This is such an amazing, fantastic, and incredible book.

If I were to make a list of the 10 Best Novels About America, this would undoubtedly be at the top.

I first read "Invisible Man" during a college literature course. My 19-year-old self liked it, but rereading it now has been a truly powerful experience. I definitely appreciate it more and admire Ellison's vision.

This novel tells the story of a black man in America. We never learn the narrator's name, nor do we know what he looks like. However, he feels invisible because of his color.

When we meet the narrator, he is living alone in an underground room in a building near Harlem. He shares stories from his life, and we witness all the times he was treated unfairly, misunderstood, wronged, stereotyped, and ill-used. A prime example is the famous early scene known as the "Battle Royal." At that time, the narrator, a high school student, was tricked into a boxing match with other young black men, all of them blindfolded. The scene is horrifying and gut-wrenching as the white bystanders dehumanize the young men, laughing when they are brutally injured and then robbing them of their promised pay.

In the stories, we see how the narrator tried to play by the rules and work hard, but he is constantly thwarted or makes missteps because so many of the rules are unwritten. Another memorable scene occurs when the narrator, a good public speaker, catches the attention of a group called the Brotherhood and is asked to help improve the conditions for the residents of Harlem. Like many of his other experiences, the narrator is misused and misled, and he has to think quickly to survive. By the end of the book (which is also the beginning), we see how much faith he has lost in his situation ever improving. Our young narrator had such high hopes and grand ambitions! Now he is abandoned in a forgotten room, with only the electric light as his companion.

Truly, it is impossible to summarize the breadth of stories in this novel. There is so much meaning and symbolism in everything that happens to the narrator. At one point, the poor man gets trapped in an underground coal bin and nearly starves to death. I can understand why this book is so widely assigned in literature courses. There is a lot to discuss!

I listened to this on audio, narrated by the actor Joe Morton, and it was an incredible performance. I highly recommend this novel, and if you like audiobooks, I encourage you to check out Morton's version. A very high five stars for Ralph Ellison.

*Note: As soon as I typed the words "10 Best Novels About America," my mind started racing to decide what else I would put on the list. Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," for sure. Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" would make the cut. Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," obviously. Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" would be good for the Puritan element. Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" and Connell's "Mrs. Bridge" are personal favorites. Mark Twain should probably get some billing. Hmm... I need to get Native American representation, plus something about the immigrant experience. If you have suggestions to round out the list, please share.

Opening Paragraph

"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me."

Favorite Quotes

"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?"

"I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest."

"And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own."

"I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself."

"For, like almost everyone else in our country, I started out with my share of optimism. I believed in hard work and progress and action, but now, after first being 'for' society and then 'against' it, I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities. What a phrase - still it's a good phrase and a good view of life, and a man shouldn't accept any other; that much I've learned underground. Until some gang succeeds in putting the world in a strait jacket, its definition is possibility."

Hasn't everyone read this book?

Even I read it -- 'Before' I read much. It was FANTASTIC! --(for those who missed it). I still remember the excitement and joy it brought to me. I wonder how I would feel about this book if I read it today. After all, I must have read this book 40 years ago.

Yikes --I'm getting old.

I just saw another friend post about this book...(and the memories came rolling back!). It's amazing how a simple mention of a book can trigger such a flood of memories. It makes me want to pick up the book again and see if it still has the same magic for me. Maybe it will be a completely different experience now that I'm older and have read so many more books. But I'm willing to take that chance and see what happens.

After an almost intolerably harrowing and intense first chapter, this book is a major letdown. It is of obvious historical importance, but it is an inferior and turgid work of literature. In it, every character but the protagonist is reduced to an over-simplified archetype meant to represent a particular demographic of American society.

What I found most interesting, however, is that despite having lived another forty-two years, Ellison never published another novel. From Wikipedia:

In 1967, Ellison experienced a major house fire at his home in Plainfield, Massachusetts, in which he claimed 300 pages of his second novel manuscript were lost. This assertion is disproved in the 2007 biography of Ellison by Arnold Rampersand… …Ellison ultimately wrote over 2000 pages of this second novel, most of them by 1959. He never finished.

