focus on him as a mere member of his race, never on him as an individual. Indeed, while the Communists are largely lacking in the racism he finds elsewhere, their interest in him largely lies in the use to which he can be put. They are, in fact, not interested in individuals at all, and even if they are hostile towards class rather than race, they are equally as hostile towards the individual.

The novel is profoundly political. Ellison is equally disenchanted with those who feel that the goal for blacks is to educate them so that they can gradually become more and more accepted in a white-dominated society, with the Communists who want to eliminate the individual for the sake of the group (indeed, who are willing to sacrifice individuals and even groups of individuals for the sake of furthering the purposes of history), and those who call for a radical withdrawal of blacks from all social intercourse with whites. Instead, he argues at the end of the novel for the primacy of the individual against race, history, or the group. In the end, he expresses the desire to be viewed as himself, apart from whatever categories can be used to define him.

The tone of the book is comic without being truly funny. There is a surreality about most of the sections of the book. Given Ellison's political background in Communism, this is of profound significance. For the Communists, all legitimate fiction had to be starkly realistic. There is very little realism in THE INVISIBLE MAN. Much of the novel is comically nightmarish. In fact, while looking backward the novel reminded me of novels like TOM JONES, looking forward it reminded me of CATCH-22. I do not know if Joseph Heller was influenced by this book, but I would be very surprised if he was not. Much as that novel blends the comic and the tragic (though it is far funnier than Ellison's book, or indeed more than just about any other novel), so did Ellison's. In fact, it is hard to find models for Ellison's book, unless one points to TOM JONES as I have, or perhaps in a vague way to the novels of James Joyce. Indeed, it is hard to realize what a wildly original novel THE INVISIBLE MAN is, if only because he pioneered a narrative style that became commonplace later. Another thing to note about his anti-realism style is his characters. For the most part, Ellison's do not resemble people you would meet in real life. Many are intentional caricatures, many grotesques in the tradition of Charles Dickens. All are intended to emphasize the unreality and nightmarish quality of the narrator's life.

I truly love this novel. It is one of the few important "African American" novels that is more important for its literary qualities than for its role as a racial novel. Ellison makes some amazing and brilliant innovations on the traditional English novel. This is often said to be the finest novel ever written by an African American, but that really is damning it with faint praise. It is almost a way of making it The Invisible Novel. This novel's greatness does not lie in having been written by a black writer, but in being a magnificently marvelous novel on purely literary grounds. My only regret is that Ellison largely turned his back on fiction after publishing THE INVISIBLE MAN. He was also an absolutely brilliant essayist and jazz critic (his formal education was largely in music theory and he early on aspired to being a jazz musician), but I wish he had not so completely abandoned fiction.

Invisible Man is one of the greatest novels of this century. Ellison only published the one novel during his lifetime, but he was correct when he said that there wasn't much more to say.
Invisible Man is told my an unnamed narrator (an effective device since the narrator hasn't totally found his existential self). He is an African American from the south living in New York. He has come to the realization that he is invisible in that people choose (conciously or subconciously) to look through him. He then tells the story of his life which has lead him to that epiphany.
Invisible Man is really marvelous. It is an existential novel of not really an African American in a prejudiced time and place, but really an American trying to find his identity in that prejudiced country. Ellison has so much to say about the races being a little of each other, not really being separate. He has so much to say to all of humanity. He tells everything in a smoothly written narrative. The prose is beautiful. The plot is entertaining and causes thought. This novel is just as valid today as it was when written and cannot be missed by the upcoming generation.

Although this is a fairly long work, I consider it one of the richest works I have ever read. In terms of sheer information and hidden subversiveness, this book is a rare treat for those who like to dig deep beneath the surfaces and find what is hidden there. Invisible Man is not merely a work about an alienated black male, it is also the story of American history, and the racism that has been ever present, on the surface and veiled beneath the harmless guise of tradition. The fact that Ellison produced such a biting critique of American society, and was able to get it published, is a miracle in itself. 'Invisible Man' is a powerful statement against the dehumanizing effects of racism in America. Through elaborate symbolism and metaphor Ellison goes about the huge task of trying to expose the rampant institutional and societal racism that manifested itself in practically every corner of American culture. Through the anonymous character of the Invisible Man, we are taken on a tour that begins in the outwardly racist South and ends in the supposedly progressive Eastern city of New York and Harlem. What the Invisible Man discovers about America in his journey is both a powerful social commentary and harsh indictment of the nature of human ignorance and hatred.
The Invisible Man is certainly not an easy read, because of the threat of censorship Ellison was forced to submerge his subversive message under the appearance of mild criticism. The result is an extremely deep and complex novel, which often is charged with double-meaning, allusion, and symbolism. One is amazed at the ingenuity and inventedness that Ellison employed in this work, and equally impressed at the final result.
This work itself is a testimony that people can overcome racism, prejudice, and hatred, and yet it is at the same time disheartening to see what extreme lengths Ellison had to go in order to express his views, which inherently affects the readers of his novel as well. Although Ellison was able to get his message published, he was forced to do so under a veil of darkness, one that has effectively muffled his message to a great portion of his readers. Consequently, his ultimate triumph is partial and bittersweet.
There are many things in this book that are easily overlooked; it is one that requires much thought and investigative inquiry. "Invisible Man" is best to be read more than once, while keeping in mind the subversive nature of Ellison's critique and the extreme methods he was forced to employ in doing so. If this bit of advice is followed his message will continue to be heard, which is an important and unerrepresented voice of our American past. This book is a joy to read and provides invaluable insight to a period of American history that most people know little about. In my estimation Invisible Man is one of the greatest books written in the annals of American literature, a representation of American ingenuity and independence at its finest.

One of the enduring characteristics of American Literature is its deep desire to create a classic American work, a piece that will be canonized for its ability to reach all corners of an extremely diverse, dynamic, and often troubling society. Many critics may debate the merits of any individual who can claim to cover all of the cleavages of society within one work, yet Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man stands up nearly forty years after its original publication as a testimony to the dynamics of American society and more importantly, the systemic race 'problem' that America continues to manipulate and feel guilt for. Invisible Man narrative style allows Ellison to make poignant observations about the many distinctive ways of life in America: the differences between North and South; black and white, communist and capitalist, inner city and the privileged few and gender differences; these are all major societal distinctions that invisible Man stumbles upon along his road to realization and disillusionment in American society. Upon this examination of the work, Invisible Man is doubly recognized for providing a unique commentary of the continued degradation of Black America, complete with a distinctive black culture and way of life, but also for its ability to reach out and embrace elements of Literature such as the bildungsroman genre. Invisible Man's journey across the American landscape acts as a journey across time and become an education about America at a time of expansive consumerism and international interest expansion. This book is a highly recommended read that seeks to uncover a perspective about America that today may seem commonplace, but in its time, was rather revolutionary.

The title of Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" may evoke memories of H.G. Wells' similarly-titled science fiction classic. But as Ellison's narrator tells us in the novel's opening, his "invisibility" is not the result of a sci-fi plot device, but rather the result of a psychosocial disorder that permeates United States culture. The novel is a brilliant exploration of this disorder: America's tortured racial legacy.
"Invisible Man" follows its young African-American narrator on an odyssey during which he encounters a host of memorable characters, both white and black. I read the novel primarily as a satire. Ellison rips into such phenomena as academia, industry, politics, and sexual taboo. The novel is full of wry symbolism and surreal flourishes. At times outrageous, at times grotesque, the novel examines some of the philosophies and world-views that tempted both black and white Americans in the early to mid-20th century. "Invisible Man" is essential reading for those interested in African-American studies, U.S. literature, or the 20th century novel.

I read this book several times in undergraduate and graduate school and it never failed to promote new concepts and a feeling of intellectual and emotional euphoria--a connection with something beyond description, so full of what it is to be a human being that it even transcends the critical racial issues that are the mainstay of the book. Ellison's book could well be the greatest book to come out of the United States and perhaps the world. The true genius of the book and its author are there for the thoughtful reader to enjoy again and again. One suggestion for a beginning reader, however: consider Reaping the Whirlwind by R.J. Norell as a historical companion piece to this book. The two should be studied together in any literature or history class. As a long-ago resident of Alabama, I can guarantee the non-southern reader (especially) a new and improved connection with the beginning of Ellison's novel. Studying historical Tuskegee, AL in combination with Ellison's college with its confoundingly servile leader and puzzling statue (etc) will give even an experienced professor of literature (as one of mine was) a new root and perspective in comprehending Ellison.

I rarely re-read books. Generally I'm one of those hoarders--a collector who stocks up on all the variety of books I could ever want to read. Granted a collection grows overwhelming and eventually out-distances your time and capacity for reading, growing ever-expanding and pushing some once desired treasures to the back shelf.
Anyway, when I was in college, at present nine years ago, there was a time over two semesters when I was assigned to read this book three times. Well, I read it twice (the one semester providing the benefit of teaching the novel at the same time). A few years later I tried again and left once more burning with the conviction that I had read one of the very great novels of the 20th century.
Sure, such high-handed praise goes around and comes again, mixing and swirling between genres and styles and tastes. But here is an experimental satire disguised as a somber discussion of race, complicated by the family/romantic troubles any ambitious young man encounters, then consumed with post-religious, aimless guilt and desperation brought about by isolation and madness and the fear of failure that can crush the spirit and flatten out the will to live until even the desire for suicide is destroyed. It is a complicated, dazzling, entertaining book that is a noble and devestating account of a man beset by doubt and inner turmoil, often still lingering from wounds others inflicted over an uncertain past.
The absolute gibberish of this review should relate some of the overwhelming exuberence memories of reading it has evoked. Nevertheless, I hope I haven't deterred you from reading the book . . .

This is book is far to good to be filed in one category, and unfortunately categorization is probably hurting the range of it's audience. What we have here is a great tome of African American literature to be sure, but the work far transends ethnicities in the importance of it's message and the social commentary found within. Granted it is about a young African American male trying to gain recognician as a man, if nothing else, in a society where identity [...] merely a fascade for social and professional purposes. This book is as well written and more developed than many of the existentialist literature spoon fed to us in school. I have to admit I felt a bit cheated that I stumbled on this book accidentally in the Black History section of a book store, sandwiched between Douglas and King.
Anyone who has opted to form their own opinions and maintain the integrity of their own values will find this a very satisfying read.

Ellison's landmark novel, Invisible Man was truly ahead of its time. It dared to exploit the issues of racism at a time when our country most needed it. It became a standard to which many future black authors would look to. By some, it is considered the best novel an African American has ever written. If not, it at least considered by a majority of its readers, an American masterpiece.

Invisible Man opens with the narrator telling us exactly what he is and how he came to be like that. It opens in almost a surrealistic fashion and we are drawn in and instantly captivated. Ellison sets the mood and we desperately want to learn more. He then begins with horrific opening scene of his life. The narrator is never named. We know from the beginning he is a college educated black man. He is also an eloquent orator. In the startling opening sequence to his story, he is manipulated into giving a speech at what he thinks is a dignified event. It is nothing more than a horrific display of racism in which white men use black anger and fighting as a form of mere entertainment. This scene sets the mood of the novel

After the opening we follow the nameless protagonist through his life. First, he gets kicked out of college by the black college president for not treating a rich white donor as he should. This black president promises him a job, but ironically the letters that he sends to all the "would-be" employer's of the nameless narrator are in actually warning to not hire him and not letters of recommendations as he promised. The narrator realizes this and has to take up a job at the local paint making factory. Here we learn some symbolism of the "white" world as Emerson brilliant uses metaphors comparing the paint to racial misunderstandings.

Eventually, a member of the "brotherhood" which is a black and white semi communist party hears a magnificent speech delivered by the narrator, which he gives to an angry black mob on the verge of an attack on white officers. The member of this organization is impressed with his speech and the nameless narrator becomes the spokesman in the city of Harlem for this organization.

The nameless narrator learns that the organization is merely using him and he is just a pawn for them The bulk of this story is the narrator coming to grips that he merely is just an invisible man to these people, most of whom are white, and they just use him to their own advantage. Sadly, the narrator doesn't realize this until it is too late and has been blinded all along by their deception.

In the end, the narrator breaks free of their grasp, but also comes to realize that his entire life to this point has been no more than being an invisible man to those around him. His own self-identity and worth has been lost. Finally, he gets his redemption and learns who he truly is.

It is hard to really name anything wrong with this novel. The language is beautiful, dark, and almost has a poetic ring to it in certain passages. It blends the issues of racism, bigotry, and individualism together in an interesting, well told story. I can't argue with the language or substance. You can feel that this story meant a lot to the author. I believe it is an important book on history in America. Ellison has so much talent and the story is as well told as any I have heard.

So, why not a perfect rating for Invisible Man? If anyone claims it to be a masterpiece I certainly wouldn't argue with them. For me, it came close, but I just kept waiting for something more to happen. What exactly? I'm not sure. It just seems like in order for a book to be a masterpiece something more has to happen. This book has no real climax. The ending was also a bit too preachy and wasn't as straight forward as it could have been. It is like you sit on the edge of your seat waiting for the big explosion, the powerful moment that will take your breath away, but it never comes. Of course, not all novels would be appropriate for such a moment or climax, but it seemed a book about these important issues, this powerful statement on the way things are and the way things should be, seemed like it should have had such a moment. It seemed in order to take this book to the next level of genius it needed something more that never was delivered.

Nevertheless, this is a very, very good novel. It is told with brilliant language, the characters are very realistic and the setting was dead on target. The power and emotion I thought it would exhume just didn't come to me. I just wish it could have affected me more somehow. How it could have done that exactly? I'm not sure, but I kept getting this feeling that something was missing. The answer might be as invisible as the character himself.

Grade: A-

He is an invisible man, not that he is physically invisible, but because people refuse to see him as he is, or so the story starts.
The story is about a youthful, unnamed black man, who starts off naive and full of idealism. Throughout the book, he faces different ordeals, transforms himself several times, and makes many discoveries about the society in which he lives, each time growing as an individual and trying to find his identity.
The reason I liked this book so much because the way in which it was written makes you care about something you otherwise might not, let alone know about, how blacks weren't even paid attention to in the United States in the period before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. They weren't so much oppressed or hated, but rather ignored altogether, which, when you think about it, is much worse. It shows just a taste of how much blacks have been wronged, by whites as well as blacks. It also helped my on my path to finding who I was, even though I am not black myself.
The only thing I really disliked about this book was the slow pacing. In my opinion, the story could have been told in less detail and in less time, while still having the same effectiveness.
This is a book that deals with racism and blacks in society, so know what you're getting into when you read it. Ellison uses a lot of Southern or uneducated diction, which can be confusing at times if you've never heard it spoken before. He also uses a lot of symbols, which I thought were well used and added greatly to the book. This great American novel, though quite lengthy at 500+ pages, is worth the read, even if you're like me and not really into that sort of stuff.
I read this novel for an English class, so it was a close reading and I had to go back a lot, reread, and identify many things, things I wouldn't have noticed with just a casual reading. Everytime I went back and read something over, the book made more sense and I liked it more.
Even though Ellison addresses many of the racial problems in America, and possibly inspired things to be done about them, many problems still exist today. Perhaps more people need to read it and be opened to another view of things.

This is an incredible book to read, and so much more if you listen to the audio version. Joe Morton doesn't just read the words; he lives inside the scene, breathes the air of the time and place, integrates the narrative into human form, and connects the listener with Ellison's words and emotions in ways few readers could do from the pages alone. Morton is a superior reader/actor and energetically moves into the moods and circumstances of the narrator with intense feeling and fluidity. He's perfect! Listen to Joe Morton perform this book and you will get so much more from this amazing tale of racism, joy, pain, intolerance, selfishness, ignorance, hubris, and greed.

Ralph Ellison is a wonderful writer. His prose is
beautiful and it flows effortlessly. He is a bit long winded.
He can go on and on and on. I liked his characters.
All were unique and fully developed. There were many many
different scenes with these unusual people. This is about a
young black man, first as a student and later as a struggling
man trying to find his place in the world. The problems have
not completely gone away. It is not a fast read. But it is worth
taking your time and enjoying Ellison's writing.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I read it, and finished it, because it was recommended to me by a friend who saw me reading _The Invisible Soldier_ by Mary Penick Motley.
The book's dreamlike, and occasionally nightmarish, qualities detract from its effectiveness. When the narrator takes Norton on the drive around campus, the events turn nightmarish -- through virtually no fault of the narrator, events turn into a drawn-out out-of-control nightmare where things unbelievably keep getting worse and worse. The narration by Trueblood seems interminable, as do the bizarre events at the Golden Day.
Not only does Dr. Bledsoe banish the narrator from college, but he does so in a manner where the narrator doesn't even feel the knife in his back, and even unknowingly becomes the instrument of his own further destruction. Dr. Bledsoe's actions are typical of those who later interact with the narrator. Is Bledsoe acting to protect his own position, or the continuation of the college, or the furtherance of the African American race, or to benefit the narrator?
Continually through the book, the narrator is faced with the decision of speaking out and becoming a target, or remaining silent and assenting to injustice. The groups and individuals which attract, use, or attack the narrator are archetypes of later groups in the civil rights movement: the Brotherhood represents those who would deny African American leadership in the movement in the name of brotherhood and unity, while Ras represents a very separatist movement.
For all its historic significance and eloquence, there are better choices than this book. Ellison himself says in his forward, with regard to African American service in World War II, "How could you treat a Negro as equal in war and then deny him equality during times of peace?" For an excellent book on African American soldiers in World War II, read _The Invisible Soldier_ by Mary Penick Motley. And of course for a more objective, less dreamlike, odyssey, read _Black Like Me_ by John Griffin. Reading the works of Malcolm X, and works about Malcolm X, also provides a valuable perspective.

I can't really add much to the many reviewers who came before me and heaped praise on this masterpiece of a novel. It is certainly one of the best ever written. My only additional observation is that here Ellison, among other things, really set the tone and style for a form of "psychological" literature, wherein the problems of an entire people or segment thereof are presented through the thoughts, feelings and problems of an individual, in this case the story's narrator. It is therefore fantastic literature and riveting social commentary. This style is otherwise a hallmark of much of the post-WWII literature of the former communist bloc in Europe, although very few if any Eastern European writers, whether officially sanctioned or "dissident" ever came close to matching Ellison's achievement - even though some of them managed to become more popular. Personally, I think if most of these writers had carefully read "Invisible Man" first, they probably wouldn't have bothered writing their own `masterworks' and saved many a reader the trouble of plodding through them.

Michael Matthews

AML 2020

Book Review

Novel: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

I heard about this book for a while now so decided to read it to find out what it was all about. The narrator of this novel never mentions his name so that added more intrigue into who he was. The speaker started out early on by referring to himself as being an “invisible man.” He obviously wasn’t truly invisible but this was a metaphor that the narrator used because he felt that those around he chose not to see him.

The narrator was very good at public speaking and was invited to speak in front of a group of white men from the city that he was living in. He did so well that he won the prize, which was a scholarship to a high-ranking black college. The only thing was that before he claimed his prize the white men made a mockery of him by forcing him fight blind folded against the other black youth who participated in a “battle royal.” This was one of the first times in the book that the narrator’s true invisibility was shown. He was skilled enough to show his talent as a speaker and won the prize, but the men still didn’t view him with the respect that he deserved.

Eventually the narrator went to the college and was doing well there. While there the narrator is asked to give Mr. Norton who is a white trustee of the college a ride around. While riding the two men come across Jim Trueblood who is a poor black man from the city who is know for getting his own daughter pregnant. When Mr. Norton learns more about Jim who is so disgusted that he tells the narrator to take him to get a drink. While at the saloon a fight breaks out between two black former war veterans and Mr. Norton passes out.

