Rating: 
Summary: Simply Superb
Review: Ellison has perfectly expressed the sentiments of virtually all African-Americans. A vitally important book for all ages...should be required high school literature.
Rating:
Summary: This book needs to be read! An American Classic
Review: One of the all time great novels of the century. Invisible Man can be looked upon as a wake up call to the world. Some may say Invisible Man has lost some shock value, but those that say that are not reading the book. The shocking aspect of Elison's novel is the descent into maddness the main character goes through. How a man with big hopes and dreams becomes a man of rage and hurt. How people's lies, hate, and deception cause him to devalue his life and society. Invisible Man addresses a lot of issues that probably were not addressed as candid before. Relationships between whites and blacks, blacks and blacks, men to women. Issues such as abuse, violence, sterotypes, come through raw and clear. What I most admire about Invisible Man is that Ralph Elison dosen't cut corners. Elison dosen't aim to please any particular group, just going from his experence and heart. Ralph Elison will be looked upon as one of the great writers of the twentieth century.
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Summary: Invisible Man peers into mankind's struggle for Identity
Review: This story will live on forever. Its fundamentals express that of all human kind. Ellison explains how we all search for who we truly are in life. You can see how other individuals make such a great impact on your life. The protagonist captures your intrigue throughout his exploration of life. This novel is not to be overlooked.
Rating:
Summary: Sublime reading experience!
Review: Ralph Ellison has one of the most intriguing writing styles I have ever encountered. The graphic nature of his descriptions had me feeling the emotions of the main character. This vok is a classic.
Rating:
Summary: This book is amazing!!!!
Review: I read this book my senior year of high school and I thought it was fabulous. Although I struggled with the fact that he had no name, I quickly realized why Ellison did not give him a name. This book is universal, and all the trials the main character goes through is very significant to his life. This book had so many different themes and ideas, that I was able to use it on the English Advanced Placement test to answer two completely different essay questions. Ellison's best work in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Probably one of the best books ever written
Review: The invisible man is superb and a highly interesting book. Ralph Ellison has an exquisite style of writing that I have never seen anywhere before.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless work of art
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A very interesting read
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a classic
Review: Invisible Man is an OK book. It starts off great. There were some brilliant parts about it. But overall it is not a classic. First of all, everything that happens happens in order to further the racial theme that Ellison tries so hard to convey. After the first 100 pages you already know what the whole thing is going to be like. But does the author stop? No. He intends to drill it in, overwork an OK concept until it rots. He pitches the protagonist into many situations, one after another, none of which are really that realistic, just to prove a point. Worse of all, that point isn't really new. And it's really quite the same point he made with the first example (getting screwed early in life). What makes it even worse though is the end where Ellison goes off the dark end and really analyzes the whole book. The narrator is no longer talking now, it is the author (although technically it is still the narrator talking). It's as if he's written this novel, and then at the end he plasters on this huge "This is my analysis of what I meant by what I just so obviously demonstrated". If the story was so good, it needed no whiny epilogue where the author goes off into his thoughts to better explain things. This is an example of taking an idea way too far. I'm glad Ellison didn't write a follow up. It would likely have been another 500 pages on the SAME ideas as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Great literature with flaws
Review: While this novel certainly lays claim to being one of the great novels of the past fifty or sixty years, Ellison seems to mar his book from achieving greatness by meandering about the topics in question, along with confusing, verbose prose. While the book is brilliant for the first half or so, especially the Battle Royale, the overemphasis upon the communist brotherhood, which seemed a bit forced and unrealistic, hurt this book a great deal. A must-read, however. In terms of African-American literature, do not even consider this novel in the same category as Song of Solomon, Beloved, or The Color Purple
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