Invisible Man

Books | Fiction / Action & Adventure

3.8

(2.0K)

Ralph Ellison

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time • Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadInvisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Joyce, and Dostoevsky.

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Author

Ralph Ellison

Pages

572

Publisher

Random House Publishing Group

Published Date

1994-06-14

ISBN

0679601392 9780679601395

Ratings

Google: 5

Community ReviewsSee all

"So gorgeous, full of pain and longing. A true classic."

Jane Young

"Book. "

Molly Hans

"Essential to American literature. One of most influential books of the 1950s."

Nat

"did i understand it? not more than an ounce. was it incredibly profound and thought-provoking? yes. will i be wondering about it for the rest of my life? probably."

F T

Faith Taylor

"Very thought-provoking "

Patti Kirby

"Worst book I ever read. Kept waiting for stuff to happen. Nothing ever did "

I W

Ireland Wolfe

"An amazing one of a kind book. Will stay with me forever"

Mia Burroughs

"One of my favorites, but so hard to explain. Racial injustice, fiction but not really. A nameless narrator leads us through imagery and symbolism at a tragic time in history. "

Anna Howard

"Bookended by a Dostoevsky-style prologue and epilogue (à la Notes from Underground), this is the story of a young black man trying to make something of himself in the impossible circumstances of the early 20th Century American society. As the protagonist struggles to decide between conformity, rebellion, and subversion in order to advance in a white-dominated world, the reader gleans Ellison's message that this balancing act is a no-win scenario. The narrator "tries belatedly to study the lessons of his life" from his hole, all the while haunted by the deathbed warning of his grandfather and always lugging the briefcase given to him by hometown white men. The existential humanist philosophy that is communicated in this novel is fantastic, and it made this one of my favorite recent reads. A 5-star story that should be read by all college students, particularly those whose syllabi have been rather homogenous."

Jacob Longini

"Anyone read this? it is required summer reading for my English class and I am really struggling through it. I am usually a pretty good/fast reader and can get through books even if they are a bit boring, but this one is just so flowery and hard to read, and I am really procrastinating on it. any advice?"

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