Once they returned to the school Dr. Bledsoe learns of the days events that take place between the narrator and Mr. Norton and becomes so upset at the narrator for not showing Mr. Norton a more glamorous tour that he expels him from the school. Dr. Bledsoe does give the narrator some letters of recommendation enclosed in a letter to take up to New York where there are other white school trustees. When the narrator travels to New York he ends up in Harlem where he finds the letters to be of no good use. He meets Mr. Emerson and his son who opens up the letter and informs the narrator that quickly that he has been deceived. The letter isn’t a recommendation but rather describes the narrator as being lazy and untrustworthy. This is another moment where the narrators feeling of being invisible is once again true.

Mr. Emerson’s son gets the narrator a job working at Liberty Paints where he worked for Mr. Brockway. There is a dynamic here of the black narrator working for a company that makes optic white paint. His employment is short lived because Mr. Brockway doesn’t fully trust the narrator and they eventually get into a fight that ultimately leaves the narrator unconscious and in a hospital from a tank exploding during their tussle. Once the narrator left the hospital he later collapsed in the street and some members of the community took him to the home of Mary, who was a very nice woman who cared for and nursed him back to good health.

The narrator gave a passionate speech one day after seeing an elderly black couple getting evicted from their home. Brother Jack who offered him a job to work for the brotherhood after hearing his speech. The narrator was trained and quickly rose to a high role within the organization while delivering numerous speeches. Jealousy arises within the group towards the narrator and he is accused of trying to use the group to further his own personal goals. The brotherhood moves him to work another post for women’s rights and one evening after a speech he meets a white woman who attempts to seduce him to indulge in acts that she has already fanaticized about with a black man. This was one of many scenarios in this book that touched on race relations of this time.

He is called by the brotherhood to return to his original post in Harlem with the group and quickly realizes that many things have changed and a lot of members that he once knew have left. After the funeral of Clifton who dies at the hand of the police the narrator gives a speech on Clifton’s life that infuriates the brotherhood. After more disagreements about their philosophical difference the brotherhood send men to try and kill the narrator. He is forced to disguise himself to hide from these men. Once the narrator tries to escape Ras’ men who are trying to lynch him and the police who feel that he is s thief from the riots he falls into a manhole underneath the city streets.

Underground is where the narrator stays after this point. The narrator realizes that he must continue to find himself and must honor his own individuality. The invisible man title is a perfect title for this story and what it represents. The man is now living underground stealing electricity from the Monopolated Light and Power Company. He is writing a story about his life that is currently invisible to others because they cannot physically see him and about the life that he lived above the ground where he was physically visible yet people chose not to see him.

Sources:

http://bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2010/5/11/36901472/Ralph%20Ellison%20-%20Invisible%20Man%20v3_0.pdf

https://apstudyguides.wikispaces.com/Invisible+Man

Offers insight into unjust race issues along with futile thinking that is sadly current. I would recommend only to increase ones understanding of human nature, fallen man and the futility of hoping to accomplish anything worthwhile without a noble purpose.

This is a great book. It will still be in print, read, and discussed 100 years from now.
Many of the negative reviews listed here tell us what they don't like about the book. I would much rather hear what they do like, for I have trouble believing they find any flaws truly fatal. Others seem to categorize the work into some perceived African-American genre. This is like considering Moby Dick to be a story about the whaling industry.
In Invisible Man, Ellison attempts, and resoundingly achieves, a searching, multilayered exploration of the human experience, in particular the relationship between individual and society. His imagery and overall writing are hauntingly beautiful, resonating deeply within the reader on many subconscious levels. His writing skill is so great that his artifice remains invisible (sic).
In the world of novels, or in all of literature, for that matter, there are many craftspersons, but relatively few artists with real staying power. Invisible Man is a work of real art, comparable to Picasso's Guernica or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. You can love it or hate it, but it will be around for a long time.

First written in 1947, this work is brilliant and transcends time. It would be as relevant today as when it was first written. Plenty of gripping moments as the protagonist takes us through his history of how he became an invisible man. The narrator Joe Morton's performance was outstanding as he captured the essence of the work.

In one book Ralph Ellison captured the essence of racial living in America. The Invisible Man remains to this day quite possibly the best racial alegory written by an American. Ellison's work is truly a masterpiece, with each scene, each character and each word serving a purpose to drive home the themes and messages in the book.
In my opinion one of the most awe-inspiring facets of the novel is the usage of the words "white" and "black". Although on one read -through, a reader may simply ignore the placement or the function of that word, in actuality each use of the word has a specific function and meaning deliberately done so by Ellison.
The layers to this book are amazing. There are many interpretations to what happens in the book, all valid through Ellison's adeptness at using allusion. I have read this for two separate college classes and each time I read it I am amazed not only at the content of the book but also the ease of completing it. Ellison was influenced by T.S. Eliot and jazz, both of which not only come into play within the themes of the book but also make Ellison's writing style free-flowing, expressive yet comforting to read.
Besides the fact that this is a landmark in American literature, it is also an enjoyable read.

Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN tackles an issue that frankly is so huge and complex that you wouldn't think it could be captured in a single novel. However, Ralph Ellison pulls off the nearly impossible. Unlike other stories about the suppression/oppression of African-Americans which usually depict the protagonist as a victim of circumstance who is viewed as an enemy of the white people (read NATIVE SON), Ellison depicts the more real and punishing truth. That truth is that the African-American is hardly viewed at all by the white race. The African-American is unseen, his/her needs not addressed, his/her existence not acknowledged. This is a sentiment (if it can be called that) which is echoed in King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail".
Ellison's nameless and blameless protagonist isn't viewed as a person by anyone. He is seen as a source of entertainment, or a source of athleticism, or a case to be tended to... anything except a human being. Ellison's story is devestating, and yet not fatalistic. The protagonist's continuing sense of decency, self-assertion (in his own way) and humanity is not squelched, even at the end. The fact that he bothers to tell his story indicates a hope for an audience to his drama. Perhaps there is hope for all of us.

Invisible Man, released in 1952, is truly an immeasurable work of fiction in the annals of African-American literature. You will follow the nameless protagonist as he narrates his journey from youth to an HBCU located in the South (think Tuskegee), then expelled and sent to New York, to joining 'the Brotherhood', and finally, to a series of disappointing events in which he realizes his invisibility. Besides the narrator there are quite a number of characters, most of which are continually referred to throughout the story. All characters have names except for the narrator. Ellison maintains the narrator's 'invisibility' by alluding to his name but never fully disclosing it. Along the way, the narrator collects an assortment of items; tokens that possess particular meaning to him and, at times, provides strength and security.

Ellison parlays a heavy dose of symbolism, metaphors and vivid imagery into a nationally acclaimed novel about one African-American man's odyssey to conquer his charade-playing foes.

Also by Ralph Ellison: Shadow and Act,Juneteenth: A Novel and Three Days Before the Shooting . . . (Modern Library); the latter two posthumously released after his death in 1994

I personally give this book a four-and-a-half out of five stars. (I wish the store star system can do 4-and-a-half-stars). This book tackles varied topics of discussions of racial, political, and financial divisions among humanity. The Invisible Man also covers a broad spectrum of morals and ideals of the mid to late twentieth century. I gave this book four and a half stars because I felt the author, to simply put it, wrote too much. On occasion throughout the book, I had a lack of interest in the book; causing me to become bored of the novel. Besides the length of the novel, The Invisible Man is a very intriguing and interesting book to read. The book conveys multiple lessons on humanity, for humanity.
- Chris Higham

Invisible Man is a truth-seeking explanation of a young man in search of identity. After trying most of his life to be seen, he finds that people only use him and take advantage of him. No matter how well he thinks he is getting along and how far he believes he is moving up, someone cuts him back down. Thus, in order to preserve his individuality, he chooses to become invisible. Through his experiences, he finds that it is impossible to become visible and still be an individual.

In a world that claims to have eradicated the problem of racism, we cannot help but be dragged back to reality once we find ourselves reading Ellison's classic novel. We see that in this story, Ellison has created a character that can still speak to us today about the experiences that minorities encounter every day of there lives. Follow the invisible man as he goes to college, finds an apartment to live in, and encounter the many ways in which he is challenged throughout the days of his life. A scary, touching, realistic, and always challenging novel that still has as much relevance today as it did over fifty years ago when if first appeared in the bookstore.

I know that by reviewing this particular work, I am reiterating what has already been said in its praise, but THIS BOOK IS HIGH ART. Everyone should read it. Its message is universal and accessible!!!! It left me in thought for days.

Rolanda,

Nothing BUT Page Turners Book Club

Ellison's Invisible Man is a masterpiece of artful writing and incisive social commentary. On the surface, it seems as if this is yet another successful personal narrative of a young black man whose journey to spiritual adulthood is fraught with the perils of racial myopia from within and outside his race. But what makes this truly a prophetic novel is Ellison's ability to capture the essential journey of everyone's search for identity and ultimate meaning; this isn't a "black novel." Ellison's Invisible Man is America's Everyman, lost and looking to find an identity that is at once sufficiently communal to provide security and sufficiently independent to feel truly human.

This novel demands a sensitive reader, open to the possibility of the narrator's consciousness and aware of Ellison's multivalent use of symbol, metaphor, sophisticated organization and layering of plot and point of view. Hopefully, the novel will reveal another aspect of the perennial quest to know ourselves more fully as humans.

On several occasions after the publication of his masterpiece, Ralph Ellison acknowledged James Joyce's influence, especially the parallels with "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." Each book traces the development of the consciousness of its lead character, and the style of each novel, as Ellison admitted, moves from naturalism to expressionism to surrealism--although, one might argue, the opening scene of "Invisible Man" hardly resembles anything in the tradition of American naturalism: a grisly boxing match between black men vying for survival as entertainment for a rabid crowd of white patrons. At the end of this "battle royal", the protagonist wins a chance to speak to the audience and receives a promised scholarship to college.

Yet Ellison has most certainly not rewritten Joyce's Ulyssean vision. Instead he has turned Joyce, and the world, on its head; the unnamed lead character, through a series of epiphanies, realizes that society--and his place in it--is never what it seems or claims to be. We watch Ellison's hero evolve, as he learns that participation in white American society doesn't mean that he needs to deny his racial background and folk (read: democratic) traditions The result is an altogether new work, whose comic, satiric, tragic, and even bitter tone describes a world in which up is down and the North is like the South.

The uniqueness of Ellison's work is multiplied by unreal (and seemingly unrealistic) situations. The boxing match is the first of a series of bizarre misadventures; once in college, the "invisible man" serves as chauffeur to an elderly white patron. Like moths to a flame, this odd couple end up exploring the underbelly of the local black community, from a sharecropper's farm to a local brothel. This unintentionally rebellious act results in his expulsion from college; he moves to New York, ultimately finding a role as an organizer for the Communist Party, yet initially unaware that he is nothing more than a trophy. In one of the most angrily ironic scenes of the book, the leaders who have chosen him largely because he is black denounce him for speaking up for "the political consciousness of Harlem" and accuse him of "riding 'race' again." For these political leaders, "such crowds are only our raw materials, one of the raw materials to be shaped to our program."

The concluding scenes take place during the 1943 Harlem riots, where the invisible man finds himself torn between the black nationalism of Ras the Exhorter (modeled after Marcus Garvey) and a mysterious, unseen underworld zootsuiter/minister named Rinehart, who steps "outside the narrow borders of what men call reality" and "into chaos or imagination."

While the ambiguity of these episodes is intensified by the bleakness of Ellison's vision, "Invisible Man" is, at its heart, darkly funny. And Ellison offers no clear answers. In one memorable scene, the lead character enters a diner, asks for the breakfast special, and is offered "pork chops, grits, one egg, hot biscuits, and coffee." Angry at being pegged for a stereotypical Southern black man ("I would have sworn you were a pork chop man," responds the waiter), he orders orange juice, toast, and coffee. As he leaves, however, he notices the counterman serving a "plate of pork chops and grits to a man with a pale blond mustache." Had he seen racism where there was none? Who, indeed, is "a pork chop man"? Was he too quick to deny his ethnic heritage? Had ethnic food, like the jazz and blues that pervade the novel, so saturated white culture that the some of the boundaries were blurring? Ellison leaves these questions unanswered, choosing instead to underscore what it means to be black in America.

This book was a struggle to read. The amount of themes coming from the pages overwhelmed me as a reader. But it was worth the effort.

"But to whom can I be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me?"
The novel enters into a realm of self-discovery. The narrator becomes the driving force for a great piece of literature. There is too many good things to say about this book so I will simply BEG you to read the book if you haven't already. Give it the chance it deserves. You need to finally "see" this Invisible Man.

INVISIBLE MAN is a most American of books, incorporating modern literary techniques with Ellison's experience of jazz and folk stories. Ellison's surrealistic use of language and plot tell the story of the maturation of a young black man in racist America. In the course of the novel the protagonist encounters many of the contradictions that make America what it is, revealed in the characters and situations of New York City and his observations of them.
Ellison presents a unique view of race relations in this book, one which I find compelling. He portrays a racism that will not stand because of the contradictions inherent in the whites who, in their prejudice, become blacker and blacker, and blacks who wish to become white but end up becoming "quite dull and gray." Ellison also postulates "Invisibility," which is a cross between Socratic protest ("Crito") and Thoreau's CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
As a combination of a host of influences and a resource for new paradigms, INVISIBLE MAN ranks as one of my favorite novels.

Beautiful prose. I loved the lyricism of his words. His writing flows. This book is a timely today as when it was written and during the time it is set. Unfortunately not much has changed in the U.S. regarding how people are seen or not seen and used. Everyone needs to read this.

In this masterpiece, Ralph Ellison transcends the genre of "racial protest" just as he intends to. Instead, his novel explores the dual problems of identity and truth in America. By the end, I was left with the impression that the narrator considered himself American more than black. But the inability of others to recognize this causes the narrator's invisibility. Also, truth and reality are two separate notions as Ellison's reality is that the truth is in the eye of the beholder.

Ralph Ellison proved that he was an artist and not just a writer. His many references to blues/jazz and Louis Armstrong reflect his musical training. Although some of the writing appears confusing to the lay reader, it actually reflects Ellison's love of poetry, as well as makes for lyrical and poetic reading. All in all, it strengthens the novel and drives the point home.

One final note: this novel has echoes of the great poets that Ellison enjoyed reading: T.S.Eliot and Fyodor Dostoevsky for sure and possibly John Milton. Even though Ellison always claimed that the Invisible Man was based off of Dostoevsky's narrator from Notes From Underground, There are times when the IM sounds more like Milton's Lucifer.

Overall, this novel is a powerful and moving classic that combines poetry, great literature, black culture and humanity in a single volume, which holds one in its grip long after the last page is turned.

How do we influence each other in this worl of twisted race relations? This novel, written so long ago, still holds a powerful message about race, about social norms, and about the way we try to change the way "the system" works. You may have read one of the earliest chapters, called "Battle Royale" in a fiction anthology-- and it sets the tone for the rest of the book in many ways. Watch for repeating themes, images, and ideas that follow throughout. This is a skillfully crafted story which is also a fast read-- once you really want to see the protagonist's life-story (which happens early on). A classic of modern American Literature-- clearly you need to read this book to understand where we are today, and where we can go tomorrow.

"The Invisible Man" is a classic novel which uses the first person narrator, the invisible man, to move the reader through various types of racism, dishonesty, and deceptiveness which a black man in the 1950's would encounter. The more the invisible man is used by others, the more invisible he becomes and the less self-identity he possesses. He allows himself, unwittingly, to be used by others, both black and white, for their own purposes. He gains nothing from dealing with these characters and actually loses more and more of his self-worth, thus creating his invisibility as a person. It is only when he begins to realize that he must define his own self-worth and not allow others to dictate to him or define his identity that his "invisibility" begins to diminish. The idea that "white is right, white has might", symbolized by the paint factory, was the ideology of those times. Segregation was practiced and blacks were looked down upon as ignorant, nameless members of the American culture. They were invisible citizens in a white-dominated culture. The author wanted to send the message to readers that America was founded upon the philosophy of individual freedom in all areas and that nothing was gained by forcing people to conform to society's standards. By conforming, individual identity is lost and invisibility as a person increases. "I am not invisible that nobody can see me. I am invisible because they choose not to see me." That was the truth the invisible man finally learned. From that truth, he was able to begin defining his own identity and not be the invisible man in his own eyes.

A fascinating look at race and culture. Through this tortured young man's story we see the absurdity of our culture and society, compelling the conclusion we are childish, selfish, foolish souls wandering through this experience. Very moving, disturbing and inspiring.

I remember I had to read this book during my senior year in high school and write an essay on it for my final, while the whole majority of my senior class LOATHE this book with a passion because it was too hard for them to crack (all the symbolism, complicated words, metaphors, too many pages, and they are lazy, etc.) I actually really liked this book. You see the main character who you never know his name, is a lost soul longing for a purpose which I think all of us human beings struggle as well. He endures road blocks through the story that expresses the challenges that any youth has to face when growing up despite whatever color your skin is; you can either be a leader (an individual that follows their own heart and thoughts) or be a sheep and follow what everyone else says and do. This book is much more than just showing readers the side of racism, it also about seeking the desired American Dream (who to me is nothing but smoke and mirrors) and also having an identity in a self-contradicting world where everyone hide daggers in their smiles.

Unqueationably Ellison has written the greatest American novel in every sense of the phrase. The story is the epic search for an identity, an American identity in a world that labels individuals in order to negate their power. The titular modern hero represents any man or woman pinioned against the floor of life by the boot of American capitalism which dictates everyone's role in life before they're even born. It is this maxim which the Invisible Man must discover for himself, i.e. the rules of the game are not what he has learned in school and until he realizes this dichotomy between America the real and America the ideal he moves from school to work to political activisim constantly defeating himself. The novel is Zen before Zen was in. The spiritual journey described in images replete with cinema and words that narrate themselves should resonate with any reader who has ever searched for satisfaction, serenity and contentment in life only to find hurt, pain and disappointment in all the commercially prescribed solutions. The work is epic by covering the most salient facets of modern American life from a psychological perspective which attempts to heal the narrator and the reader as well. A little dated in the sense that it doesn't approach drugs/alcoholism or gay identities, Ellison had little choice but to be conservative so as not to blur the meaning of his message as well as to avoid the political oppression going on in the country at the time. The novel is sophisticated, intellectual, humorous, magical, adventurous, gargantuan, approachable, and best of all a good read. I thoroughly recommend this work NOT as an African American novel on identity, but as a novel on AMERICAN IDENTITY.

In his only novel, Ralph Ellison gives the reader an interesting but harsh look into the racial issues faced by African-Americans during times of segregation.

The nameless protagonist begins adulthood full of hope, but he soon faces many setbacks. After an accident involving a prominent white man, he is expelled from his southern college, losing both his scholarship and the respect he once felt for the school's black president. He moves to New York, hoping to find work, but he is less than successful. The Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to preaching equality, hires him, and he becomes a spokesperson for their Harlem section, putting his gift of public speaking to use. He eventually discovers that this association has ulterior motives, and he plans to sabotage it. His efforts are interrupted, however, when an enemy of the Brotherhood launches a fierce attack on the group.

Using a sometimes satirical viewpoint, this novel offers a clear and attention-grabbing perspective of this issue, giving the reader a better understanding than one gets from textbook accounts. It goes beyond the facts and shows how the effects of oppression and segregation are dealt with-in this case, by recognizing the ignorant blindness of society and becoming "invisible," for all intensive purposes.

The vivid symbols and fast-paced plot keep the reader engaged, although it becomes confusing at times with so much happening. Overall, this is a wonderful novel, both in entertainment and educational value, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to open his or her mind and enjoy a well-written book.

Many coming of age books describe discrimination in some way, but this book goes further to speak to being treated disrespectfully more than just racially. But with books of this type, written in first person, characters should be given more depth to avoid hypocrisy. But this book is clearly not ego-driven. It is about society. I thought the length of the book would be labor but it’s full of symbolism, insight and beautiful prose.