Incredible, huh? One is reminded of Malcolm Lowry who wrote the (unfuckingbelievably great) masterpiece Under the Volcano in 1947 and never published again. At the time of Lowry’s death, many half-completed manuscripts were discovered which were meant to be part of a multi-volume cycle of novels of which he was too mad and drunk to properly control.

It is interesting to wonder what it is that separates those people who struggle to produce a single work from those who seem to vomit the stuff out – what separates a Lowry from an Updike? A Vermeer from a Picasso? A Fassbinder from a Kubrick?

And then there are those artists who clearly had a single vision and despite laying it all out... they continue. When I'm global dictator, I’m planning on putting a stop to this. Paul Auster is at the top of the list. He's sent to Siberia and everything after New York Trilogy is ‘disappeared’.

Anyone have any more suggestions?
(Mention post-Smiths Morrissey and you're immediately unfriended)

Wow.

All I can say to preface this mini review is that this is a masterpiece to end all masterpieces.

I first read this remarkable work on systemic racism and its heinous legacy in high school English. It was my introduction to black authors who would shape my reading and teaching life, a book that would truly transform me.

Every English teacher, from high school to graduate school, should recommend this text to anyone who loves a great story, a challenging read, a bit of a puzzle, and ultimately, a novel that was relevant then and is even more relevant now, especially in the context of Black Lives Matter, the tragic death of George Floyd, and the sentencing of his murderer.

As Ellison writes, "perhaps only the unbelievable could be believed. Perhaps the truth was always a lie" (Ellison 498).

I firmly believe that out of all the modern African American texts, Invisible Man should be required reading and is one of today's essential and important books. It should lead the way among novels that explore how to discover an antiracist self and how systemic racism remains a loathsome legacy that must be discussed in all educational settings.

For me, it belongs on this list: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Native Son, The Bluest Eye, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Passing, and The Fire Next Time.

Ellison's protagonist is both bleak and bold, defiant in the face of adversity. His anger and his experiences of continuous racial aggression, starting from the infamous Battle Royale and his search for identity in Harlem, will stay with you.

The language of the novel is paced slowly, lulling you into a false sense of security, and then bites you when you least expect it, pouncing like an angry cat lying in wait. "I moved with the crowd, the sweat pouring off me, listening to the grinding roar of traffic, the growing sound of a record shop loudspeaker blaring a languid blues" (Ellison 443). This is a prime example of Ellison's ability to create a setting that is rich, hot, humid, and filled with jazz and rage.

The narrator tells the truth about what it means to be a black man in America, "it was a normal mistake of which many are guilty, he thought he was a man, and that men were not meant to be pushed around. But it was hot downtown, and he forgot his history" (Ellison 457).

The narrator's story is a series of strange and circumstantial events that begin in the South and continue in the North, and he is often victimized by a series of aggressions meant to keep him down because of his race.

From the fateful Battle Royale, where he participates in a fight for money, to his encounter with Mr. Norton, his expulsion by Dr. Bledsoe, and his joining of a brotherhood similar to the Black Panthers in real life, the narrator witnesses one traumatic event after another.

An example is his witnessing of Brother Clifton being shot by a police officer in the subway and no one willing to do anything about it, which is eerily reminiscent of what still happens to our black men today.

The novel is timeless in its insistence on being a catalyst for change, although the work will always be a struggle. "An unarmed man was killed, a brother, a leading member shot down by a policeman" (Ellison 466).

That haunting final question, "I speak for you?" is one of the most brilliant summations of the events in the novel, symbolizing the vicious cycle of harm that continues to plague the black community at the hands of their racist counterparts.

A modern classic! This book is truly a masterpiece that is filled with so many complex and thought-provoking elements. It had so much going on that it feels like I need to read it again before attempting to coherently review it. In fact, I still don't actually know what happened in the book.

My father was a teenager when this book was written, and I can feel the profound effects it had on him and his community. Quotes like "Play the game but don't believe in it" really resonate and capture the essence of the struggles and experiences described in the book.

