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Summary: Beware! This edition omits the last chapter and epilogue!
Review: Random House should be ashamed to have released this edition... Though billed as "Unabridged", it's missing the final chapter and epilogue! Aside from that _major_ mistake, this audiobook edition is very well done... Joe Morton is wonderful, and of course Invisible Man is a brilliant work. It's worth a listen, but make sure to grab a paper copy for the conclusion.
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Summary: A landmark of 20th century United States literature
Review: 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.
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Summary: Hardhitting and Fast-paced
Review: Invisible Man had been on my to-be-read pile for a lot of years, and I finally picked up a copy a week ago. I could not believe how quickly the pages flew by. The story of the black college student turned boarder turned Brotherhood front man was shocking, hardhitting and everything I'd heard about. The hero of the story is an unnamed student turned out from his college after an afternoon of chauffering a University Trustee goes terribly bad. He's sent from the deep South to New York City, where he attempts to find work and eventually becomes a race relations group spokesman. The theme of invisibility weaves in between each line and internal debate of the lead character. It's highly moving. I can't add more than has already been said in previous Amazon reviews. I think this is an excellent example of the type of literature every American should read, in school or not. It represents where we were fifty years ago and shows us how far we still need to go. On top of that, it's an entertaining read! Grab a copy, quickly, and enjoy! And also try *Their Eyes Were Watching God* by Nora Zeale Hurston as well as *I Been in Sorrows Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots* by Susan Straight.
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Summary: Incredible story and writer
Review: Not only is the story awesome, the author gives what is probably the clearest explanation of the African-American struggle in the prolouge. Great book. The writing style is beautiful.
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Summary: A classic of American literature
Review: 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.
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Summary: Exceptional fiction
Review: 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.
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Summary: a self-reflective book in a way
Review: 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.
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Summary: tryied to get into it.
Review: I was looking at some of the reviews and found on that caught my interst. it was titled a "A book that will hunt your quite time". It was such an interesting review that I decided to read the book. but once I got the book I had a hard time getting passed the first few chapters. I finally pushed my self to get through it. with the words from my professor "what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger".
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Summary: Amazing...
Review: I can't remember a book that affected me this much. Even if you completely overlook the undertones, it's still a novel you can't stop reading until the end. I have read many books that I enjoyed, but after 30 pages, had to put down to give it a rest. While reading this book, I would go for 50 or 60 pages w/o thinking about finding a place to stop for the night, and sometimes reading until 3am! For some reason, I really identified w/ this book. I am a white male, but this book manages to transcend race, and operate at a universal level of inclusion/exclusion. I don't think this book won the Pulizer that year, but Invisible Man is the epitomy of what that award is about!
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Summary: I wanted to like this book
Review: 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.
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