A classic never tires the imagination, generation after generation. Invisible Man is cleary a classic. When I first read it, I was engrossed by the depth of psychological insight built into the writing style. It was as if the writer, through his 'narrator', delved into his own deepest hurts and fears, caused by an unjust society and a socially naive protagonist. The 'invisible' man only wanted justice and acceptance in a world that would not accept him and in his quest, he almost lost himself in his internal wonderings. Fyodor Doestoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment as if the whole plot took place inside the head of his agonized protagonist--there is a powerful resemblance between Ellison's and Doestoevsky's style. It takes a master author to narrate subjective thoughts into art, Ellison was indeed one of the great writers of our day.

With the release of Arnold Rampersad recent much praised biography of Invisible Man's author, Ralph Ellison, the time has truly arrived for readers to look again at this extraordinary novel. Too long pigeonholed as "African American literature" Invisible Man doubtless stands as a contender for the greatest American novel of the 20th century. Ellison draws on a wide range of sources to construct this opus, African American folk lore, 19th Century American literature, the bible, and Shakespeare, all tools brought into service as build this intricate tale of his narrator and protagonist, the never named "Invisible Man." From the treacherous terrain of the deep south, to the hopes and disappointments of Harlem, and to the Byzantine world of the American Communist Party, Ellison brings his readers along on a well guided tore of the landscape of the African American experience pre-WWII.

Yet as I said at the beginning, Invisible Man is a novel that speaks to the very heart of the American experience with its complex pull between expectations and class, the belief in limitless potential based on meritocracy and the minefield that destroys that very dream. Through it all, Ellison tells his tale with wit and deft humor, all of which contribute to the edifice that is this awesome work of fiction.

This is a superb novel about a young black man trying to find his place in the world. It is filled with interesting characters and scenes and has a decent pace. I believe this book is more than about race: it applies to all people trying to form an identity for themselves. I have read some of the negative reviews, and quite a few of them seem to be from high school students. I think many of their points are valid, but I wonder if a little age and experience can make one look at this story in a different light. Perhaps this novel is better appreciated once we realize our dreams are greater than our abilities.

This particular edition has an introduction by the author that is of some interest.

'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison is indeed memorable drama of a young black man who suffers racism in the South and escapes to Harlem, only to have his eyes opened to uglier evils within mankind. So much of the book is excellent: it is well written, extremely intelligent, and the characterizations are perfectly drawn. However I was let down by the ending. It seems as if the author didn't know quite how to wrap up his story, which is a shame since most of it was really superlative.

Bottom line: a very rich, eloquent and depressing story of America of the 1930s/1940s. Recommended.

Ralph Ellison takes the reader on a tumultuous journey, following our protagonist, from the moment his troubles began at the Golden Day, till the moment he truly became invisible in the avant-garde, or perhaps the rear, of the underground. This book is as actual in 2017, as it was fifty years ago. Superb read.

The book Invisible Man is a great work of literature set in the pre-civil rights era of history told by a man with no name. In the novel we follow the nameless man through his journey of self-discovery and as he finds the truth about society and segregation.

I am a highschool senior and for class we had to read and analyze a book, of the available novels I took a chance with Invisible Man and was not disappointed. It is a great look into the darker side of American history as time and time again the nameless narrator is taken advantage of by the whites and scorned by the African-Americans. The narrator is never truely seen as himself only by his color of skin. The build up to the climax is great and the book does a great job connecting charcters. While I can never really relate to being discriminated against by the color of my skin, I do know what it is like being seen as something else due to my appearance. This is not abook I can recommend to people who haven't had any hardships interacting with other people because you can't relate to the character and his struggles. I recommend this book in hardback as it would be a great edition to anybody's collection.

As I was reading Ellison's "Invisible Man", I kept waiting for a connection, or that "Aha!" feeling, or to be moved. But none ever came. I grew more and more bored as it went along, and only finished by exercising a great deal of determination.
Perhaps the book was too pessimistic. I can't recall a single character in the book as having been portrayed in a positive light, except for the "invisible" protagonist. In Ellison's alternate reality, everyone seems to be a self-centered hypocrite. Another reader may feel sympathetic towards some of the characters, but I could not find a single one that struck my fancy, or taught me anything but what not to do with my life.
At the end of the day, I could not figure out what I was supposed to take home from this work. The only even remotely sympathetic character was screwed over by everyone he met, and proceeded to then hide from the world. I've always been a firm believer that if one tries, one can find a flaw - or something nice - in everybody. But what is the point of the former? It only leads down a nihilistic pathway that produces nothing constructive. The whole time I was reading this book, I felt I was being taken down this road.

Ralph Ellison wrote a classic and timeless work of fiction that every American should read. People of every color should be able to empathize with the characters in this book. Civil rights have evolved, but we still have more to do before we claim we are an enlightened society and have true equality.

I read this book many years ago in paperback. (I noticed some reviewers wrote that the audiobook is missing the last chapter. You should try to get a unabridged edition)

Ellison has created in Invisble Man one of the most memorable yet haunting characters in world literature. The namelessness of the main character is a metaphorical symbol of invisibility. Invisible Man represents a soul lost and ignored. The theme of this novel transcends what some might regard as literature of racism; it is not only about racism against African American but also about the interaction of human beings universally. Prejudice and difference give rise to persecution and discrimination. It is frightening to think of a human being so tangible and real can be obliterated mercilessly just because he's different. This book will be one of the few classics that can stand the test of time. It will be remembered and appreciated long after our generation.

Book brilliantly illuminates the complex web of American black-white race relations. Though this treasure is over 60 years old it still nails reality for our time. Joe Morton leaves your jaw dropping as he makes Ellison's characters nearly walk out of the audio. The story's told from the point of a young African-American man learning his way in the world. Unforgettable and worth every minute.

I originally read this superb book back in my High School days. Required reading and all. And recently rediscoverd Mr. Ellison's masterpiece when my oldest son was raving to me about the book he HAD to read!
In "Invisible Man", we never actually know the narrator...he is invisible in name, but, in bringing us his nightmarish journey cross racial divides, he is very high profile.
We travel with him from the Deep South to the ravaged streets of Harlem. Where men are men and African American men are reduced to fighting animals to survive.
Reading this profound tome again, I have renewed my faith as well as my fright of human behavior. An excellent book to read, share and remember.
Thanks--CDS

I was at Harvard University for the commencement ceremonies when Ralph Ellison received an honorary Doctor of Letters. A most deserved honor.

Here is a work that is deep and intriguing, touching on the ability of men to interact with one another without dealing with the very reality or substance of our existence. How race makes one invisible to society even while one is an integral part of that society.

To go unnoticed "invisible" to your fellowman. Ellison studies and highlights this idea in very subtle ways, exploring the injustices and destructiveness of racism, yet from deep within the inner man. He takes us on an unforgettable yet deep and mysterious voyage through the recesses of our minds and uncovers for us how the psyche is affected by this unconscious violence to the human spirit. Truly a magnificent work of art.

As opposed to the straightforward social realism of fellow Harlem Resonance icon, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison employs a distinctly allegorical and baroque approach for his portrait of pre-Civil Rights Movement, African-American life, Invisible Man. Mr. Ellison's tale of a nameless, black college student's journey from the constraining South to the unreal black mini-nation of Harlem is a walk through a literary fun house, full of comedic satire, surreal exaggeration, elusive symbolism and almost beatnick-style lyricism. Mr. Ellison certainly shows a flair for absorbing the wretchedness, paranoia and hypocrisy that was abound during this era and reformatting it all into a configuration that underscores its wrongness and absurdity. Invisible Man proved Mr. Ellison to be one of the most striking authors of the Harlem Resonance and certainly the most dynamic and experimental.

There are few novels that so effectively evoke what it means to be American - and what it means to be human. This novel is beautifully written, and what's more, it has so much meaning and wisdom to share with all of us. Race relations in America are far from O.K., and this book, though fifty years old, retains all of its potency. The epilogue of this novel is probably my favorite few pages of writing of any book or essay ever written.

Behind the story of this black-man-who-is-not-seen is the story of each of us when we are not seen for who we are, and behind that story is a powerful argument for better communication and understanding of each other and of the amalgam of cultures and ethnicities that makes up this nation. Read this book.

Ellison is the Muhammad Ali, the colossus of fiction - I have never experienced a work of art in ANY medium as rich, provocative and poignant as "Invisible Man." Bar none, be it painting, sculpture, theater, film, poetry... One of the best, most succinct ways I can think of relaying the impact of IM is the way we speak on the street, by saying: That's deep.
Most of the "reviews" I've read here simply recount the many plot situations and/or entirely lack the depth to "get" what Ellison is doing as an artist and human being. For if nothing else, Ellison's work is unique in this respect: it reverberates on SO many levels to so many different kinds of people...
Athletes have a way of talking about when they can do no wrong, when every shot goes in the basket, or the baseball looks as big as a watermelon - They say that they're "in the zone." THAT's what IM is.
It's THE American story by an artist at the height of his powers, in the zone...

This is a really neat book. Of course, with all the acclaim this work received at publication, it is not surprising that it is such a fantastic read. As someone who generally reads nonfiction (history), this was a neat change of pace. The writing is so smooth and the story so captivating; it read very fast. Interestingly, with all of the recent events with Black men getting killed under, at minimum, suspicious circumstances, this book is quite contemporary.

THIS BOOK WAS A MAJOR BEST SELLER SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND I DID NOT GET TIME TO READ IT THEN, SO DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO CATCH UP WITH MY SERIOUS LITERARY BENT AND ORDERED THIS TO READ. I DID ENJOY IT; ALTHOUGH, I AM NOT CERTAIN I COULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD ALL THE RACE NUANCES THEREIN FOR SEVERAL REASONS:
. I AM THE WRONG RACE. I AM NOT BLACK, BUT WHITE, AND DO NOT THINK I COULD EVER UNDERSTAND THE TRUE MISTREATMENTS OF THE BLACKS WHO ARE NOW 2ND OR 3 RD GENERATION WELFARE RECIPIENTS, OR THOSE WHO FEEL THEY WILL NEVER GET A FAIR SHAKE IN THIS LIFE. NOT THAT I THINK ALL THEIR COMPLAINTS ARE VALID....WE ALL FEEL BELEAGURED IN VARIOUS WAYS AND GENERALLY, THE OVERALL FEELINGS MAY BE VALID, BUT THE BOTTOM DOWN NIT PICKY ITEMS GENERALLY NEVER ARE, BUT WITH THE WAY BLACKS FEEL,....WELL, I DO NOT THINK A WHITE, BROWN, YELLOE OR RED PERSON CAN EVER FULLY UNDERSTAND AND DIFFERENTIATE THEIR TRUE GRIEVANCES.
2. I WILL TRY TO UNDERSTAND, AND I DID TRY TO AND MADE LEAPS FORWARD THANKS TO THE BOOK, BUT I THINK THAT THEIR IS A BARRIER THERE THAT ONLY GOD CAN HELP US TO CROSS. IF WE CAN UNDERSTAND WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL BY GOD, THEN I THINK WE ARE AT A BETTER STARTING PLACE THAN THE "WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL IN THE US."
3. I AM A SOUTHERNER. THAT HELPED TREMENDOUSLY IN RECOGNIZING THE SHUFFLING GAIT, THE "YEH SUH" "NO SUH", JUST SMAILE AND SAY YES AND ACT STUPID MENTALITY THAT ALLOWED BLACKS TO GET ALONG FOR LONG PERIODS, AND STILL TODAY (2014) IS REQUIRED IN SOME AREAS AND SOME RELATIONSHIPS. oR THE REALITY OF BEING BASHED IN THE HEAD OR BEING STRUNG UP IS A TRUE, TRUE, TRUE THING.....BUT NOT JUST FOR BLACKS, FOR OTHER MINORITIES ALSO.
4. IT WAS HEART STOPPING WHEN THE INVISIBLE MAN CAME CLOSE TO MR. NORTON AT THE GOLDEN KEY AND IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT MR. NORTON RESEMBLED A WHITE BABY. I DID NOT TOUCH A BLACK PERSON UNTIL I WAS 8 YEARS OLD. I WAS AMAZED THAT A. THEY WERE WARM, SOFT, AND SOLID JUST LIKE OTHER PEOPLE AND B. THAT THE COLOR DID NOT COME OFF.
5. YOU CAN TALK, RALLEY, MARCH, PROTEST AND WHATEVER ALL DAY LONG, BUT UNTIL ONE HUMAN BEING TOUCHES ANOTHER, REALITY HAS NOT OCCURRED.
6. CONS OCCURRED BECAUSE I HAD NEVER BEEN TO HARLEM, OR ON THE SUBWAY. THE LONGEST I HAVE BEEN IN NEW YORK CITY IS A WEEK.
7. I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN RIOTING AND LOOTING THAT HAS OCCURRED IN MANY BIG CITIES.

8. I DID READ THE BOOK, AND ASIDE FROM TRAVELING AND TRYING TO WALK IN THE OTHER PERSON'S SHOES, IT IS FREQUENTLY THE BEST WAY WE CAN LEARN HOW OTHERS FEEL AND TRY TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO MAKE THEIR LIVES BETTER....ASSUMING HERE THAT IS THE OFJECT; HOWEVER, IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THE PERSON WHO DID THIS MAN THE BIGGEST WRONG WAS THE BLACK DIRECTOR OF HIS SCHOOL WHO SENT OUT NEGATIVE LETTERS ABOUT HIM TO IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN NEW YORK. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOUR RACE, IF YOU HAVE YOUR NECK CUT BY THOSE WHO ARE TO BE SUPPOSRTING YOU...THEN YOU HAVE BIG TROUBLE, BUT WAS THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST THEMES IN THE BOOK? BLACK LEADERS, OR PERHAPS ALL LEADERS, ARE SUCH SUCK UPS THAT THEY CUT THE THROATS OF THEIR YOUNG? FOOD FOR THOUGHT. I DEFINITELY SEE THAT IN THE WHITE RACE ALSO.
9. AM I?, HAVE I EVER BEEN? WILL I ALWAYS BE? INVISIBLE WHERE I AM AND NO MATTER WHAT I DO?

I THINK THE MOST HONORABLE ANSWER, WHICH WAS ALMOST TOTALLY MISSED IN THE BOOK, INVOLVED YOU AND GOD AND YOUR WORTH IN HIS EYES AND YOUR ABILITY AND WILLINGNESS TO DO WHAT HE ASKS.

THIS MAY MAKE THIS A VERY UNIMPORTANT REVIEW, AND MAKE IT SEEM WORTHLESS TO MOST, BUT TO THOSE OF US WHO LOVE FOR GOD AND ARE VISIBLE IN HIS EYES...THEN WHAT WE DO AND WHAT WE DO FOR AOUR FELLOW MAN IS WHAT MAKES US VISIBLE, USEFUL, AND LOVEABLE. OTHER THAN THROUGH AND BY GOD, WE ARE INVISIBLE TO EACH OTHER AND OUR GOOD WORKS ARE JUST HATCH MARKS ON A STICK THAT DOES NOT COUNT. BE VISIBLE FOR GOD, OR DON'T BOTHER....THAT IS HOW I SEE IT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR COLOR.

I remember this book in late high school/early college as a challenging read filled with dense imagery and griping narrative. This was my first audio book and, because of the experience created by Joe Morton, it will not be my last. Words fail to describe the sense of excitement and discovery he initiates in tape one and then sustains through tape twelve (though a previous reviewer commented on the lack of a proper ending, I had twelve tapes in my set and the epilogue was in place.) Mr. Morton's skill in creating several dozen distinct characters meets the task assigned him by the reading of this extraordinary book. As hearers of the written word, we are transformed. If you are considering experimenting with audio, take the dare and start here. You will have no regrets.

esta novela esta maravillosamente escrita y su tematica es formidable.es una historia lucida sobre las peripecias de un senor del cual ignoramos su nombre. este pasa por distintas etapas o dificultades a lo largo de un viaje que es el viaje de la vida en la que todos somos invicibles y cambiables, sustituibles y no prescindibles. no es que yo opine asi, es la forma de la novela y lo que dice, es la manera del autor de ver la falta de raices del ser humano que divaga por la vida sin rumbo o creyendo que sabe a donde va sin contar con que la vida nos depara sorpresa y cambios siempre inesperados. leanla y disfrutenla.
LUIS MENDEZ

I don't think I can put into words what this book means, has meant, and will forever mean to me and to millions of other readers. Mr. Ellison's book strips any type facade of dignity that racists try to maintain, and leaves it for what it is: a vile, ignorant spirit of hate, that although trying to hide behind a "white God," is one the most ungodly, wretched beliefs of all time. I come from a white middle-class home, with parents that have firmly taught me that ALL men are created equal, with the RIGHT for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I sat, stunned as I read this book, tears threatening to stream down my face, as I realized how incredibly frightening racisim is. As Mr. Ellison's book reveals with every heart-felt word: You can FORCE segregation, you can FORCE people to behave.....but you can't touch their mind. You can't do anything about the bitter hate that fills their hearts. You can't touch their mind.

This intense novel is an exploration of identity in 1930s America, told from the perspecive of the unnamed african american narrator. The book features the narrator's (and probably Ellison's as well) growing disillusionment from southern youth to Harlem adult. At each stage the protagonist is harshly used as tool rather than understood as a person. After each episode of dissappointment, the narrator goes through remarkable transformations in a futile attempt to be a positive influence on society, which culminates in becoming invisible.

This book is a powerful classic, which everyone can learn from. If you are expecting a typical book on racism you will be surprised, as this is a deep and inclusive novel on human identity.

I am an invisible man. ... I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.... When they approach me they see only surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination--indeed, everything and anything except me.
So begins Ralph Ellison's wildly uneven, overlong, emotionally excessive & oft-times hysterical, 1953 National Book Award Winner, Invisible Man--a book that's desperately in search of an editor.
From it's opening scene at a Battle Royale, where young black men fight until only one is left standing, to it's closing scene in a Harlem riot, Ellison is always going over the top. As one can see from Irving Howe's 1952 review the book's shortcomings have been obvious since it was first published, but that same review makes clear the struggle of the white establishment to treat it honestly. The result is, I think, a book whose reputation outstrips it's merit.
GRADE: C

If you're like me, you resist books that are on college reading lists. If it's a book that you should read, then how interesting can it be? On that theory I have avoided this book for a quarter of a century. Having just completed reading Invisible Man, I was stunned by how compelling it was. Moreover, it is absolutely "modern" in the sense that it rings as true today as it must have nearly 50 years ago when it was written. Further, it is not a heavy handed polemic on racism; it speaks eloquently to the human condition as well as that of African-Americans. In short, read this book because it is a great read, not because it was on your literature teacher's reading list!

This is the tale of a man in his quest for identity and purpose in his life. He is an outsider in society -- where does he belong? He is an un-named protagonist who believes he is invisible. In his search for belonging, meaning and truth, he becomes in involved with a communist group, but eventually leaves it to find his own way. Other reviewers have given this book a better synopsis, so I will not add further, except to say that I found it a powerful work. I would also suggest James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," and Richard Wright's "Native Son."

When people ask me what my favorite novel is, I always say Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. I have read many novels in college, but none have ever been as emotionally and psychologically resonating as this book. I can understand why this novel is part of the African-American literary canon. It is a perfect example of a bildungsroman novel, since it shows the evolution of the main character while also shrouding him in secrecy. Even if some of the characters are meant to function one-dimensionally (i.e. Mr. Norton), they still have so much complexity that they feel like real people. Do not be intimidated by the book length. It is so engrossing that you will not want to put the book down.

