Rating: 
Summary: Really really really long
Review: There is a lot of symbolism and stuff but it didn't seem consistent to me. Oh well, I'm not some kind of literary genius. But this book is really, really, really, really long, and probably not worth the time it takes to read, unless you *really* love it for its message or whatever. Great, but it's still long, and I found some of it confusing.
Rating: 
Summary: Enlightening beyond the wonderful literary content.
Review: Ralph Ellison holds the reader's hand as he leads through doors of discovery of the the many forms of racism. Written in the early 1950's, this book allowed me to better understand the reasons for the evolution of some of the more extreme (from the white perspective) black movements since that time. Aside from my enlightenment, this work is high literature full of wonder and metaphor. Joe Morton, the audiotape reader, does full justice to this literary treasure. Random House Audio Books however, really fumbled. You'd think in 1999 they would be able to master audio technology. One minute the volume level is as low a a whisper. The next, one's ears are pierced by shrill painfully loud volume. This is not a good one to listen to while running unless you don't mind keeping your finger on the volume dial.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't deliver.
Review: A novel with great aspirations that, at times, truly captures the reader. Far too frequently, however, Ellison rambles and lets go of the powerful hold he spends so much time developing. I was constantly annoyed by how easily the protagonist allowed himself to be played the fool. Again and again he proved to be not much more than a follower of bad ideas who, when finally forced to open his eyes, does not accept personal responsibility, but rather hides in his poor, invisible cover. As a look at the black struggle in society, IM is startling. As a tale of a Man's struggle against society, it is feeble in comparison to such untouchable works as Hesse's 'Steppenwolf' and Ellison's own partial inspiration, Dostoyevsky's 'Underground Man'.
Rating:
Summary: Iwas assigned this book and most books get better b
Review: When I started it was because I was bored. I then had to read it and it just so hard for me to keep reading.I love to read, but this book was dull it was like never ending.I wouldn't recommened it.
Rating:
Summary: painful reality
Review: In this book Ellison really expressed the meaning of being inferior. There is one point in everybody's life in which they feel inferior or pushed around and this book reveals the feeling one can go through in an inticing manner.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic--not just about racism
Review: This is one of those books I was assigned in English class that I didn't want to read. How wrong I was--this makes my short list of the greatest stories ever written. Ellison creates a vivid and shocking picture of America and society's subversion of individual identity in search of something larger. He said soon after the book was published that "Invisible Man" was not just about the black experience in America, it was an account of every person's "invisibility" in a world that tells us how to think of each other. The African-American protagonist is merely a vehicle for Ellison's much broader social commentary. Complex, heart-wrenching, deeply moving and of course beautifully written, this book is a must-read for anyone who thinks they have a grip on the American experience.
Rating:
Summary: Better than a New York City high!
Review: I am not a literary genius by any means, but Ralph Waldo Ellison was! I travelled back to a world in which still exists. Sad, but true. It's good to think of others as invisible, which is the way I was brought up. Mr. Ellison's book was a superb work of art!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This book was possibly the best I've ever read. Ellison's beautiful use of imagery, light and dark, and symbolism is unspeakably well developed. One must look below the surface to see how the story speaks to each of us, black and white. The way Ellison is able to draw striking parallels between real life and the Invisible Man's quest for self-realization. Worth reading twice!
Rating:
Summary: A scary, touching, realistic, and always challenging novel
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the read!!!
Review: I had to read this book for a class, so when I first picked up I was less than thrilled. But then, something happened. I read the first five words. "I am an invisible man." My soul was shakened. Who would say that about themselves? I was intrigued. By the time I finished reading, I realized we are all invisible. We see each other, not as we are, but as our environment tells us to see one another. "Invisible Man" reinforces the lesson that we must not look on the surface of a person in order to really see him or her, we must look into their soul. "Invisible Man" is a work of genius.
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