Rating: 
Summary: Frame your mind to the Latin Mysticism genre
Review: Even though I knew I was supposed to chain myself to a presupposed United States South, I found myself referenced all over Latin America, dropped into the chaos theory of psychological writing and life beyond our known spectrum of light and ensuing color. This book is not for everyone. You will know by the first ten pages if you will stick with it. Caution: skip the Introduction. You need as clean a slate as possible to meet and submit to the demands of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Complex, brilliant, choppy, hard to read....
Review: From over 2000 pages of manuscript, John Callahan, the literary executer of Ralph Ellison's estate has done his best to patch together what might have been Ellison's last great novel. Unfortunately while some of the prose is wild and beautiful in Ellison's way, the whole of this effort may leave the reader with a very choppy, unhinged body of work. The basis of the story is a good one, young white boy (Bliss) adopted and raised by big African American southern preacher (who is also something of a con - part and parcel), Alonzo Z. Hickman, boy becomes first a scam artist (in the guise of a movie maker) then a horribly racist US Senator (Allan Sunraider).... book begins when the then old preacher comes to Washington DC with a group of his more elderly churchgoers to visit with the Senator ('before it's too late") and is not allowed to see him. The group with the preacher are in the Senate Gallery days later when a young man near them stands up and peppers the Senator with bullets. The body of the book is a compilation of stream of consciousnesses, dialogues, monologues, conversations, and described situations during Bliss's/Sunraider's life. In Ellison style, much of the book is what is going on in the minds of the character(s) during given situations. So much is happening in this book - so much of what Ellison wanted us to understand, to draws parallels with, to see more 'racially' clearly... and I simply found it tedious to wade through. The extensive introduction written by Callahan at the beginning of the book, and the very interesting "notes" section at the end were a positive addition to helping me to more clearly 'hear' what was happening in the minds of these two men during the end of Bliss's life.
Rating:
Summary: Complex, brilliant, choppy, hard to read....
Review: From over 2000 pages of manuscript, John Callahan, the literary executer of Ralph Ellison's estate has done his best to patch together what might have been Ellison's last great novel. Unfortunately while some of the prose is wild and beautiful in Ellison's way, the whole of this effort may leave the reader with a very choppy, unhinged body of work. The basis of the story is a good one, young white boy (Bliss) adopted and raised by big African American southern preacher (who is also something of a con - part and parcel), Alonzo Z. Hickman, boy becomes first a scam artist (in the guise of a movie maker) then a horribly racist US Senator (Allan Sunraider).... book begins when the then old preacher comes to Washington DC with a group of his more elderly churchgoers to visit with the Senator ('before it's too late") and is not allowed to see him. The group with the preacher are in the Senate Gallery days later when a young man near them stands up and peppers the Senator with bullets. The body of the book is a compilation of stream of consciousnesses, dialogues, monologues, conversations, and described situations during Bliss's/Sunraider's life. In Ellison style, much of the book is what is going on in the minds of the character(s) during given situations. So much is happening in this book - so much of what Ellison wanted us to understand, to draws parallels with, to see more 'racially' clearly... and I simply found it tedious to wade through. The extensive introduction written by Callahan at the beginning of the book, and the very interesting "notes" section at the end were a positive addition to helping me to more clearly 'hear' what was happening in the minds of these two men during the end of Bliss's life.
Rating:
Summary: try the Audio version
Review: I found the book a little too much for my liking. But the audio version(Blair Underwood-reader)excellant. He has a wonderful voice and captures the spirit of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Just say no to post death editing!
Review: I gave this book two hundred pages before I called it quits. Edited down from 2,000 pages to a few hundred pages, I had no clue where the book was going. The early scenes with Bliss and Hickman were the best part. The flowing from past to present was confusing at best. I'm waiting for an edition that is less edited and allows us to see where Ellison wanted to go. We can't go there now that he's gone, but even Moses at least got to glimpse the promise land. As with Alex Haley's post death career, I'm disappointed with the lackluster results; and more commited to NOT seeing an author's reputation tarnished by work that, in the end, isn't his.
Rating: 
Summary: The worse piece of fiction since the Warren Report.
Review: I read and thouroughly enjoyed Ellison's Invisible Man. In my opinion, that was one of the best pieces of American Literature. When I heard that there was another, undiscovered piece of his work, I was excited. However, after trudging through the first three chapters, I was so dissappointed that I did not even finish the book. The author switches from the present, to the past, to the distant past in the blink of an eye without informing the reader of where he's going or why. In chapter two I believe, the majority of it is a political soliloquy that is uninteresting and uninspired. I mean, had I actually had the chance to know the character speaking, then I might have been interested in reading what he had to say. As it is, the characters were not developed in a manner in which I would have liked. Granted, perhaps my perspective would be different had I read the whole book. But it was so uninteresting that i'd much rather regrout my bathroom than read this book.
Rating:
Summary: In the presence of a literary genius
Review: It is apparent that Juneteenth is a patch-and-paste job. But, there is nothing wrong with the work. Ellison's prose is the best that has come down the road in years. You will not find any book that will come close. He has no equal.
Rating:
Summary: A difficult but worthwhile read
Review: Juneteenth was a difficult, but worthwhile read. I have read "Invisible Man" and have been exposed to his prose and masterful imagery before and was somewhat prejudiced about reading "Juneteenth". However, I was not disappointed. The author very rarely slips out of Ellison's prose and carries the mood, the scenes and the language well. It is by no means an easy piece of literature to read. The story is serves as a background to the more prominent foci of the novel which are Ellison's highly descriptive and detailed scenes, the deep-rooted, backwoods southern language and the psychological escapades of a young boy. This book takes some determination to read as it takes much effort to grow accustomed to Ellison's style and I recommend reading "Invisible Man" before reading "Juneteenth". However, despite the work, I enjoyed the novel overall and at times was captivated by the wild scenes and intrigued by the thoughts of Bliss.
Rating:
Summary: A difficult but worthwhile read
Review: Juneteenth was a difficult, but worthwhile read. I have read "Invisible Man" and have been exposed to his prose and masterful imagery before and was somewhat prejudiced about reading "Juneteenth". However, I was not disappointed. The author very rarely slips out of Ellison's prose and carries the mood, the scenes and the language well. It is by no means an easy piece of literature to read. The story is serves as a background to the more prominent foci of the novel which are Ellison's highly descriptive and detailed scenes, the deep-rooted, backwoods southern language and the psychological escapades of a young boy. This book takes some determination to read as it takes much effort to grow accustomed to Ellison's style and I recommend reading "Invisible Man" before reading "Juneteenth". However, despite the work, I enjoyed the novel overall and at times was captivated by the wild scenes and intrigued by the thoughts of Bliss.
Rating:
Summary: Unreadable
Review: Let the thirteen page Introduction be a warning to anyone who dares venture beyond. Anyone who reads more the Introduction does so at his or her own peril. The book is barely readable. It should be obvious to even a casual reader that this book was cobbled together. This book does an injustice to the name and legacy of Ralph Ellison.
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