"Invisible Man" is powerful reading. It's hard to know what to say about it that hasn't been said before, but I would agree with those who say it should be required reading for anyone who is interested in race, but also in the psychology of urban environments in America over the years. Ellison's ear for dialect is profoundly accurate. The voices of his characters ring true, and so they lend further credibility to the narrative as a whole. You buy it. You can tell Ellison isn't trying to flinch away from any of the realities he's observed, and he doesn't try to apply a gilt edge to the uglier aspects of any of his characters, black or white. This is the story of a man trying to figure out the meaning of his life, set within a society that, collectively, hasn't figured it out either. It is a story told by a writer of remarkable skill and insight.

I just read "Invisible Man." I can only assume that it is considered a classic since it was ahead of its time in trumpeting a necessary awakening in black America (e.g. in foretelling the urban riots of the 1960's). I am sure there is more to it than that and I don't pretend to understand it all. So here are my humble comments on what I did not understand or thought could have been done better.

The prologue and a few other spots of the book got so philosophical and esoteric that I gave up trying to understand and moved on after re-reading passages.

The story is propelled forward on a series of rather hard to believe coincidences... almost like "Alice in Wonderland." That may have been what the author intended, but that seems to contradict the idea of the author being "invisible."

Besides this strange string of coincidences, what strikes me about the book is how two dimensional the characters are. They seem as gray shadows, not as real people one can like or dislike. Besides the storyteller, there are twenty or so other characters, all but one or two who are barely recognizable as human, since they remain undeveloped and their motives unexplained. They, ironically, seem to be invisible.

So are the unnamed owners of the buildings the rioters burn.. the author seems to look down on them because they require looters to pay rent, as if it is right and just for their property to be destroyed. The book ends on a downer of chaos, violence, and another Alice in Wonderland - type chapter, and as it began, with a long speech that reminded me why I never liked philosophy.

I'll read serious replies, as I do want to understand the book better. If you reply, please keep it civil.... my review is just what I gleaned... so if I didn't get it, please illuminate for me.

When I was 12 years old, my father brought home a trunk full of used books from a thrift store. In it was every book imaginable by the leading lights of the African-American literary pantheon. Baldwin, Hughes, Hurston, Wright, Fanon, Brown and of course the weightiest of the tomes at 600-plus pages, Ellison's Invisible Man. I read through all the slimmer volumes and never got around to Ellison until I was in college. Even after hearing all the hype about it for years on end, I was still floored by the book. It was the kind of book you backtrack while reading, retracing chapters you just read to see if the initial impact of the words was really that forceful. I empathized with the book and it's protagonist because having just gone through my early adolescence and teens I sensed his feeling of longing...and need for belonging. Nearing the end of the book, I slowed my pace, afraid of what I would find. After finishing it for many days (weeks, months...) afterward the book haunted my quiet times. It haunted me whenever I thought about it for years afterward. Thus, having just bought the "new" Ellison, "Juneteenth" I also bought the new commemorative "Invisible Man" and decided to read it again first. It was more powerful than before. It's tale of a search for identity in a land where your identity is denied rings even truer in this time of assimilation/balkanization. We live in a time where color-blindness (one form of invisibility) is the alleged goal while denial of recognition and privelege (the more prevalent form of invisibility) is still the unfortunate norm. Beyond being a book of the 50's and the civil rights era, it's even more important as a book for the move to a new millennium...where the lines demarking identity simultaneously harden and blur. And as to the reviewer who was puzzled about the lead character's display of leadership skills and potential while never seeming to live up to it, there is no need for puzzlement. From the teacher busted for drug-dealing, to the born-again pro-footballer busted on Super Bowl eve for solicitation to the present resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this paradox is perhaps more the norm than we are willing to admit.

So creative. To live in a world where you speak to men, you shake the hands of men, you work to the point of slaving for men...yet, you feel invisible is a strange complex (reality) that many live with. I was immediately reminded of the movie Forrest Gump where one man is used to depict the history of America. In Invisible Man however, the main character is in no way mentally impaired; he's extremely intelligent and very much aware of the world in which he lives. His is a world and a time where the color of his skin has garnered so many stereotypes that his utter brilliance is overlooked and completely dismissed. It is this dismissal of his wit however that allows him to peer into the very souls of men as they deem him unable to discern their motives and twisted psyches. This is one of the first books that reminded me to always use your stories to tell a story. Invisible Man is nothing short of amazing and passes all qualifications for being classified as a literary classic and masterpiece.

I don't consider this to be a book about race, per say. I think race is used as the context of the book because of the world in which the narrator lives. To me, this book was about isolationism. The narrator just can't seem to fit into society anywhere. He tries many things, and gets involved with various groups of people. Unfortunately, for him, even the people he is 'supposed' to trust end up disillusioning him or stabbing him in the back. As a result, he ends up living in the sewer drains and in a basement apartment no one knows exists. Ellison makes a break, in my view, from the classic mythological hero. Normally, a hero would return to his world after leaving it, accepting life and reality for what it is, and vowing to exist in it with his or her newfound knowledge. This doesn't happen in this book. To discuss Ellison' ability as a writer is absurd, because it is a given. He constantly puts his hero in incredibly disturbing, and wild situations, and we hope our hero can learn from them and move on. For better or for worse, he seems to give up on humanity, something I have been tempted to do on more than one occasion. On this level, I could relate to the character. As a read, this was one of the more original works that I have read, so real and true to the social climate of the country. It was very believable from start to finish, one of the few books that I simply couldn't put down. I was late to work many times because of this book. I think Ellison has a truly open mind, and has an understanding of all of the different kinds of people and viewpoints that make up our country.

"The Invisible Man" is the story of a nameless African American's journey in the United States during a time when racism in America was an issue. Raplh Ellison shows the choices the main character made thorought his life and how they affected him. He starts out at a negro college in the South from where he is expelled. He then moves to the North where he becomes the chief spokesperson of an activist group. The North turns out to be nothing of what he expected.

There are many interesting characters in this book, but by far, the most interesting character is the nameless main character. He constantly describes himself as an " Invisible Man" and that people do not see him. His journey is a tou-de-force in the black community and activist groups in the United States. He makes many choices in life and every one has a consequence. This book is a very haunting book that is worth reading by anyone at some point in life.

I consider this book very appropriate for juniors and seniors in high school all the way to the elderly. The "Invisible Man" has lessons that anyone can learn and one will not regret reading this book. African- American individuals might have a certain connection with the book.

At a reasonable price of $13.50 for a hard cover, Ralph Ellison's masterpiece is a joy to be passed down to your sons and grandsons.

Of the more than 235 books read by the Columbus Men's Book Club, 16 received average ratings above 95/100. Of those, 6 received ratings between 95 and 96.5. A solid A, and ranked 11th overall, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man was one of those 6.

The novel, Invisible man is about a black man from the South who moves up to Harlem and experiences many events that made him realize his existence. His experiences opens his eyes to how he is seen and the effects of his choices.

The text challenges some actions done by different classes of people to what is and is not socially accepted in society during its time. In the beginning of the novel, while the main character is transporting an important figure for his college he encounters a man who had impregnated his daughter named Trueblood. The narrator encounters generosity and opportunities that only cloak the giver's racism and own personal gain in the narrator's use.

I thought the novel was a good read but ending wasn't as satisfying as I had wished it to be. It didn't seem to end but ends as an answer to a question as opposed of a conclusion to a story. At some points, the story was dry and lead to the main character thrown from task to task but develops his mind and personality and him realizing aspects about himself and the kind of world he lives in.

Apparently you either love it or hate it. I literally could not put this book down and finished it within four hours. I can't believe I haven't been formally introduced to this book until now. This was a book that languished on my shelf for six months because it didn't look like something I'd enjoy-- I'm so glad to be proven wrong.

There must be a thousand and one ways to read "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison but in my preferred and personal reading it is the secret drama of the true America; not the America worshipped in high politics, big business, and celebrated in the major media. Below the shimmering shards of official American optimism and narcissistic posturing is the unnamed protagonist suffering what is given him to suffer, knowing the unbearable secrets of what he must know, doing the terrible deeds that are given him to do.

Ellison has taken the central story of the black descendants of slaves and shown that it is a universal story - the tale of whoever you are out there living on the fringes of prestige and power in the True America - despised, rejected, and outcast.

It is its centricity to the occult human spirit whereever it suffers that makes "Invisible Man" one of the top three or four great novels of the American century that is now past.

A classic American novel, and one that is still relevant to today's world. The first chapter can (and did) stand alone as a tremendous short story.

I'd read this in college as an assigned text, and thought . . . well, you know how most people think of assigned texts. But I recently reread this, almost by accident, and my eyes were opened. It goes far beyond racism, though of course that's its immediate and primary concern. Those of us who believe that there is such a thing as truth - and justice - will be challenged by this book, even as we admire the artistry. That's a good thing.

we should all be on our hands and knees thanking ellison for this american classic. invisible man is not a novel about race, but identity and individuality. ellison's last line: "who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, i speak for you" makes this theme glaringly obvious.

the brotherhood is a race-neutral, socialist-materialist organization that denies the importance of individuality, the existence of free will, and the essential underlying chaos of human behavior. like dostoevsky's underground man, the invisible man is driven below once be becomes aware of the complete folly of socialism and strict materialism.

the novel is the first real "american" work of existentialism, using race as one of the main causes of the protaganist's alienation in a hostile world, where justice is completely missing from the fabric of the universe. our hero starts out pure and idealistic, spirals into sardonic bitterness, and in the end chooses to emerge from underground and attempt to not merely survive in, but change this hostile world.

ellison writes beautifully. the first person narrative of invisible man gives readers a striking view of an inner heros journey. we are able to witness the discrepancy between the protaganists thoughts and his words/actions and we are able follow his inner reconciliation. ellison gives all of the characters in invisible man their own convincingly unique voice -- and by doing so, celebrates the brand of diversity that is uniquely american.

A nameless narrator reflects upon his life's journey after initially claiming to be an invisible man. He swallows his own blood, pride, and identity as he strives to succeed in a white man's world. When he transforms from an expelled college student to inspirational speaker, the narrator appears to have achieved his goal. Unfortunately, his submission to repeated and similar injustices ultimately forces him underground, his fleeting public reputation obliterated. The novel serves to reveal the faultiness of "natural integration." The narrator continuously changes his identity to adjust and compliment his surroundings. On one occasion, he literally accepts a different name. Booker T. Washington believed that passive assimilation, similar to that attempted by the narrator, could effectively merge racial cultures and gradually erase prejudice. However, the narrator's new name remains as anonymous to the reader as its predecessor, a lost label for an identity ignored. His tragic fall remains, in part, his own doing. The narrator's compliance with various leaders led him to become simply a tool, easily utilized and easily discarded. Ellison makes the point that this is the norm for people who refuse to actively protest their oppression. The depth within this unusual impression of the Civil Rights movement reflects intriguing work of troubling genius. Within the plot's paradoxical twists and turns, the narrator finds hidden aspects of seemingly straightforward people and principles. The destruction of this character's identity provokes haunting implications for each individual in response to a life unseen.

When I was 12 years old, my father brought home a trunk full of used books from a thrift store. In it was every book imaginable by the leading lights of the African-American literary pantheon. Baldwin, Hughes, Hurston, Wright, Fanon, Brown and of course the weightiest of the tomes at 600-plus pages, Ellison's Invisible Man. I read through all the slimmer volumes and never got around to Ellison until I was in college. Even after hearing all the hype about it for years on end, I was still floored by the book. It was the kind of book you backtrack while reading, retracing chapters you just read to see if the initial impact of the words was really that forceful. I empathized with the book and it's protagonist because having just gone through my early adolescence and teens I sensed his feeling of longing...and need for belonging. Nearing the end of the book, I slowed my pace, afraid of what I would find. After finishing it for many days (weeks, months...) afterward the book haunted my quiet times. It haunted me whenever I thought about it for years afterward. Thus, having just bought the "new" Ellison, "Juneteenth" I also bought the new commemorative "Invisible Man" and decided to read it again first. It was more powerful than before. It's tale of a search for identity in a land where your identity is denied rings even truer in this time of assimilation/balkanization. We live in a time where color-blindness (one form of invisibility) is the alleged goal while denial of recognition and privelege (the more prevalent form of invisibility) is still the unfortunate norm. Beyond being a book of the 50's and the civil rights era, it's even more important as a book for the move to a new millennium...where the lines demarking identity simultaneously harden and blur. And as to the reviewer who was puzzled about the lead character's display of leadership skills and potential while never seeming to live up to it, there is no need for puzzlement. From the teacher busted for drug-dealing, to the born-again pro-footballer busted on Super Bowl eve for solicitation to the present resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this paradox is perhaps more the norm than we are willing to admit.

Ellsion paints a vivid picture of New York during the 1950's. The main character, a nameless protagonist, is a black man who journeys from his southern college into the streets of Harlem. Throughout the novel I found myself in the shoes of the character experiencing the fears, victories, and sorrows of the invisible man. This novel is reminiscent of Uncle Tom's Cabin but then goes a step farther. Ellison is able to weave a tapestry of thought and culture which each word upon the page. The book is simpy engrossing and will open one's eyes to a whole new experience. This isn't the type of novel you read but experience, so experience it for yourself.

What can you say about Ellison's novel that hasn't already been said? It is, quite simply, one of the finest novels ever written. Ellison writes from the heart, and uses the styles of his forebears, most notably Twain, Melville and Tolstoy, to make his point. The novel, about a young black man struggling to find his way in the world, is beautiful. The invisible man could be any young black man in post WW2 America. Shunned by the whites, double crossed by his black dean in college, he makes his way from the south to NY city. His problems and life will dismay you, make you laugh, cry, hurt. It is wonderful, and shows you why Ellison never published another novel in his lifetime...he couldn't write a better one.

INVISIBLE MAN is a Bildungsroman, hilariously recounting the missteps of a black boy trying to make his way in the black and white worlds, neither of which he understands. The novel conludes ambivalently with the expressed idea that "the world is possibility," but denies this dramatically when the hero is literally forced underground, in a subterranean hole illuminated by thousands of light bulbs, representing his disillusionment. Up to this point, this young black Candide has made every misjudgment possible, being used by everyone he comes in contact with, including the Communist Party (here called "The Brotherhood."} Both American history and American race relations are seen through a sophisticated prism through the microcosm of the novel.
The work is beautifully structured and styled. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As an author with my debut novel (which deals with social inequities in contemporary American society) in its initial release, I have been an admirer of Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN since I first read it too many years ago during college. I've read it several times since then, and I grow more impressed with the novel each time I read through it. Mr. Ellison's novel follows a young man through his journey to knowledge and self-awareness. Along the way, he encounters most of the defining experiences of the 20th Century African-American experience. Every person should read INVISIBLE MAN--including you.

For my independent reading project I read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison during which we, my 8th grade class, also read To Kill a Mockingbird. Invisible Man is a portrait of the early 20th century and the role of racism in the culture. Ellison writes from the point of view of a young black man, the narrator, who takes a roller coaster ride throughout the south and finally Harlem. While reading the Invisible Man, Atticus and his points of view come to mind many times. The narrator and Atticus both fight for black rights in a time of prejudice and injustice. Both of them are respected members of their communities and set an example for many people; Atticus for his children and certain townsfolk, and the narrator for his "brotherhood" and Harlem. Ellison explains the emotional turmoil of one human characteristic, racism. The narrator is a young black man scraping his way to the top, in contrast Atticus is a well-off white man, respected. I liked how I got a perspective from both sides of the struggle, white and black. When I was reading about the "Brotherhood" and its "fight" against racism there were many comparisons to the court and jury in To Kill a Mockingbird. Both were meant to do good and bring justice and understanding, while upholding values. But, like many institutions, they weren't doing their designed purpose. They, in their own point of view were doing good. But, reality they were plagued by self-interest. The court's justice was subverted by the jury and the "brotherhood's" moral community lessened by their scientific analysis of everything, including humans, which I think can't be analyzed. What happened to these institutions demonstrates how even the best intentions can be turned into evil. Through the narrator I learned much about the politics and mannerisms of the early 20th century. At times the book is dark and moody, almost crazy. At other times, it is also humorous and funny. The style of writing changes many times and really conveys all different feelings such as anger, hope, isolation, happiness, and craziness. I feel that Invisible Man focused on the Black point of view on racism and how it felt, while To Kill a Mockingbird represented the point of view of whites. As Invisible Man starts, it took place in the South. It was slow, with lots of description that I barely made through, but progressively it picked up with the plot coming to a turbulent climax. Throughout the story Ellison really developed the characters, which drew me into the story. Although the book was very slow at times, I think it's great. I am an avid reader and this has been my most challenging book so far. Ellison used many metaphorical references from an early time which I, a 14 year old, didn't understand. I suggest you only read this if you are much older than me. I recommend this to anyone that wants a book full of depth, a look at racism and its effect on people.

I usually don't review books I haven't finished yet, but I think it will take me years to figure out what I think about Invisible Man, and I'm so excited by it that I can't wait. I'm less than halfway through and it has become my favorite novel of all time, displacing Anna Karenina. I especially love how the events are often non-naturalistic as in modernist works like Ulysses (time stretches or speeds up, events that are just barely possible but more likely magical occur), but the style is clear and simple, not obscure like the works of Woolf or Joyce. An amazing book.

Ralph Ellison's, Invisible Man is a journey into the palms of societies manipulating hands. Taking place mostly in Harlem, New York, I watched as a smart,unnamed black man fell victim to his own innocence. His own vulnerablility, his own sense of "just not getting it" led almost everyone he encountered to take advantage of him. He met many confidants and many antagonists along the way which caused him to run away from society. To take the step that so many confused, hurt men dream of taking. Which was no further caring for the superficial ways of the world but only for his own self loving his own self. Alone, underneath a plethora of scheming minds, the invisible man finally came to touch with himself. He was no longer a color, no longer a tool for hands to play with. Although some might look down upon his choice to run away, his fear and concious knowing that he was unready to take the "next step," I, with the help of Ellison's eloquent wording, can see the beauty in his ultimate sacrifice. I think that this novel was very well written and I am suprised that it was the only one of Ralph Ellison's books to become extremely popular. I recommend this book to any high school senior or above. I think that it will be enjoyed by many.

This along with the Autobiography of Malcolm X are the two most powerful portrayals of East Coast urban psychology between the castigated and demoralized black man and the white insitutionalized power-holders circa 1930-1950. While both end in tragedy, this one perhaps is more demoralizing as the protagonist eventually becomes completely alienated from his neighborhood, city, and nation at large. Becomming the victim of a witch-hunt and unraveling of the moral fabric of his neighborhood, the protoganist doesn't achieve freedom or enlightenment, but instead whithers away in despair. Very upsetting and scary portrayal of the effects of marginalized politics and socio-economic/racial polarization.

I am so disappointment not about the book but I purchased this book as a gift for a relative who lives in Ethioipia and they couldn't access it because it's blocked in Ethiopia. Wha'ts happening the store? This is not the first ebook I have sent to that country. Because of that I couldn't give it 5 stars. I'm so disappointed.