The basic concept of being black in America is explored in great depth. The idea that standing up for the truth makes you hated, while lying to reinforce world views makes one beloved, is a powerful and disturbing reality. The book also delves into the notion that some Negros will sell out everyone just to get one step above other Negros, as well as the idea that white folks run the world but really have no clue what is going on in it.

Another interesting aspect is the idea that being a Negro is exotic to the white folks, something to be explored and experienced but not really seen. Additionally, the book presents the concept that a black man can get ahead by using the existence of bias to his advantage.

Finally, the idea that Negros were given religion instead of actual substantive or material gains is a poignant and important point.

I listened to this book on audible, and Joe Morton was the narrator. He did an absolutely superb job, bringing the story to life and adding an extra layer of depth and emotion to the already powerful narrative.

”Jumping from the pot of absurdity to the fire of ridiculousness”

”I was more devastated by the humor than the horror.”


Invisible Man is truly a wild ride of a book. It's not like a typical roller coaster; rather, it's more like a chaotic session of bumper cars. From the very start to the very end, our unnamed narrator is continuously hurled from one absurd situation to another, with no respite or letup. Each situation is not just ridiculous but is exaggerated to an absurdly dark and angry humor, the kind of humor that makes you laugh to keep from going insane. Yet, within those ridiculous exaggerations lies a painful truth.

The young narrator commences his story as a teenager in the Jim Crow South. There, he has catastrophically disastrous encounters with both the domineering whites and with the Tuskegee type of racial uplift, both of which abuse him severely without shattering his delusions. He then heads North and his misadventures continue, this time with a Communist organization (The Brotherhood), Black Nationalism, and criminal/religious trickery. Just like Voltaire's Candide, he tenaciously clings to his illusions long after he should have been cured of them by the absurd trials he endures.

This brilliant book is among a select few that can legitimately claim to be The Great American Novel. Its bitter, pitch-black humor as it takes us on a grand tour of the American racial situation is simply breathtaking. Invisible Man is one of those precious few books that you absolutely must read.

What an incredibly amazing book this is!

It has been gathering dust on my bookshelf for what seems like a thousand years. But now, as I finally picked it up and delved into its pages, I am left in utter astonishment. I can't help but wonder if it wasn't actually penned in the year 2020. The words within its covers are so contemporary, so relevant, and so engaging that it feels as if it was written just for me in this very moment.

I found myself completely immersed in the story, loving every single word and yet also suffering through the emotional rollercoaster that it took me on. The author's writing style is simply captivating, drawing me in and making it impossible for me to put the book down. It is truly a masterpiece that I will cherish for a long time to come.

Normally, I firmly believe that the rating I assign to a book is not a casual expression of my 'personal feelings', but a well-founded analysis of the book's quality and its position in the broader literary context.

Nevertheless, this particular book presents an extraordinary situation. Although it is written skillfully and explores its selected topics with intelligence, I simply could not engage deeply with the theme or the characterization.

I suppose that, to a certain extent, I adhere to the literary theory which holds that the story itself is of secondary importance and that the quality and form of the narrative can render any story captivating.

However, this book has made me seriously question that assertion. It has made me realize that perhaps the story does matter after all, and that no matter how beautifully written or cleverly constructed a book may be, if the theme and characters do not resonate with the reader, it may fall short of being a truly great work of literature.

What a brilliant mind Ralph Ellison was, wow!

This is probably the most difficult review for me so far. Of course, not for lack of interest or quality, but for the true brilliance of the d-e-p-t-h of his thoughts and theories that he put into words. There were stretches where I'm confident this is the best story I've ever read. Yet, very admittedly, some of it and its profound theory and meaning went over my head. My brain just couldn't quite grasp it. I assure you, reader of this review, that said problem is me and not the writing nor story. But, that's to be expected and/or accepted, though, as a new reader and a white guy reading a Black man's masterpiece.

Ralph Ellison put a lifeform into his words. The characters felt supremely real. The pacing of the book was perfect. The storytelling was wonderful. It was sad, humorous in parts, depressing, witty, and the aura of the story he shared with the world lives strongly nearly 70 years later.

