Invisible Man

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Summary: Good book gets you thinking
Review: This book really makes you feel like you know the charecter. It is very deep and some times you have to think twice befor you understand it.

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Summary: an answer to liukk's question
Review: The Invisible Man is invisible because no one really sees him, only the color of his skin. The book praises the individual, especially the individual black, who is used and abused as an interchangable black chess piece, instead of appreciated as a human being.

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Summary: Had I known it was this great, I'd have read it years ago.
Review: Slate magazine has an on line discussion group called The Fray, where we've been reading Invisible Man. I expected something uplifting and politically correct. What I got was the best novel I've read in years: entertaining, surprising, original, thought-provoking, and fun.

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Summary: Thought-provoking; loses the reader at times
Review: 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.

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Summary: Please explain
Review: I just this moment finished reading "Invisible Man", and though I sense I've missed a lot of its meaning, I wonder what all of the fuss is about. I was tripped up by Ellison's ambiguity, only occasionally interrupted by flashes of understanding, though this may be my fault and not the book's. However, I feel it is not entirely accurate in its portrayal of the Communist cynicism, among other bits. I have one vital question concerning the story, which none of those I have talked to thus far have been able to explain to me, and which I would appreciate an answer posted here to: why is he invisible?

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Summary: The Best book I have ever read!
Review: This book is by far the most thought-provoking and most inspiring book I have ever read. It made me take a closer look at my life, to examine whether I was an "Invisible Man".

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Summary: Moving Day in Harlem
Review: 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.

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Summary: It's good...but slow
Review: The book was well written, it had a lot of confusing flashbacks, and at times got irratating because it was so slow. But overall it was an excellent book, really one of those better "it helps you figure out who you are" books. Makes you think.

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Summary: What I think of Invisible Man
Review: Although this book is excelently written it never stopped irritating me. I just could never get over the fact that the main character showed such leadership skills and such potential to make a difference but never seemed to quite live up to the potential he had

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Summary: The Plight of the Everyman Exposed!
Review: Despite the controversy surrounding it's release, Invisible Man remains a timeless classic of the African-American literary tradition. The nameless, and largely faceless protagonist of the novel defines for us the struggles of a black youth maturing out of his naivete. Ellison paints an impeccable portrait of life in America, and leaves everything open-ended, so that we cannot pretend that his message is era-specific. Through the use of multiple archetypes, Ellison takes us through many shades of evil, however, we never truly go deep enough into the psyche of the everyman to understand why he repeatedly embraces a society that means to drain his talents, and toss him out again.