The eviction that the IM witnesses in Chapter 13 is a telling event, for it surely pivots the IM into becoming a powerful voice for his people. Had the IM encountered the eviction before he had run into the yam seller, the resulting events could not have possibly unfolded in the manner in which they did, for up until the time when the IM meets the yam seller, he is still trying to be "white" and "upper class." Indeed, the IM initially sees the yam seller as only an "old man, wrapped in an army overcoat, his feet covered with gunny sacks, [and] his head in a knitted cap" (263). The yam seller represents everything that the IM is trying to distance himself from -- his blackness, his roots in black folk culture, and his southern heritage. Yet the IM is hungry, and so he approaches the yam seller for food. It is hunger, the most primal of instincts, that fuels the IM towards the realization that yams are his "birthmark" and he ut! ters "I yam what I am" as he makes the epiphanal discovery that he "no longer [feels] ashamed of the things [he] had always loved" (266). As the IM wonders "what and how much" he's lost "by trying to do only what was expected" of him, instead of doing what he "had wished to do" (266), he wanders upon the eviction of the Provos. The ensuing eviction, as visually saddening as it is, is also visually symbolic, for the articles scattered about on the cold Harlem sidewalk are the first things the IM sees with his "new" eyes. The descriptions of the various objects that draw the IM's attention are representative of many examples of black folk culture. Ellison captures everything from the "knocking bones" and straightening comb, to the lucky stone (High John the Conqueror) and the rabbit's foot in his characterization of the African Diaspora. And the Diaspora subtly spreads to the Caribbean to become pan-African as well, as mention is made of the Ethiopian flag, Marcus Garvey, and the "free papers." I believe Ellison includes the "free papers" in the Provos' belongings to blend the papers' historical significance (i.e. the Sam Sharpe Rebellion) with the significance of the IM's sermon as he confronts the "white establishment" to defend humanitarianism (i.e. the Provos' eviction). Actually, the Sam Sharpe Rebellion of 1831-1832 in Jamaica is a truly historical event of great significance for it eventually led the way for other Jamaican slave revolts to follow, and the impetus for the Sam Sharpe Rebellion was "free papers." Sam Sharpe was not only a Jamaican slave, but also a charismatic orator and religious leader in the 19th century. He asserted a rumor amongst the Jamaican slaves that their free papers (i.e. official government papers granting freedom) had arrived from England, and were being "withheld" by the white planters. Sharpe's motive, as Leonard Barrett writes in The R! astafarians, was to initiate a non-violent revolution by letting the slaves begin to "mentally, psychologically, and eschatologically [cease] being slaves" (44). In other words, the revolution was intended to halt the deprivation of "wealth" (i.e. freedom, privilege, economic stability, etc.) that was trickling through the slaves' hands. When the IM runs up the steps of the Provos' building and shouts, "They ain't got nothing, they cain't get nothing, they never had nothing. So who was dispossessed? (279), he parallels Sam Sharpe's ideology of revolution by illustrating how one segment of society suffers, while another segment of society gluttonizes on "wealth" accumulation. Furthermore, by crying out "Laws, that's what we call them down South Laws! And we're wise, and law-abiding," (278), the IM subtly refers to the evil and injustice of the eviction by exhorting the natural equality of man with regard to being assured of a warm and safe place to live. The ensuing results of the IM's sermon culminates in a "revolution" of sorts. People burst into action and activity (they take things back inside the Provo's apartment), and they continue to be carried away by the IM's impassioned speech (they begin to think about organizing, demonstrating, and marching). The IM himself eventually joins the Brotherhood. Thus Moving Day in Harlem is born, for even though the Provos were evicted, the IM prompted a "Move," - a forward thrust of upward mobility" for himself, the Provos, and Harlem - towards equality, justice, honor, and truth.

In his introduction, Ellison justifies writing the novel to encompass the realities of all aspects of african american life. However, such an ambitious goal is sure to fail because inevitably, these experiences are solely those of the author and the nameless protagonist. In addition, the message one seems to draw from the book, is that african americans do not matter and cannot overcome racial prejudice. To reach this conclusion takes 580 pages and a myriad of sureal episodes. While Ellison provides excellent descriptions that help other characters and environments come to life, the choice to leave his main character and the southern college nameless detracts from the work. As a visual reader, including these aspects, however slight would make, as Ellison writes "become more human." While some scenes read fluidly, much of the book suffers from verbose wordage, it takes much to long for Ellison to make his points. Many portions of the book seem strange and confusing as well. When the nameless protagonist suffers an accident in the paint factory, it is unclear what procedure he underwent. Ellison seems to suggest that his character received a frontal lobatomy. If this were true, how could he feel emotion or rise to prominence. Also unclear, is the brotherhood's true function. What is clear however, is that Ellison dehumanizes his white counterparts, believing them to fundamnetally the same. He seems to belive that each white person wants to take advantage of an black person , for the white person's own benefit. While naming all the social ills affecting his race and the broader society, he fails to offer any solutions. Also strange, is that mian character deviates from all other black chracters, his manner of speaking is more refined. He does not use normal slang and common expressions. While claiming to try to serve his people, he, through his acts and mannerisms seems to be above them. For these reasons, Ellison ultimately fails in his intent to capture the African American experience in this overwrought, oversymbolic and overemotional piece of literature.

"I am an invisible man," begins Ralph Ellison's classic-for-a-reason novel. In its beginning, the story is already at its end, inside the mind of its unnamed narrator after he has undergone enlightenment. In the rest of the book, he shows how he came to live "outside of history."

In each chapter, the narrator experiences humiliation, [...], and self-delusion. At some points, as a reader, I wanted to shake him. This story of waking up takes awhile, but Ellison's examples of life's "beautiful absurdities" require the reader to become as beaten down as the narrator.

A novel that has often been voted the most influential of the twentieth-century doesn't need me to recommend it. But you might particularly like Invisible Man if you enjoy Catch-22, Joyce, or James Baldwin.

The book Invisible Man portrays a young black man that has the ability to succeed in life, but encounters many problems along the way. Racism plays a major role in prohibiting the narrators success, as many white meen try to keep him, as they said in the envelope, "running". Additionally, the narrator often becomes invisible when the situation is not favorable to him. it sounds complicated, and it is, but this book has a way of showing you what life looks like from the outside and in many ways its not pretty On his graduation day, he delivers a speech that is very profound. It preaches humility and submission as the key to achievement of black Americans. The speech can be applied to anyone's life, as we all encounter situations where we need to be humble and acknowledge who the authority is. later, the narrator said something that I will never forget. He was talking about how he realized that, as he was struggling to succeed, he was also loosing some of himself and his black culture. He stated that "by being less, you achieve more" and i thought this was a great quote; applicable to anyone's life. In conclusion, the majority of this book is somewhat hard to understand and at times boring, as the narator can tend to be redundant for several pages at a time. However, overall this book has many insights to life and dealing with its oddities. The Invisible man may be long, but those pages are filled with powerful emotions applicable to anyone's life.

The book starts out unusually strong. We are captivated by a supposed "Invisible Man" who lives in a basement in the city. As we read the first chapter, we're left with many questions. Who is he? Why is he invisible?
So the author starts the story out from the begininning deep in the south. This boy, a black student, excells at his work and social life. However, it turns for the worse when he drops out of a fully paid for negro colleg and is forced to move to New York city.
Of course these questions were answered, but gradually. I believe this was the problem I had with the book. It was a very slow read. The action is inconsistent. It starts of strong, but then you are just reading to set the plot. This took longer than I expected.
In conclusion, this book ought to be read by people interested in the life of an educated black student who encounters racial issuses. These racial issues prevent his sucess in life, and prevent him from developing an identity. Also, along the way, Ellison does a good job of describing the emmotiongs which are felt by the invisible man.

In this book we are taken into the life of a young African-American and the struggles he faces as he tries to make his way in the world. I am not one who is usually taken away with works of fiction, but something about this book mesmerized me. I was entranced by the setting, character and existence of the protagonist. His life and choices were such that you could only wish that you could intervene and help him along. Then there were the forces that acted upon his life, outside of his control; the dean, his boss, the communists, all of which led him to discover his "invisibility" or lack of control over his destiny. This is an excellent book. I really enjoyed the character development and plot. I highly recommend it.

"Invisible Man " is a novel written by Ralp Ellison. It begins with the character describing himself as an "Invisible Man". Not a ghost, or a freak experiment, but a physical man, who nobody knows, cares about, or notices. Even when he attempts to rob someone, wht man thinks its all a dream. The character is disappoined, but is happy with his invisibility. Then, he describes how he became this way. His life began in the South, where in grade and high school he was pushed to do his best. Then, his grandfather died, and his last words were not to submit, to do his race proud, and not degrade it by going by the will of the white men. Those words plagued his life, and formed his views on how black men should live their lives, including himself. Getting his college scholarship was a nightmare (he ended up doing exactly what the white men wanted him to do) but he got it, and he spent a few years there too. He was happy, until he was asked to give a guided tour of the campus to the founder of the college. Though he did show him what he wanted to see, it was not what the college wanted him to see, so the kicked out the ""Invisible Man"". He was then sent to New York with papers the man thought would get him a job so to get back to the college the next year. However, with the assistance of Mr. Earnshaw's secretary (his own son), he found out the true intentions of the school. Mr. Earnshaw was the head of one of the companies the school recommended for the character to work for, but the truth was the school wanted him to continously work, own secret reasons for doing what they do. Now, the "Invisible a big company. He did just that, too. After a slight accident in a paint producing factory, he began working, but he also got involved in a underground organization called the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was an organization of college grad blacks who knew their place in a white man's worlk, but they also knew how importaqnt and necessary they were. They considered themselves valuable, so were confident, and so was the "Invisible Man" He was becoming very important to the treacher begins. The "Invisible Man" eventually got back stabbed by Rez, a member of the Brotherhood, who was also coinciding with another big organizitation. He managed to blame the character for the increased involvement of the rival gang-for the very existance of the gang itself-so was nearly killed. However, he managed to escape, and talked to Jack, the head of the Brotherhood, where he found out he was invaluable, unwanted, unimportant, and Invisible. No one cared for him or about him. He was indeed Invisible. So then, he became the "Invisible Man".

Ellison studied music in college, and it shows. The book hangs together like a jazz piece, on an edge so precarious and so exquisite that it blows your mind. The way that themes are layered and build to crescendo after crescendo is amazing!
In my view, this book is not merely about race. It seems to be about modernity's influence on the human condition. Racism, in this novel, is just one aspect of a larger problem: a widespread loss of respect for people's integrity, as illustrated by the ...kissing black "professionals," white racists, "social activists," and the confidence man.

The Invisible Man is about a man who lost his way after high school and dropped out of college. So he then embarks a journey to truly find himself, but ends up in a situation far worse from where he started from. This book follows the narrator's journey from the South to the cities of New York. In my opinion, this book is mainly for mature audiences, so I don't recommend this book to minors. This book deals with racism, so if you are easily offended by racism, I wouldn't recommend it. If you enjoy existentialist ideals and dark humor, you would enjoy reading this book. Personally, I read this for a literature project in my senior year in high school, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For my recommendation, buy this in paperback, because I personally think this book is worth it to read and keep, but not to pass on to your kids.

First off, anyone whos says this book is too biased, or is just giving racism in return for racism, completely missed the message of the book. It is not a book about racism, but about the fact that noone, black or white, saw the protagonist ("him" from now on) for what he was. Other black people expected him to act a certain way, white people looked down on him, everyone had their own plan for him, wanted him as their own tool, instead of just taking him for what he was. It accurately portrays what it would be like to be a young black man in it's time, torn between the search for success and the search for pride. On another note, the book does lull at some points, but the style of writing in it's time was different than that of today, so that should be taken into consideration, and the small lulls hardly take anything away from the overall quality of the book-outstanding. There is so much in this book...just reading it really is a journey in itself, a very satisfying one. "He" is forced to ask himself questions about himself that we all have at some point...don't want to give away too much plot though. Overall, the only way to not enjoy this book is if you're not capable of sitting down with a long, steady-paced book, or if you're just too ignorant to understand brilliance when you've spent all that time reading it.

The Invisible Man is a story of a young southern African-American man and his tribulations through which he discovers society's harsh realities. The book starts with the narrator examining his visibility in life. He claims that to society he is merely a invisible man, a worthless colored man. The book later elucidates to the reader that he did not always feel this way. The feelings were more of culmination of the stunning truths that he learned through a series of hard and misfortunate events. He starts out as a very young and intelligent man in high school who wishes to carve out a prosperous and successful future for himself. He ends up receiving a scholarship to a black college in the south. In his junior year he is expelled for an incident to which was not his fault. Still holding on to a shred of hope he is told that he may return to the college if he moves to New York and earns the years tuition. He arrives in Harlem and begins searching for a job, but is later left betrayed when he discovers that the college never had any intentions of readmitting him. The rest of the book outlines his life in Harlem and takes a close look at the further struggles that bring him to the attitude he possess in the beginning of the book.
There were many portions of the book that were difficult to follow due to the diction and style of writing that Ellison uses to develop his story. Yet in the majority of the book Ellison's use of vivid diction and detail only help to bring the book alive as you see the characters and setting of the book take shape in your head. For example, when the narrator receives a job in a paint factory Ellison depicts the scene so clearly and effectively that you can nearly smell the fumes of the paint as you read through the chapter. Ellison also develops the narrator's world through the use of African American dialect, music and folklore. The author has a very unique style of writing in which he is able to clearly set the tone of his book through the usage of his diction, imagery and syntax.
Even though there were many dark and disturbing images in this novel I enjoyed being able to look through the eyes of an African-American during that time period and trying to understand what it was like. This book is a must read for anyone who is trying to understand just a small portion of the hardships and harsh realities that many African-Americans experienced after the turn of the 19th century.

I must say that INVISIBLE MAN was possibly Ralph Ellisons most well recieved and powerful books. It tells the story of an African-American(narrator) man raised in the south, and raised by his grandparents who were freed slaves. being from the south the narrator was exposed to segregation and social responsibility. He recieves a scholarship to a negro college but is soon expelled for no fault of his own. Then the narrator moves to New York City and finds himself unable to find employment, for the man who had given out many letters of reccomdation on the narrator's behalf, did not speak well of him. Eventually he finds a job at a white paint factory. This was an obvious use of symbolism such as the factories motto,"if its optic white, then its right." The narrator has an accident at work and is taken to the factory hospital and instead of a castration he was given an ECT treatment. The hatred of white the man quickly grew within the narrator. He joined an activist group where he was a spokesman for social equality. The narrator is eventually is banned from the group but is soon retaken. In the end the narrator is trapped in a man hole by a police officer and after an awful dream, he decides to stay there.
I would reccomend this book to anyone whos is at all interested in racism and/or the economical and social standings of a minority.

Everything that you've read so far will eventually fill a deeper meaning!
It was assigned by my English Teacher who seemed to tell us each day what was coming next. At times, it was the most discouraging thing that he could have done, yet in the beginning, it kept the class interested. I sat up many nights reading the book, chapter after chapter.
The novel connects people. As a white Montana girl from the heart of the Rockies, I don't have the culture of Harlem around me. I recommend this literary work of art to any teacher wanting to educate their students. Ellison's book gives insight on the difficulties and betrayal life can hand you. His title adds to the personal side of it. As an Invisible Man the reader never learns the main characters name, simply because it isn't important. A name would not add to the significance of the novel, but the invisibility does. By not having a specific label, the author pulls you into the story line, as if you were the Invisible Man.
Ellison has also incorporated marvelous imagery and breath-taking facts that make this novel a classic. Facts that are told in such a manner that our children will be reading this masterpiece, growing and learning as humans. "As long as there is humanity there will be novel's like this."
"Answer them with yeses." -Grandfather The Invisible Man lives with a haunting rememberance of his Grandfather, and his answer to the indifferences placed on the superiority of the races. Our main character fights with this throughout his life, stuggling to become a man of his own though and disposition. This novel takes you on that journey, revealling one man's ups and downs that eventually leads him into his invisibility.

I can say with confidence that "The Invisible Man" has surpassed my expectations a thousandfold. This story carries such incredible depth, and the deeper you read into it, the more fascinating it becomes. This on the surface is a criticism of race-relations in america and of a young man's struggle to overcome racial prejudice. This alone was able to provide me with such personal insight in regards to intimate perceptions and feelings of someone who was so acutely aware of the impact of his skin color. But the most astounding aspect of this novel that I found was the protagonist's slow unraveling of himself, and that of noticing (almost painfully) the limits that society had thrust upon him. Reading "The Invisible Man" is truly a complex journey into the profound hiding places of one's soul. You really will be surprised as to what you discover.

Ralph Elison�s, 2nd edition of Invisible Man, portrayed a young man struggling to make an impact on society. Throughout the book, there are several different symbols of invisibility, one of which was the nameless author, which continually provoked the reader. This hidden identity made the reader curious as to if the author would ever reveal the narrator�s name. Also, I felt that this novel was hard to put down because it kept me in suspense as of what obstacle the narrator was going to face next.
Success is an adjective that the unanimous narrator of Ralph Elison�s, 2nd edition of Invisible Man had trouble obtaining. It all began when he was forced to leave college because he embarrassed the school by taking one of their most-honorable trustees to the suburbs. In return, the college was supposed to help him find a professional job in New York; but in turn, the school ended up playing a cruel trick on the narrator. Several other similar, unfortunate events occurred to the narrator throughout the remainder of this book. Because of all of the ironic events that occurred to the narrator, I felt that this novel was very hard to relate to, although it didn�t force me to lose interest in the novel.
Elements such as politics, sex, racism, and growing up are portrayed in Invisible Man. This novel makes the audience reevaluate these ideas by look at them through another person�s eyes. It also makes the audience question many of these ideas. I would suggest this novel to all readers, particularly one who has time to read it slow to grasp it�s entirety.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is at its core a treatise on man's inhumanity to man. What could cause people to put up with the horrifying "Battle Royal" depicted early in the novel. It's very simple, actually, as Ralph Ellison repeatedly lets us know. Most human beings treat their fellow men as pawns to be manipulated in order to fulfill certain selfish means. We see this again and again in the novel. The white benefactor to the college views the main character and his university as nothing more than another tax write-off or an antidote to his nagging conscience. When he is confronted with the reality of the deep South, when the horror of the true conditions of most blacks is revealed to him during the road trip, the main character is expelled for exposing these members of society the dean wants to keep "invisible." The Communist Party also views blacks as nothing more than a special interest group that they can keep in check and manipulate through their rhetoric. To them, the main character, with his great legitimate success and intelligence, is a greater threat than Ras the Destroyer, a mindless thug. Ras is helping the blacks stay invisible, but the main character is pushing them to succeed and forcing society to deal with them as human beings, which the party finds unacceptable. Upon realizing this, the main character at first tries to "defeat them with yeses" as his father advised him and withdraws from the people who cannot see his inner being. However, he concludes that such an acceptance is a betrayal of himself. He decides to learn to start "saying yes and saying no" to the roles that are thurst upon him.
What is the universal message here? It is that in this world, social relationships have been established between human beings, but in almost all of these relationships we are restrained from exposing our inner self. Think about it. Try to count how many unwritten rules you follow in you interactions with other people. There are things you can and cannot say, feelings you can and cannot express, ideas that you can and cannot convey, parts of your soul that you can and cannot reveal. It all depends on who you are dealing with. How are we to respond to such a situation? We must "say yes and say no," we must accept certain boundaries but strive to look beyond them and, little by little, push them back. Pick up a copy of this great American Masterpiece. I promise Invisible Man will make you think! Another, much lighter book I need to recommend is The Losers Club by Richard Perez (Complete Restored Edition), an the store purchase that I stumbled on by accident and truly love.

The venomous assaults on the character of Barack Obama - by Glenn Beck, Dinesh D'Souza, and other paid pundits of the Ranting Righteous - have reconfirmed many of the disturbing insights into American racism of Ralph's Ellison's classic 1952 novel "Invisible Man." Barack Obama is truly `invisible' to his political enemies, who consistently ignore both his words and his actions in favor of their own projections of him as a radical, rageful, revengeful racist, simultaneously a Communist and an Islamicist. But, as the `narrator' of Ellison's novel learned to his sorrow, Obama is none too clearly `visible' to his supporters either. The most clear-sighted examination of Obama's personhood and politics that I've read is historian James Kloppenberg's "Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Tradition." Using both biographical material and Obama's own writings, from his earliest articles in the Harvard Law Journal through his own full-length books to his campaing speeches and presidential addresses, Professor Kloppenberg convincingly locates Obama in the tradition of American pragmatism and of consensus achieved by dialogue, a thinker not attracted to ideology of either the left or the right, a socially liberal moderate whose ideas reflect his education in American history and philosophy. The strongest influences on Obama's thinking come, according to Kloppenberg, from philospher John Rawls, hsitorian Gordon Wood, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and legal scholar Lawrence Tribe. As a result, Obama's political stances are remarkably close to what the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas would approve, above all a commitment to democratic discourse and a discomfort with any sort of absolutism or `foundationalism.'

However, Kloppenberg also traces the special influence of Obama's experience as a `man of color' in American society, and examines the impact that African-American writers and leaders have had on the country's first non-white president. In particular, Kloppenberg suggests that Obama's early encounter with the novel "Invisible Man" has made a lasting impression:
""Obama's debts to Ellison run particularly deep. Many borrowed images from Invisible Man ... pop up in passages in Dreams From My Father. Yet Obama acknowledges that no matter how attractive the pose of anger and alienation seemed to him as a young man, it was a poor fit, both because of his even-tempered personality and because of his very different circumstances. For all these reasons Invisible Man, with its deperate refusal to surrender, its determination to affirm the principle [of equality in diversity, of `e pluribus unum], and its resolutely indeterminate ending, left a particularly clear imprint on Obama's sensibility.""

"Very different circumstances" indeed! Invisible Man was published in 1952! Before the Supreme Court decisions that struck down `separate but equal' apartheid in the USA. Before MLK and Malcolm X, before the civil rights campaigns of the `50s and 60s but also before Black Power and the Black Panthers. Before the elections of the first Black governors, mayors, and congresspeople since the aborted Reconstruction after the War to Extend Slavery. Before an African-American without an Uncle Remus drawl could speak up without causing consternation. Before a TV ad could possibly have shown a sophisticated, personable African-American socializing with a similar European-American. And quite a few years before Barack Obama was born!

I had to re-read this book therefore. I had to reappraise it, in light of all those incomplete transformations of American society, in light of the election of Obama and the frenzied backlash it has generated.

And I could write a book about this book. In fact, many books have already been written about this book. It's a challenging, complex piece of literature. It probably defies any coherent exegesis; I know I wouldn't try. On the most obvious level, it's the tale of the `education' of a highly intelligent young black man from the impoverished rural South, who travels to New York and becomes the dupe of a Utopian movement called The Brotherhood, whose efforts to advance himself are repeatedly thwarted by a combination of accidental circumstances and the malevolent self-interests of both whites and blacks. It's a sprawling story, many chapters of which are obviously not intended to be flatly realistic. I haven't encountered any previous criticism of it that says so, but to me Invisible Man fits perfectly into the venerable genre of the Picaresque, that is, of the innocent youth who sets out to seek his fortune and who falls repeatedly into the company of rogues and fools. A one-page outline of the plot of Invisible Man would be also parallel to that of Lazarillo de Tormes, the 16th C Spanish novel often considered the first picaresque. In other words, Invisible Man can't be and shouldn't be read just as an African-American book; it belongs in the canon of European literature, written in a European language - English - to be comprehended in the context of European socio-political traditions. To deny Ralph Ellison's European intellectual roots, entwined with his historical American identity as the grandchild of slaves, is to perpetuate the "invisibility" his fictional character suffers. The extension is obvious: Barack Obama, with his European-American mother and maternal clan, is as fully European as any other American, even while he is also ineffably a `black' American in experience! It's a little like the theological mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus -- fully human yet fully divine.

This `invisibility' of Ellison's is not something unique to African-Americans, I would argue. Lazarillo de Tormes was also `invisible' to those around him by reason of his illegitimate birth and caste. Koreans have been `invisible' in Japan, Samii in Sweden, Kurds in Turkey. `Gay' people may find themselves more `invisible' outside the closet than they were inside. James Baldwin wrote, in effect, of his double invisibility as a gay black man. Ellison's meaning of `invisibility' is subtle. The `invisible man' is not unseen. Rather, he's seen only as the beholder wants to see him, without any interest in perceiving him as he truly is. And that, dear readers, is the fate that President Barack Obama is confronting in the USA today.

E pluribus unum! Where have you seen those words? They're on the Great Seal of the USA, and thus on the money. The Latin words mean "from many, one." This was the de facto motto of the nation throughout its history until 1956, when Congress adopted "In God We Trust" as the official motto. `Originalists" -- reactionaries who insist that the original intent of the writers of the Constitution was this or that, never to be renewed -- declare that "e pluribus unum" refers to the limited unity conceded to the federal government by the original thirteen soveriegn states, and only to that. Most Americans have had the habit of interpreting the motto more philosophically, recognizing that American culture is the result of the Melting Pot, the intermingling of different ethnic stocks, different religious and economic backgrounds, different races. If the Invisible Man in Ralph Ellison's novel was left hoping, as he says on the last page of the book, that "even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play," then I'd argue that his role is to sustain `the many' that constitute `the one.' And that, I would say, is what Barack Obama aspires to, in which case reading this novel may indeed offer a template of his character.

In Invisible Man Ralph Ellison narrates a story through the eyes of a southern black man who is forgotten and abused by people in the worlds around him, conveying to the reader his belief in the necessity of self-realization and self-reliance through the narrator's insights at the same time. Ellison develops his own personal convictions within the unnamed protagonist, giving his character depth of understanding imparted by the experiences he encounters. This anonymous narrator learns not only of racial prejudice during his childhood in the South but also of social ignorance in the North even among other blacks. Upon first arriving north in New York City, the narrator feels as if he has left behind prejudice social classes and unfair bias, but slowly he begins to realize that in New York or any other place there is no such thing as egalitarian rights and communal respect because of the self-serving minds of other people. In many characters such as Mr. Norton, Dr. Bledsoe and Brother Jack, Ellison embodies this attitude of ignorance and personal ambition. In the book Mr. Norton plays a minor role as a university benefactor who only wishes to see the narrator succeed in order to add to his own legacy. Dr. Bledsoe is the head of the narrator's old college who fears allowing the narrator to stay at the university may bring ill repute to his university. He only desires to see the narrator fail and even attempts to catalyze this hope by giving him letters denouncing the narrator's qualifications which he claims to be letters of recommendation. Shortly after arriving in New York, the narrator meets Brother Jack, who is the head of a civil rights movement. At the end of the book the narrator learns that Brother Jack has been using him as a speaker to incite citizens for his own alterior motives. Ellison states through the narrator that his invisibility arises from the negligence of others who are striving toward their goal, too busy to think about him on their way. In the end of the book the narrator fully grasps and learns that his insignificance in others' eyes is insignificant itself, that his peace and contentment must come from within himself. Ellison shows ubiquity and timelessness in his philosophy on man and his intrinsic nature, intricately developing Invisible Man to reflect aspects of his own take on life.

The entirety of Invisible Man is based on the life-changing circumstances of one man. The name of this man is never disclosed keeping the reader anxious and curious. From the beginning and throughout the end of the novel, the "Invisible Man" encounters betrayal, deceit, rebellion, and eventually finds a place in this chaotic world. The theme of the novel is based on the continual change in his life and its structure is in some way circular. "Invisible Man" begins the novel with nothing, and ultimately possesses nothing. Possibly the intent of the book was to convey for society the difficulties and discrimination that the African race had to and still has to face, but believe that Ralph Ellison had a deeper purpose when he began writing this novel. I believe this novel relates to everyone's life in one way or another. But, the intent of this novel is solely up to the opinion of the reader. Ralph Ellison uses smooth diction and by stating smooth, I mean that the words and sentences flow well together and make the book fairly easily to read. His imagery is superb.

First off, I had to read this book for school. Usually I don't like "Classics" and destest reading them, even though I love reading in general. This book was ok. The themes of race/class division and the duplicity of the human race were valid and sometimes interesting, but the book just annoyed me. At times it bored me, but mostly annoyed me. Why is this young nameless man so naive! He gets kicked down, abused and injured in so many t bizarre surreal ways it's amazing he hasn't died off due to natural selection! Ellison also adds so many interesting events that he just doesn't follow up on, we HAVE to read about this guy! I think he learns some things in the end, but as this is, I think, an optomistic book in general I predict he'll still get stomped on.

i bought this book after hearing about it for years.i was interested.well upon reading it i was in a trance.i felt it was compelling.it was so real.reading a book like this makes you look at society at large.then&now.the reason that this book has lasted as long as it has is that not only is it brillant but also very real.you don't have to go to school to find this book great.look at the world around you and read it.you will the power of it and more.

I must confess. I was more than a little disappointed when I discovered the copy of The Invisible Man on my 11th grade reading list was authored by Ralph Ellison not H.G. Wells. Once I stopped complaining about the extra four hundred pages and started reading the book however I found it an intriguing complex work that not only supplemented my Advanced Placement United States History class work on civil rights but also interested me.
Ellison wove this highly descriptive story in the style of existentialism, mostly used by French authors of the twentieth century, as a way of questioning meaning of individual life in an entirely meaningless world. Ellison related this to racial issues between African Americans and whites. Ralph Ellison opens with the words, "I am an invisible man," then goes on to explain he is not a fictional creature of Poe's works or a Hollywood movie trick, but a living breathing human being that no one sees due to his skin tone. A highly emotional work, The Invisible Man reaches into the heart of the readers and cries for attention to be paid to the issues of race. Although this is not the 1800s in the core of racial discrimination, lynchings, and hate crimes, Diversity of race and the struggles of racial issues shaped America into the country we are today. Challenging thoughts on individuality and drawing attention to the heart of the problem with racial disturbances, The Invisible Man is a classic work that although quite lengthy has a solid heart of excellent plot development, descriptive writing, strong emotions and challenging themes.

The book Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, describes the process by which the protagonist comes to the realization that when white people look at him, they see nothing at all. He comes to this conclusion through a series of events that includes a prize-fight and a Communist rally. I read this book for my eighth-grade independent reading project as we read To Kill a Mockingbird in class; part of our purpose in reading both books simultaneously was to be able to compare our two books' views on race. Invisible Man, I found, is in many ways the opposite of To Kill A Mockingbird in the way it views race. For instance, To Kill A Mockingbird's author, Harper Lee, holds that through the judicial system and the efforts of non-racists, we will build a more equal society; Invisible Man's author, on the other hand, holds that liberation is really a new form of oppression and betrayal. The protagonist says of the leader of an organization that he joined, "That he, or anyone else at that late date, could have named me and set me running with one and the same stroke of the pen was too much." This betrayal by one he thinks is working to help him happens repeatedly throughout the book. Overall, Ellison paints a cynical portrait of relations between blacks and whites, as is shown by the words of a black figure, "...the dumbest black b----d in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie!" The positions taken by the authors of the books may reflect their personal experiences with racism in their lives. It is thus worth noting that Ellison is a black man, while Lee is a white woman. Both books draw on the lives of their authors, but Ellison lived his story, whereas Lee was mostly an observer. Another difference between the two lies in their varying degrees of characterization. Ellison's characters are all relatively faceless, but in Lee's writing, it is only the black characters who are not developed. Ellison, who is writing about invisibility, might thus be making a point with his blurred distinction between black and white, that it is not race that determines a person's character. Lee, on the other hand, depicts the world so familiar to her - the world that is rigidly polarized along racial lines. Reading the two books in tandem allowed me to see an issue through two sets of eyes, thus offering a broader, more complete view. I found Ellison's writing a bit confusing at first, as well as quick-paced, but after reading carefully, his words became clear and the pace seemed natural. The pace and confusion also fit in with Ellison's message of chaos and subversion. Every time Ellison's writing forced me to stop, there was some profit to be gained, some greater understanding, that made the pause worthwhile. I therefore highly recommend the book.

I've read "Invisible Man" 3 times now for various reasons, and each subsequent reading has proven this novel to be weaker than the one before. Ralph Ellison offers up a fascinating narrative about race relations in America in the first half of the 20th Century, but it sadly is overwhelmed by his overheated prose style. The invisible motif is effective as a metaphor for a black man's status in American society, but Ellison is so heavy handed in his use of it that it quickly becomes tedious. And by the time the feverish finale (involving riots in what has become a surreal stand-in for New York City) has come to a close, my patience has come to an end.
It's probably worth reading this book once because it does maintain an important place in modern American literature. Sadly, in literature classes and on "best-of" lists, books like "Invisible Man" and "Native Son" are frequently used as token place holders for African American literature as a whole, when I think there are much better books about the African American experience that frequently get ignored. For example, on the MLA's list of 100 best 20th Century novels, both Ellison's and Wright's books are included, but obviously lacking are spots for "The Color Purple," "Beloved," and "Their Eyes Were Watching God," all better than "Invisible Man" in my opinion.

Certainly, Ralph Ellison deserves his place among the classics of American literature. He makes reading this nearly 600-page behemoth an almost completely pleasurable experience - though at times you really have to start skimming when Ellison starts expounding on these long, ultra-descriptive, semi-philosophical rants that seem to lead no where.
Despite the often not-so-subtle method Ellison uses to convey his ideas, the book is actually quite engaging, both in entertainment-wise and intellectually. A must for anyone who considers him/herself well-versed in American literature.

I thought this book gave a great insight into the struggle for racial equality. Although I thought the book was a bit on the depressing side, I also thought it was very educational and helped me see how hard people fought for equality in a racially divided country. I highly enjoyed it, even though it was a bit on the longer side. It helped to shed a knew light on American history and was very well written. The story focuses on the narrator's life as an "invisible" black man growing up in the south. He is faced with many derogatory events and feels that he should take a stand against racial segregation. He joins up with a group called the Brotherhood and gives public speeches to help the socially oppressed. The Brotherhood uses the narrator and does not listen to his opinions. Although he is fighting for equality, the narrator does not receive it, not even from the Brotherhood. I believe the narrator should have fought harder for what he believed in and not have meekly let others control his life. I recommend The Invisible Man to anyone who wants a better understanding of the hardships African Americans had to go through to gain true freedom.

In my opinion, as a part of a minority group, the book was great. It allowed me to understand the structure of society as well as the lifestyle of African Americans in the 1930's. There were many insightful quotes such as "I'm in New York, but New York ain't in me" indicating that where you live does not distinguish your personalities and "The truth is the light and light is the truth."(Ellison 7) This book also helped me to understand that life is a very complicated journey and sometimes you don't get to choose your destiny.

I like the writing style of the book. The book's writing can be described in two words: simple and explicit. It was very easy to understand, most of the time, what the author was saying. Although it was written in simple text, it doesn't mean that its meaning is not profound. The book had many complex themes and abstract symbols that appear throughout the book. For instance, in page 299, the building of the Brotherhood was called Chthonian, which is the underworld in Greek mythology. This hints to the reader that Brotherhood is perhaps a corrupt organization.

I also like the abstract writing styles. "My hole is warm and full of light...I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, an I don not exclude Broadway... those two spots are among the darkest of our whole civilization."(Ellison 6) In this short phrase the author uses a double meaning on the word light. This kind of writing style helped me to enjoy the novel better and to learn how to write better.

Although, overall, the novel was very compelling, in my opinion the ending was a bit disappointing because it simply ends without conclusion. It seems like a waste to read 580 pages just to find out that the book does not conclude anything. However, this type of ending I would guess is post modernism.

Other than that, the book was very insightful and inspiring. It helped me to think about my future and how I should beware of the hardships that might appear as it did in the narrator's life. I strongly recommend this book.

The poisonous assaults on the character of Barack Obama - by Glenn Beck, Dinesh D'Souza, and other opportunistic pundits of the Ranting Righteous - have reconfirmed many of the disturbing insights into American racism of Ralph's Ellison's classic 1952 novel "Invisible Man." Barack Obama is truly `invisible' to his political enemies, who consistently ignore both his words and his actions in favor of their own projections of him as a radical, rageful, revengeful racist, simultaneously a Communist and an Islamicist. But, as the `narrator' of Ellison's novel learned to his sorrow, Obama is none too clearly `visible' to his supporters either. The most clear-sighted examination of Obama's personhood and politics that I've read is historian James Kloppenberg's "Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Tradition." Using both biographical material and Obama's own writings, from his earliest articles in the Harvard Law Journal through his own full-length books to his campaing speeches and presidential addresses, Professor Kloppenberg convincingly locates Obama in the tradition of American pragmatism and of consensus achieved by dialogue, a thinker not attracted to ideology of either the left or the right, a socially liberal moderate whose ideas reflect his education in American history and philosophy. The strongest influences on Obama's thinking come, according to Kloppenberg, from philospher John Rawls, hsitorian Gordon Wood, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and legal scholar Lawrence Tribe. As a result, Obama's political stances are remarkably close to what the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas would approve, above all a commitment to democratic discourse and a discomfort with any sort of absolutism or `foundationalism.'

However, Kloppenberg also traces the special influence of Obama's experience as a `man of color' in American society, and examines the impact that African-American writers and leaders have had on the country's first non-white president. In particular, Kloppenberg suggests that Obama's early encounter with the novel "Invisible Man" has made a lasting impression:
""Obama's debts to Ellison run particularly deep. Many borrowed images from Invisible Man ... pop up in passages in Dreams From My Father. Yet Obama acknowledges that no matter how attractive the pose of anger and alienation seemed to him as a young man, it was a poor fit, both because of his even-tempered personality and because of his very different circumstances. For all these reasons Invisible Man, with its deperate refusal to surrender, its determination to affirm the principle [of equality in diversity, of `e pluribus unum], and its resolutely indeterminate ending, left a particularly clear imprint on Obama's sensibility.""

"Very different circumstances" indeed! Invisible Man was published in 1952! Before the Supreme Court decisions that struck down `separate but equal' apartheid in the USA. Before MLK and Malcolm X, before the civil rights campaigns of the `50s and 60s but also before Black Power and the Black Panthers. Before the elections of the first Black governors, mayors, and congresspeople since the aborted Reconstruction after the War to Extend Slavery. Before an African-American without an Uncle Remus drawl could speak up without causing consternation. Before a TV ad could possibly have shown a sophisticated, personable African-American socializing with a similar European-American. And quite a few years before Barack Obama was born!

I had to re-read this book therefore. I had to reappraise it, in light of all those incomplete transformations of American society, in light of the election of Obama and the frenzied backlash it has generated.

And I could write a book about this book. In fact, many books have already been written about this book. It's a challenging, complex piece of literature. It probably defies any coherent exegesis; I know I wouldn't try. On the most obvious level, it's the tale of the `education' of a highly intelligent young black man from the impoverished rural South, who travels to New York and becomes the dupe of a Utopian movement called The Brotherhood, whose efforts to advance himself are repeatedly thwarted by a combination of accidental circumstances and the malevolent self-interests of both whites and blacks. It's a sprawling story, many chapters of which are obviously not intended to be flatly realistic. I haven't encountered any previous criticism of it that says so, but to me Invisible Man fits perfectly into the venerable genre of the Picaresque, that is, of the innocent youth who sets out to seek his fortune and who falls repeatedly into the company of rogues and fools. A one-page outline of the plot of Invisible Man would be also parallel to that of Lazarillo de Tormes, the 16th C Spanish novel often considered the first picaresque. In other words, Invisible Man can't be and shouldn't be read just as an African-American book; it belongs in the canon of European literature, written in a European language - English - to be comprehended in the context of European socio-political traditions. To deny Ralph Ellison's European intellectual roots, entwined with his historical American identity as the grandchild of slaves, is to perpetuate the "invisibility" his fictional character suffers. The extension is obvious: Barack Obama, with his European-American mother and maternal clan, is as fully European as any other American, even while he is also ineffably a `black' American in experience! It's a little like the theological mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus -- fully human yet fully divine.

This `invisibility' of Ellison's is not something unique to African-Americans, I would argue. Lazarillo de Tormes was also `invisible' to those around him by reason of his illegitimate birth and caste. Koreans have been `invisible' in Japan, Samii in Sweden, Kurds in Turkey. `Gay' people may find themselves more `invisible' outside the closet than they were inside. James Baldwin wrote, in effect, of his double invisibility as a gay black man. Ellison's meaning of `invisibility' is subtle. The `invisible man' is not unseen. Rather, he's seen only as the beholder wants to see him, without any interest in perceiving him as he truly is. And that, dear readers, is the fate that President Barack Obama is confronting in the USA today.

E pluribus unum! Where have you seen those words? They're on the Great Seal of the USA, and thus on the money. The Latin words mean "from many, one." This was the de facto motto of the nation throughout its history until 1956, when Congress adopted "In God We Trust" as the official motto. `Originalists" -- reactionaries who insist that the original intent of the writers of the Constitution was this or that, never to be renewed -- declare that "e pluribus unum" refers to the limited unity conceded to the federal government by the original thirteen soveriegn states, and only to that. Most Americans have had the habit of interpreting the motto more philosophically, recognizing that American culture is the result of the Melting Pot, the intermingling of different ethnic stocks, different religious and economic backgrounds, different races. If the Invisible Man in Ralph Ellison's novel was left hoping, as he says on the last page of the book, that "even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play," then I'd argue that his role is to sustain `the many' that constitute `the one.' And that, I would say, is what Barack Obama aspires to, in which case reading this novel may indeed offer a template of his character.

[Of the two editions listed first on the store, this is the one I chose, largely because of the stronger binding. But it has a worthwhile introduction by Charles Johnson.]

This book is deep. At times so deep that I had no idea what Ellison was talking about. However, hidden amongst the pages and pages of the nameless main character's thoughts, are thought-provoking passages that make reading all six hundred pages of "Invisible Man" worthwhile. While I felt that this book was unnecessarily slow, I was never very anxious to reach the end. This book makes you crave resolution; and when you don't find in the final pages of the novel, you look for it in life.

Going through high school and the first few years of college I learned about racism and life during the mid 1900's. After reading Ellison's masterpiece i now feel i truly understand what life was like during those years for african americans trying to find a place in the world. From the battle royal at the beginning to the shocking ending, it was a sad journey that i felt i was a part of for invisible man. This is one of the best books i have ever read. 5 stars plus!!!

"Invisible Man" details the turbulant, inflective journey through life a young black man experiences as he grows up in the South, pursues a higher education, and eventually ends up in a 1950's Harlem. Ellison's work is one of those pieces that one can tell is simply a thinly veiled excuse to portray the philisophical views and musings of its author. Such works are often very thought inspiring (see "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and most anything by George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut) but "Invisible Man" in particular loses a lot in its length. In attempting to convey the environment within which our narrater resides, and by doubly trying to depict his reaction to every aspect of such, the real philisophical meat is lost in relevant verbosity. All in all, the novel is a worth while read, but unless it is broken up, and it's subject matter poses significant interest to the individual attempting to take it on, one need not try.

This is a well produced edition of this book, with a somewhat interesting introduction by the author (best saved for last).

I got this for my homeschooled high schooler. Do they still read this book in America's schools? It is worthwhile. One man's perception of imperceptibility. Some good vocabulary builders, a good narrative voice, interesting characters.

After you read it, check out the map of the story within the book "Plotted, A Literary Atlas" .

Invisible Man
The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, is a book based on the journey and experiences of an unnamed Negro man during modern America. He is in search of success, friendship, and himself. Ellison's style of writing can be confusing at times, meaning that Ellison tries to overwhelm the reader, when instead he should be either persuading or telling the story. The novel is written in first person singular and therefore it is hard to distinguish who is who. It is hard to tell the difference between the person who is telling the story and the person who is being affected. The middle of the book concerns the Harlem Stalinists who are communist. Ellison made the Stalinists seem stupid, vicious and pessimistic. The Invisible Man's final discovery that after he quit the Communist Party, "my world has become one of infinite possibilities,"(p.365) because he did not want to be rejected nor did he want to be seen by other various social groups. In my opinion Ellison is a very gifted writer, with an amazing style. Although Ellison relies heavily on various symbolisms, which can get confusing at times, it helps the reader to get through the book but it does not destroy the book. Also, Ellison's style is creative because it allows the reader to appear as if they were actually listening to a Negro telling the story, in the sense that Ellison wrote in the vernacular of that time period. Ellison has an abundance of talent, because he is thoroughly, wildly creative. He makes his writing tense; his language makes the book better to read. Since Ellison lived and observed certain events, which took place during this time, and also since he was black, he understood how to write a book based on the Negro lifestyle during that particular period of time. This is not your basic book; instead the Invisible Man is a Negro novel, written by a Negro, about Negro life, talk, and music. This book is a great book that expresses the Negro customs of that time.

I rated this book, The Invisible Man, four stars. I found the book to be intriguing, but in some cases the book allows the reader to draw his on opinions. The book is about a young man who tries to be accepted into society by working his way through college to become an educator. He runs into a conflict at school and is expelled. He moves to New York to find work, thinking he can return back to school later on in the fall. When his jobs doesn't work out well, and the fact that he gets hurt doesn't contribute to the certainty that he's headed to failure. Until he comes across an organization called Brotherhood. They are people who make speeches in a scientific, but also in a political manner to help the society become a better place. But he soon realizes that they're only trying to manipulate the people into doing what they want. As a result, he becomes utterly invisible, as a black man struggling to live in a white society. He chooses to stay and live underground away from it all because there's nothing he can do. There's no one to turn to, no one to help him, and there's no one who cares enough to help him, a black man, make it in an environment where everyone's trying to make it and be heard.

I do not enjoy reading long novels. In fact, i hate reading. I was assigned this book for a English class at Henry Ford Community College. My teacher was Pedro San Antonio. Before i opened up the book, i was hating the fact that it was 500 and something pages. As i began to read, i was getting deep into the reading. It is sad, as i read other reviews of this novel, that most of you do not scratch beneath the surface of the book. There is alot of sybolism, amoung other things, but the most important part of this is not the writing itself, it is the meaning behind it. This novel is about a man's struggle to become a man, and not to live like the homeless man he met up with carrying a basket with blueprints. The invisible man does not give up, even though he is shot down at every attempt he makes. He struggles to find a community, he has no belonging. This is not a race factor, this is a reality factor. This book can happen to anybody. This book has alot of symbolism to ralph ellison himself. Do some research on Ralph Ellison before you decide to give this book 1,2,3,4 stars. Better yet, take English 132 at the school i went to, and have the teacher that taught me this book, teach it to you. Every word, every meaning, every event, has a deeper aspect to it. There is so much in this book that most people are blind to! Im just going to end it there, i can't believe this book would get anything but a 5! This is not for the average reader, you should do some research on Ralph Ellison first, to find out why he choose which events happened. Find out what the golden day is..and why Ralph used the name. Find out what supercargo really means, and why Ralph used it. Find out why Mr Norton (north), or Mr bledso's(bled)names were used. Find out why Optic paint was used. Optic meaning (sight) and..the whitest of white paint..was mixed by a black man, putting black drops into it. Mix the whitest population with drops of black people, even though the black drops is what did the jobs, what is the outcome, white paint? Get it? Most of you probably don't, but oh well! Just do not rate this book below a 5 star unless you understand it fully.

When I first read Ralph Ellison's remarkable Invisible Man I was in college. Having grown up middle class midwestern white, it seemed at the time to be a marvelous piece of work that plunged me into the nightmarishly crushing world of racism from the black perspective. It opened my eyes to racism in a way that I could never have possibly percieved from the perspective of my own limited experience.
Thirty years later I pulled this book from the shelf and reread it on a whim. A number of things struck me on this reading that never occurred to me from my earlier limited youthful perspective.
First of all, Invisible Man is timeless and I find it hard to believe that it was written nearly fifty years ago. This book is about far more than racism, it is about loss of innocence and rape of the soul. It is about exploitation, manipulation, and the gross hypocrisy that exists in our society.
It is a work of great literary merit. Ellison displays verbal virtuosity of great breadth with beautiful and lyric eloquence. It is at times so dark and overbearingly heavy that a sensitive or less serious reader might cry out for relief. It is so relentless in plunging from one nightmarish episode to the next that one can reasonably say that it is often over the top, and yet any fair-minded reader can easily forgive the excesses of Ellison's vision for the importance of the message that it brings home.
Any reader, be he or she black, white, yellow or brown, who must make a way in this world--any reader who attempts to rise from the consciousness of the unprivelidged child or who is a seeker in life, should read Invisible Man as a cautionary tale as well as a great work of art. Please read this book if you have the courage and honesty to see the world through the eyes of the victim. This book has helped me to see those who had often in the past been invisible to me and I thank Ralph Ellison for making it possible.

This one's about an unnamed narrator who journeys from the South to the North and what he experiences as a black man in the early to mid-twentieth century. I have to say that I kind of got what was meant by him being Invisible as he says he is in the novels beginning. No one really listens to him all throughout this thing. Toward the end it becomes almost laughable as he impersonates another person, compeletely fooling everyone. There is alot of racism in this novel and this may seem a strange-sounding review. The book is well-written but it feels like a series of seperate events that are only connected by the common narrator. There isn't much of an interesting story. Once he gets North, he joins some kind of Communist group for what reason I don't recall. And none of this is really interesting. I guess the message of Invisibility is what counts here as they mainly use him a token black guy and don't really see him as a true person at all. There is one semi-cool character named Ras the Exhorter who is against the Communists and wants all blacks against all whites. He later becomes Ras the Destroyer and goes out to war in the novels exciting race-riot scenes. But you have to go through hundreds of pages to get to that. I felt that Ellison ripped off some things from Richard Wright's Black Boy novel. For instance, he joins a Communist group just as Wright did. There are other things that happen but I don't feel like going into everything now. Basically, the narrator's life here imitates Richard Wrights in alot of ways I feel. So I guess you should read this one if you want to be able to say you did it or to try and spot all the ways the narrator is "invisible." Or you could just read a thorough plot synopsis and save yourself the time.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man will shock a person like few other books. The initial chapters alone leave a staggering impression and give a glimpse into the terrible parody that American society can be. Racism, hatred, and the belief of superiority over another race are easily identifiable throughout the book, and the white people seem oblivious to it, or act as though all is how it should be. Invisible Man is a well written commentary on racism and details in an extraordinary style a life lived in invisibility.

It was truly a time where the white people had done their best to subjugate African Americans in spirit, if not in body. The narrator, after having fought several other men for nothing more than the amusement of some wealthy upper classmen, gives a speech to them. When he misspeaks social responsibility as social equality the crowd of white people responds with hostility and tells him to "know his place."

Invisible Man is not the usual type of book I read, but it was well worth it, and it gives a lot of insight into the mind of an African American man in days gone by. It is certainly worth reading again if only to take additional time to examine it more closely. I would definently recommend it to friends and family.

This is a review of the audible version--the only thing better than this incredible timeless novel (I heard recently that schools are banning teaching it, which is awful when you think of it's transformative power and relevance to today!) is Joe Morton (Scandal's own Rowan Pope) reading it.

In my opinion this classic work is one of the top five fiction books in African-American History. I read the book some time ago and wanted hear it on tape to determine if my opinion of the book would change. My opinion of the book was unchanged, it is and will alway be a classic. To be highly critical of the book I would suggest it loses some pacing at the very end. However, the books clearly shows Ellison brillances as a writer and a thinker. He calls into question many issues that the Afro-American community deals with today: racisms, head negro in charge-isms, Uncle Tom-isms, being a credit to our race-isms and more. I think the underlining question raised in this book is how far will Afro-American go to please the majority race. How much of our efforts not to be the majority created stero type Afro-American is to be a credit to our race as oppose to denying our race. A must read or listen to for anybody with an interest in African-American history.

This book was fascinating. (So much so, that I read all 583 pages in one night!) The style of writing was very different than others of its type, which made it all the more admirable. Ellison writes with a kind of vigor and energy that few authors can accomplish. His depiction of this young man's life is filled simultaneously with joy, sadness, irony, and truth. It opened my eyes to a different view of racism--a view from the eyes of the "invisible man," whose mere existence is simply not acknowledged by his fellow men. This is truly a masterpiece, and definitely deserves any reader's time and attention.

When I was reading this book I thought of myself in a strange country and didn't know their culture and trying to fit in. It's not only a book about being black. The main character coud have been Italian Asian African European or Middle eastern and would be treated as invisible in New York today if they don't know the language or customs. Racism is a big word and we know that Black American can tell this story well. So what tell your story and be happy. Great Book.

Joe Martin's voice is everything. I'm only a few chapters in, but the premise of the story bears so much weight and so much truth to today's world. If you want to ever experience just a small portion of what it is or has ever been like to be a minority, this book is a decent place to start.

Never have I read or even heard of any book that provides such an interesting literary experience. This powerful prose takes you inside the mind of a person who, because of his environment, has been forced to overanalyze life and to try and understand the twisting concept of distinguishing truth from its perpetrator.
On his winding journey, a man lives his life never truly knowing anything and questioning all that he has previously learned to accept, and in doing so, forfeits life entirely.
The issue that was prevalent at the time of this story's publication (race and discrimination)was used as a stage upon which the scenes of a man's life unfolded, and, using symbolism and various allusions, the author was able to show the amazing complexity of something as simple as childhood nicknames.
I recommend this book to those who enjoy the challenge of reading between the lines, or to those who want to know what it's like to be a part of someone's thoughts.

I just finished reading Invisible Man and can't believe I had not read it before. It is superb on all levels. The story is gripping and the characters develop wonderfully. The symbolism and inner meanings are so dense I am going to start over and see what else I get the second time. It is uplifting and insightful. If only Toni Morrison's books were so enlightening and balanced they would be as good as people claim. I did not like Song of Solomon, but Invisible Man will be on my shelf for good.

Invisible Man tells the story of a nameless African-American male. He goes through various experiences which contribute to his feeling of invisibility. Though the narrator feels he is nothing, his knowledge and insight, which he is constantly imparting to the reader, ensure that he does indeed exist. I recommend this novel to the reader who enjoys African-American literature. It is a long read (more than 500 pages), so you must have patience. Ellison's great descriptions and mastery of prose enhance the reading of this splendid novel. Spend some time, and you will find this book was worth it.

Ralph Ellison (the assumed author) goes to a good school in the south but gets kicked out for unfortunate reasons. He then moves to Harlem and becomes one of the speech givers in an organization called "The Brotherhood." He author goes through many trials and complications. Being a senior in highschool my group chose this because the first sentence captivated our minds. It was as crazy as we thought it was going to be but lacked substance. I do not know if the author wanted his audience to be confused and disgusted, but I guess that's why we were attracted to it. Ralph Ellison's book the "The Invisible Man" is a good buy if you want to be a revolutionary.

Good Book, well worth reading, but it's too long.

The story is good, moving and helpful to understand the powers and forces at work on Black men and all disenfranchised people of the early 20th century, but it is too long. Too much discription and detail that sometimes get in the way of a moving, well told story.

For the modern reader, the story that is told in 580 pages would best be told in 350 to 45O pages. Having said that, it is important to remember that this book might well be considered an example of the writing style of the early 50s. If that thought is a consideration, this criticism would be unfounded and lack validity.

Wade your way through the Introduction and early stuff and get right to the story, Chapter One. It is quite good, quite moving and at times, quite sad and alarming. It offers new depth and insight into the Black experience and perspective.

Invisible Man is one of the best novels that I've ever read. Ralph Ellison's imagery in this book is incredible.
It tells the story of an African-American man, who is the narrator, raised in the south by his grandparents who were freed slaves. Being from the south, the narrator was exposed to segregation and social responsibility. He recieves a scholarship to a negro college but is soon expelled for no fault of his own. Then the narrator moves to New York City and finds himself unable to find employment, because the man who had given out many letters of recomendation on the narrator's behalf, did not speak well of him. Eventually he finds a job at a white paint factory, this was an obvious use of symbolism such as the factories motto,"if its optic white, then its right." The hatred of white the man quickly grew within the narrator. He joined an activist group where he was a spokesman for social equality. Then he eventually is banned from the group but is soon retaken. In the end the narrator is trapped in a man hole by a police officer and after an awful dream, he decides to stay there.
The author definitely captured the "real" side of being a black man in that time.

This book was very good. I could relate to the anonomous protagonist's struggle to find himself. At the beging of the novel, i hated him. He was so worried about pleasing people, white people in particular. but at the End of the novel he realized that the only person he needed to worry about pleasing was his self. He leard how to not distort himself to fit other people's molds.

as a korean-american i read this book through tears. it spoke of my experience as perhaps the new "invisible race" in america. i have this running discussion with my black friend, what's worse? to be black and hated or to be yellow and irrelevant? i think it's worse to be irrelevant. to hate/fear is to recognize, to assign a certain value to the other, but to be irrelevant is not even to be assigned the value of hate.

allison exposes the problem of whiteness/privilege in a powerful narrative form than reading heaps of books on racism. thank you mr. allison for having the courage to write this book.

In this exciteful novel, Ellison uses many literary techniques like: imagery, theme, and symbolism to show the reader the troubles one man (which is called Invisible Man) went through to find his true identity in life. This 1952 New York published novel was fun to read, because in each chapter Ellison reveals a new side of the Invisible Man with new challenges he has to face. These challenges that Invisible Man faces build and develop his character. When he states "Look at me! Everywhere I've turned somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my good- only they were the ones who benefited," this illustrates to the reader that Invisible Man is finding his lot in life and standing up for himself. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes to read event-filled, action packed novels and has an insterest in novels that being up the struggles of what life throws at us sometimes.

The"Invisible Man" was published in 1952, not a good time to be an African American, but not as bad as the days of early slavery in the US.
Ellison's main character is an educated young man, as was Ellison. The book is a powerful story of conflict, with significant insights into how
our African American citizens have had to cope, just because of the color of their skin.

I don't know which was morer captivating to me: Ellison's writing style or Ellison's message. Obviously a must read for today's generation to understand not only the struggles, but the resulting feelings and perceptions of race at that time. Ellison presents it with such a powerful demonstration of words that you can experience his trials and tribulations. Great read!

Invisible Man is one of those books that you wish everyone else in the world would read so that they could become better people. Every line is full of meaning and symbolism, relating to the tragic struggle of black versus white and a colored man's struggles. Coming toward this book expecting an easy read will get you nowhere. The length, coupled with the weight of every pages meaning, brings an intellectual and a contemplation inducing novel which will leave you thinking about your place in modern society. IM is a symbol of every person who ever struggled to maintain sanity in a world where everything wants to pull your integrity away. Read this book and grasp some of its symbolism. Fighting through all five hundred pages will be worth it.

Upon my first reading, I was not as thrilled with the novel as I am in my recollections. Invisible Man is a beautifully written novel that attests to the timeless stuggle of discrimination. Shown through the eyes of a young African American boy, the reader is presented with the stuggle for equality. The book is full of sterotypes which were greatly present in the time period and can still be found today. The book represents the young man's struggle to fit in and find his identity. He makes himself invisible so he doesn't have to deal with the hate and the discrimination of the world. It's an eye opening novel that portrays the effects on the individual of discrimination and can be felt regardless of race or gender. A beautifully written novel that will hit home with all who read it.

An inspiring reading from Joe Morton. I had read the book, however when I listened to this audio version during a long road-trip I felt as if I had discovered the work anew. Joe Morton's performance is wonderful beyond words.

I have listened to a lot of audiobooks, but this is my favorite!

All I can say is that Ralph Ellison was a brave, brave soul for writing this tale of social injustice in a time when it wasn't proper to have a black hero or talk about racial discrimination.
What shocks me the most is that this book was published and that it wasn't hidden away from us to read. It really woke me up to the injustices black American's faced before my parents were even born.

The narrow mindedness of some Americans knows no bounds. This book was recently banned by the Randolph County Board of Education from the high school library because a parent of an 11th grader complained. I hope this helps sales of the book. I have never read the book, but I want to now.

Here is a link to the article.

[...]

Ellison's story of a seclusive and anti-social African-American man in the mid-1900s awakens the mind. Wonderfully written, Invisible Man provides a different prespective on racism than what is taught in a history class. The characters are developed and well-thought out. Character evolution plays a main role in Ellison's story. I really enjoyed reading this book. This novel challenges the reader to think outside their world and their preconcieved notions of what life is like for someone in the main character's situation. The plot is quick-witted and fast paced, the characters are three-dimensional and real, and the setting is used appropriately to display mood and tone. If you are looking for an interesting, intelligent novel, I would definitely recommend Invisible Man.

I believe Ralph was exploring three major themes. One, race and color cannot always tell us how and why a person responds to situations the way that they do. There are others factors. Two, we all own America. There is no one way to think about something. Three, individuals must rise above history, tradition, and status quo.

Following black nationalism is a pitfall because it denies that black people help build this nation. Unions and clubs only seek to control individuals for its own purpose. Finally, sometimes you must "burn" your papers and start over but it has little to do with race. Great read, should be required reading for all high school students in America.

This book is philosophical and many questions about humanity are rhetorically asked. I gained a lot of perspective from this book. The issue with the book is that the author gave numerous minute details that was irrelevant to the story as a whole. At times, it became tedious. Overall, an inspiring book.

Invisible Man is not at all what I thought it would be. At first I was overwhelmed by the size of it. It is indeed an immense book and will require one to read it slowly, carefully, and with dedication. The story slowly reveals how if a person does nothing important in his/her life he/she whill never make a difference and to history, they will be nothing but an invisible man. I'd say that if you've got the time and want to read a novel that is very thought provoking, this is the book for you.

Many reviewers found the main theme in the book to be about race relations, and in particular, about black identity in a white world. I don't entirely agree with this take on the book - at least not for the book as a whole. Some reviewers group this book in with a genre of "African American Literature". Sure, one can conclude this because the protagonist is black, but I think it belongs in the realm of "classic literature" without the African-American qualifier. I think so because though the protagonist is black, not all his experiences are uniquely experiences of a man as a black man but rather as a man dealing with other people regardless of his and their race.

The book starts out as some of the other reviewers have stated. The narrator does ponder what his role as a black man is in a "white" world, but really this happens primarily when he is in college and in his first few months in New York. He feels invisible because he feels people only see him as a black man and not as a man period (his humanity is unseen). The narrator feels others, both black and white, have defined who he is and who he should be based on the factor of race alone.

After his experience with the Brotherhood, however, you realize his central driving concern has transformed from: "Why do people (black and white) try to box me into their definition of what it means to be a black man?" to "Why don't they see me as an individual with my own value based not on their preconceived notions of who I am but by the quality of my own beliefs, my own intellect, and my own actions?".

The narrator joins the Brotherhood (a Communist group that has both black and white members) because that group, he believes, does not define him as a black man but as a "man". It turns out to be true that the Brotherhood, as a group, does not see him as a black man per se, but they know that others (in Harlem) do, and so he discovers that to the Brotherhood he is a tool to advance their communist agenda in Harlem (they pick him because they know no black person in Harlem would ever buy anything a white man has to say about "progress"). To the Brotherhood, the narrator does not have an identity as an individual but rather is a cog in a machine. So where he is invisible to people outside the Brotherhood who only see him as a black man, his individuality disappears altogether inside the Brotherhood and so becomes invisible to them as well.

The reason the book is not about a black man's struggle against the white man is that there is a character in the book whose central role is just this and our narrator gets in two vicious battles with this man. The man is Ras the Exhorter/Ras the Destroyer. His is a world of white oppression against the black man. This man thinks that black men in the Brotherhood have sold out to their white oppressor. The narrator, as evidenced by the battles, disagrees.

I think the most pointed evidence of the narrator's search for human identity (not necessarily black identity) is when he delivers his first speech as a member of the Brotherhood. At this point, he misunderstands the underlying purpose of the Brotherhood and delivers a speech that meets with considerable disfavor from the Brotherhood members. They don't like his speech because in it the narrator says, rather evocatively, "... I feel, I feel suddenly that I have become more human..." Here the narrator expresses the affirmation of his individual humanity, not black, not white, not as part of a group, but as a man that is defined by what he believes. Why not black identity? Because throughout the book he gets into battles not just with Ras the Exhorter (who is black); but with Bledsoe from the college (who is black); and with Lucius Brockway from the paint factory (who is black) and with the black members of the Brotherhood. His battles with these other black men are not just physical or verbal; they are symbolic, as each of these men conceives his identity as that inextricably tied to his race. To Ras, the right black is to be just black; to Bledsoe, the right black is the conjured, helpless black; to Lucius Brockway the right black is the white man's black; and, to the black members of the Brotherhood, the right black is not to be black at all but to be "gray". The narrator wants his own definition of himself made by himself for himself.

There's so much more to this book than what I describe above. There are the supporting themes of awareness and blindness as well as despair and hope. There is his relationship with Mary, with his grandfather, and with Sybil. There is incredible pathos in his regard for his briefcase, again another symbol. Each serves as a microscope for us to see just who he is and give his spirit form. It is an incredible book, deserving of all the "hype".

First let me say that this book changed my life and I love it so much I re-read it once a year. It's about a black man trying to find his place in the world and ending up in a lot of different situations because of it. At no point in time do you have the main character's name or any real description other than he's black which brings you into the story even more. You absorb the world in the same manner he does and the language is so wonderful. It is a wonderfully written book. I read Native Son the same year I read this book and this one had a much stronger impact on my life.

This book Invisible Man was a book about an annonymous African American man in the 1950's who throughout his life goes through many hardships and racist pridicimints that finally end him being secluded by himself as a "invisible man" so to speak. He gets cut off from the rest of the world in his own little hole. Overall, I think this is a really great, well written book by ellison. It relates strongly to one of my favorite books Black Boy, and overall even though its really long, 500+, these long pages are full with incitful, and strong language that for the most part isn't boring and kept me wanting to read more. I liked the book and would recommend it to pretty much anyone. I have already recommended it to many people including most of my family. Pretty good.

In a world that claims to have erradicated the problem of racism, we cannot help but be dragged back to reality once we find ourselves reading Ellison's classic novel. We see that in this story, Ellison has created a character that can still speak to us today about the experiences that minorities encounter every day of there lives. Follow the invisible man as he goes to college, finds an apartment to live in, and encounter the many ways in which he is challenged throughout the days of his life. A scary, touching, realistic, and always challenging novel that still has as much relevance today as it did over fifty years ago when if first appeared in the bookstore!

Although I first read this novel, which was instantly recognized on its publication as a great book, as a teenager, I can't imagine that I understood the politics of the novel's second half, and wonder about assigning this book to high school students. There is no graphic sex or violence, but to understand cumulative disillusionments and disappointments seems to me to require experience few teenagers in America have.
Be that as it may, this is at once a wise and a funny (mostly satiric, though two fight scenes approach slapstick) book. I enjoy as well as respect it.
There is a lot to admire in Ellison's creation of characters and milieux and in his often exhilarating language and shifting style. (Ellison himself characterized it as moving from naturalism (à la Richard Wright) to expressionism to surrealism - though the Battle Royale seems already quite surrealist/absurdist to me.) I don't question that it is a great book, but great books (e.g., Moby Dick, The Charterhouse of Parma) are often not perfectly crafted books. The narrator strikes me as being a little too naive to have survived to junior year in college, so that there is some sense in Dr. Bledsoe's shock and irritation at having to give him Negro in the South 101 instruction.
There are too many long speeches (in particular, I'd cut the blind speaker at a Founder's Day assembly) and the narrator seems oddly lacking in sexual desire of any sort -- though he experiences some of what Chester Himes referred to as the absurdities of being a black male with all the fantasies about black virility. The never-named narrator seems too numb too soon, and there is nowhere to go with the notion of invisibility once he falls down a rabbit hole (coal shoot) into his own private, brightly-lit wonderland.

I read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison independently, while reading and analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in my 8th grade class. Both books offer different points of view on the horrible racism of America in the 1930s. Invisible Man is told through the main character's point of view, so the author's views on racism are fully expressed. This is similar to To Kill a Mockingbird because the story is told from a first person in that book as well. The major difference between the point of view from which the two stories are told is that in TKM, the story is told through the eyes of a young white girl, and in Invisible Man it is told from a black man's point of view. The writing is somewhat similar to To Kill a Mockingbird but Invisible Man is darker and more cynical, which makes sense considering that the author of TKM is a white woman, while the author of Invisible Man is a black man. A person's views on racism would be more pessimistic and negative if they had been oppressed and were subjected to racism, and more optimistic and positive if they hadn't. Ralph Ellison must have been discriminated against, up to the point that Invisible Man is somewhat of an autobiography of his struggles with racism. His book is very pessimistic towards the idea of racism ending, as the main character is betrayed again and again by white people. Harper Lee, on the other hand, wasn't oppressed due to her race and therefore her book is optimistic that, over time, racism will go away. A person's beliefs on a subject are greatly affected if that person has been harmed by the problem. I gained a better understanding of the horrible conditions black people suffered not that long ago while reading this book, and that alone is worth the price of admission. Two thumbs up.

I'm reading the book and am currently in the midst of the college lecture "scene". I'm on this page reading these reviews because I'm struggling to understand why this book is so lauded and if I should keep reading. I'm leaning towards no. So far as I've read, this book has not been very good at conveying a message. The term long-winded comes to mind. The words meander around meaning and fail to convey a focused message causing the pages and chapters become a muddled collection of tales and allegories, leaving the reader searching for the point of the last 10 pages they just read and how they are relevant to the plot. Is there a plot?. This book may be meaningful for some, but if you're into good storytelling and fiction I would look elsewhere. Having said that, I haven't finished the book and don't believe that I will.

IMO "Go Tell It On the Mountain" by James Baldwin is a better piece of fiction with similar themes to "Invisible Man"

I hate to be so crude about my opinion of the book, but it was awful. First of all, I had to read this book for school, and though this may have biased my opinion slightly, I just plain found it dull. It had a wonderful beginning, which made me excited to continue, but after that it rambled to the point of dullness. He would go on and on for chapters describing meaningless things making it very difficult to pick up the novel to keep reading. The epilogue was one giant jumble to me. I couldn't understand the language at times, and the theme he was trying to drive home could have easily been described in a few short paragraphs. The central theme is essential, and it is a milestone in African-American literature, but it is a very boring milestone at that.

My class was assigned to read this book and everyone liked it so much that only 3/4 returned their books. Ellison has a pleasing style but the true genius of this book is his comentary. Ellison is able to tackle themes and make them apply to everyone's life. Even though the main character is black and the book focuses on his strugles due to his race, everyone who reads this book can relate at some point or another to the discrimination he faces. Ellison's points are universal allowing everyone to reflect and gain something from this work. It's an interesting look at society and, it's just an enjoyable and fun read!

This book is highly interesting. It never fully worked for me, but kept me wanting to read the whole way through. I definitely think it is worth reading, for there are some really powerful chapters. But there were so many chapters that weren't needed. And you don't even sympathize with the main character. His actions are sketchy all the way through. But I still recommend it.

The prologue to this Ellison masterpiece introduces us to his concept of invisibility. Then we the readers are able to trace the journey of a nameless Southern Black who journeys North to come to the dramatic realization that his work for equality is futile as is his general quest or purpose in life.

Ellison, Baldwin and Wright formed the triumvirate of great African American male novelists of the past 200 years. Of the three, Ellison may well prove to be the most timeless. While Native Son, Black Boy and Go Tell it on a Mountain are powerful works, they don't quite measure up to Invisible Man, in terms of sheer literary genius.
While Ellison wears his influences on his sleeve (Dostoevsky, symbolist poets, existentialist writers, etc.[he even borrows his title from HG Wells]), his writing never suffers or sinks beneath the weight of literary associations. His was a unique voice and vision.
Like Dostoevsky's Underground Man, Ellison's narrator has essentially beat a retreat from the world. He holes up in a subterranean room, where he reflects on the the injustices society has dealt him. Dostoevsky's narrator purposely bumps into people on the Nevsky Prospect in order to certify that he is visible and just as important as the next man. Ellison's Invisible Man beats and almost kills a white man he confronts on an empty street, also in order to rationalize his own existence.
Both the underground man and the invisible man are filled with self loathing. Yet, in Ellison's work, the narrator does achieve a sort of spiritual progress and affirmative self-knowledge. He goes from being a pathetically exploited non-being that must acceed to the whims and wishes of the white opressor (the often anthologized battle royal scene at the beginning of the book), to a point near the conclusion of the book in which he can state he is free to pursue "infinite possibilities."
Irving Howe, in an overall favorable review of the novel, took Ellison to task on several fronts. He complained that the section wherein the narrator falls in with "The Brotherhood" portrays the communist party in an an unrealistic vein. He was also troubled by Ellison's narrative design: "Because the book is written in the first person singular, Ellison cannot establish ironic distance between his hero and himself, or between the matured "I" telling the story and the "I" who is its victim. And because the experience is so apocalyptic and magnified, it absorbs and then dissolves the hero; every minor character comes through brilliantly, but the seeing "I" is seldom seen." Though I generally have a high opinion of Irving Howe's criticism, I think he's arriving at a conclusion here which entirely deflates his own remarks. Yes, the "I" in Invisible Man is harder to see than the other characters, but that is part of the author's construct. It's the very point he makes over and over throughout the novel. How better to portray an "invisible man?"
If you've never read this important work, try reading the first 40 pages that are on display here at .... It includes the famous battle royal sequence, which is one of the best hook chapters in all of literature. It should be enough to induce you to read the rest of the novel. You are in for an unforgettable read.

Joe Morton's narrative performance of Ralph Ellison's great work ranks with the best. This novel (written in 1952- received national Book Award in 1953) about the evolution of one black young man's thoughts of his own identity and place in society contains many scenes whose impact was greatly strengthened by the nuance and force of Mr. Morton's performance.

High school ruins so many books for us. Don't let this be one of them. This is a powerful book about the black experience in America that everyone should read, no matter the color of their skin. Not only does it stand the test of time, it's perhaps even more relevant today.

I, too, have the "eleven tape" audiobook *which omits the final chapter and epilog*! Gee, do I feel low, after listening to what very obviously was *not* the end of the book --- and now I've got to go find a library copy just to read the last chapter. Random House should be ashamed. There are rumors of a "twelve tape" edition which *contains* the final chapters, but I see no evidence that the version sold by the store contains twelve tapes: the ISBN, publishing date, and all other details seem to match my eleven tape copy exactly. What's more, some of the *used* copies being sold here are explicitly stated as "eleven tape sets" too---avoid these at all cost!!! I would only buy this set from a real physical bookstore where I could examine the package before purchase and ensure it contained the full twelve tapes.
A pity Random House botched this so badly, as Joe Morton does an *excellent* job with the reading.

I have nothing more to say about this novel that the other five star reviewers haven't. This is a wonderful book filled with symbolism and prejudices. Go out and read it, you won't be sorry. I've read it twice (and I hardly ever read anything twice). Highly recommended!

Upon reading this book, I was immedately impressed. Ellison seemed to grab me with his words, and I was almost unable to free myself from his grip. Each night it was a struggle of willpower to force myself to put it down. His stirring portrait of a black man in a society of white domination won my affection, and his eloquent narrator won my sympathy. This was definitely the greatest novel I have ever read, and quite possibly the greatest novel ever written. I thoroughly urge you to read this captivating masterpiece.

Triumph of 20th century Afro-American literature and that specific historical/cultural perspective. For me, much more powerful and
instructive than Native Son, Song of Solomon, or any such treatise.
Enjoy.

Joe Morton's rendition of Ellison's Invisible Man is gripping, indeed totally involving. This is a very important novel, one that is brought full circle in its last chapter and epilogue. Those who only listen to the tape, therefore hear an unabridged but incomplete performance. Most disappointingly, it is missing the last chapter and the epilogue. This is particularly disappointng as many, if not most, who read this book for the first time do so because it is assigned in high school; a good number of those would benefit from listening, as often such a long book is beyond their capacity in a limited time frame.

Ralph Ellison's epic novel about an invisible man is an adventure throught time and life as an African-American during the 1950's and 1960's. It depicts one man's struggle to gain recognition among his peers, including Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton. The narrator, who is the main character in this book seems to be the embodiment of all of the racial problems in the 1950's and he shows many ways of dealing with racial problems. The some of the ways the Narrator had encountered, he fought throught them with the strength we all should have. I gave this book a five out of five because of the content, emotion and the way Ellison describes everything with great detail.

Ralph Ellison tries to explore the deep-rooted problem associated with race and identity. He uses some examples from the true reality observed during the sixties in this country to make his novel riveting. The one negative thing of the book is that the suspense of the story declines as you reaches the middle towards the end. I think you could have done a better. But overall, its quite a good read and I encourage many to read this book.

In my many years of reading, I have never come across a book that was written as well as Invisible Man. Although the prose and the language used by Ellison is extremely difficult, it paints a picture so vivid, you think you are actually in the book.
It is a striking portrayal of what life was like for people like the main character. It was simply a horrific thing to experience, yet the genius of Ellison has somehow put it into writing.

Joe Morton does a superb job of reading this moving book. I was outraged to find that the final chapter and epilogue (42 pages in the edition I have) were missing. Random House markets this as unabridged. Where is their quality control? How would a listener ever know this was incomplete without having a print copy of the book? I feel cheated and frustrated. This an important book and deserves to be recorded in full and distributed without false claims. Had it been complete, I would have rated it 5 stars.

Upon reading this book, I was immedately impressed. Ellison seemed to grab me with his words, and I was almost unable to free myself from his grip. Each night it was a struggle of willpower to force myself to put it down. His stirring portrait of a black man in a society of white domination won my affection, and his eloquent narrator won my sympathy. This was definitely the greatest novel I have ever read, and quite possibly the greatest novel ever written. I thoroughly urge you to read this captivating masterpiece.

he took me on an incredible journey. i am a white man and i wanted to see what a black man was going through in the south as well as other parts of the country. not only was he having problems with white people he also had problems with his own race

In this novel, the narrator , or the main character, struggles with himself. He struggles with his identity. He is an African American in a time where being Black did not get him much respect. He is awarded a scholarship to a very big college, and from there he goes to New York. While in New York City he joins an activist group called The Brotherhood.
The main character , who through out the entire book does not have a name, has an internal problem. He is struggling to find himself.
A major theme in this book was finding ones self. The book appealed to me in a logical way, it made me think about how many people don't know who they are, even as adults.
Personally, this is a book I could have passed on. The chapters weren't clear, and the chapters ran when unnecessary. I would not waste my time or money on this book.

If there ever was a book that was both worthwhile and symbolic, this is it. As a junior in high school, I shocked my English teacher by reading Invisible Man for a book report, but the fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter your age, if you're out in a big cold world searching for who you are (like we all are), Invisible Man will whisper volumes to you when it comes to human existence and the unfathomable search for self. A must read for anyone out there.

Ralph Ellison is known for this book. He seems to me an African J.D. Salinger in that regard, except that "Catcher in the Rye" is a much better book than "Invisible Man". I even prefer the H.G. Wells "Invisible Man" to this one.

I hear you all saying, "Say what?" or "Whatchoo Talkin' bout, Kwame?" But it is true- I'm not a fan of this book. And I'll tell you why: It is boring and pretentious.

I don't want to imply that I don't appreciate all Ellison experienced- he is a part of the African-IN-America experience, and is not to be ignored. The book does have the right messages about race relations and how we folk feel alienated in our exile. Right on.

The problem isn't the message as the presentation. The book is a mess! It is like reading "Ulysses" at times, or even worse, "Finnigan's Wake". I sometimes feel that because a black man was able to write a book that wasn't "simplistic", he got the genius label slapped all over him. This is probably why poor Ralph lacked the confidence to write another book. Another victim of condescending liberal white America.

I wonder what he would have produced without this stigma.

As it is, I get the feeling people like the idea of this book more than the book itself. And high school teachers feel great assigning this, while they read the Cliff Notes.