A very strong 5 stars. This work of Ellison's is truly a gem that deserves all the praise and recognition. It makes you think deeply about various aspects of life, race, and identity. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

This book is truly remarkable. It is filled with an abundance of crucial themes and ideas, and what's astonishing is how easily readable and tangible it manages to be. As I delved into its pages, WEB DuBois's concept of double consciousness repeatedly came to my mind. Our black narrator is unable to be his true self as he is constantly walking on eggshells and modifying his words and actions to meet the expectations of others. How can a black man ever be certain of his identity when everyone who engages with him only sees what they project or anticipate seeing in his black body?

Ideas are frequently paired within the book. Of course, there is the obvious contrast between black and white, but also blindness and invisibility, stereotype and prejudice, subservience and leadership, integrating and segregating. We follow the narrator's life, which reflects a significant portion of black experience and history. This includes emancipation, coming from a sharecropper family with a grandfather who had been freed; the diaspora, as he flees college and heads north; low-level factory work that is segregated, where black labor undertakes the difficult and important tasks while white workers receive the credit and higher wages; and the inability of competing ideologies to solve the problems plaguing the black community in the face of unrelenting put-downs by whites, the police, and social policies.

Despite its deep and dark nature, the book ends on a surprisingly and beautifully hopeful note. It is not just an important book but also an incredibly moving and engaging read.

In Invisible Man, an unnamed narrator endures a series of events that vividly expose the rampant racism and inequality present not only in society at large but also within the very people who are part of the system.

This is a truly remarkable book that defies easy description and perhaps can only be fully grasped through personal experience.

The writing is exceptionally powerful, with certain sections building up like a powerful punch, leaving a lasting impact. I had the unique experience of listening to the audiobook while taking a walk through the woods, which might have heightened my sensitivity to the rhythms of the narrative.

Although I am not a black man and have never walked in his shoes, this book offers a brief yet profound glimpse into another person's life.

The material within is both sobering and shocking at times, yet it also manages to be lyrical and beautiful in others, much like life itself.

By the end of the book, I found myself filled with hope for the narrator. I hoped that he would be able to move forward from all the numerous challenges he faced and step into a new dawn of understanding and racial equality.

I am always hopeful for improvement in society. Always.

I firmly believe that society sometimes uses aspects of our lives, such as gender, race, social status, level of education, and sexual orientation, to pigeonhole people into neat little boxes or make them as invisible as the narrator in Ellison’s novel.

One way to combat this insidious evil is to recognize that we are not alone as we journey through life. We are all in this together. We need to see each other and acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

We should strive to be seen and appreciated for our uniqueness by the communities we create. It is a significant responsibility.

I read this classic because it is painted on the staircase of the library where I work. I am determined to read all of the classics recorded there in an effort to become “classically” well-read.

But what exactly do I mean by classics? The most-tagged classics on Goodreads.com include such renowned books as “1984” by George Orwell, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.

Of those three, dear readers, I’ve only read one.

So, the next conundrum with this aspiration of mine is — Where do I begin? Who is the ultimate authority when it comes to choosing classics?

I thought, quite literally, who better than a library.

I had the privilege of working at O’Fallon Public Library during the Great Renovation of 2015 to 2016. One of my favorite features of the improved library space (aside from the bubble wall!) is the book spines that were painted on our stairs.

I would like to extend an invitation to everyone to read along with me as I “climb the stairs” by reading the classics listed there. The aim is to share the books that our community deems important enough to preserve in our library space for all time.

The next title on the steps is Watership Down, another classic that I have not yet had the pleasure of reading. (Portions of this review first appeared on the O'Fallon Public Library's blog.)

I can't believe that I waited for such a long time to read this remarkable work. However, a part of me strongly believes that I actually needed to wait. Maybe, and it's quite difficult to admit, perhaps I wasn't truly ready for Ralph Ellison's masterpiece during my twenties or thirties. This book is like a fever dream that takes you on an extraordinary journey. It's a jazz narrative that flows with a unique rhythm and cadence. It's a vivid hallucination that showcases the raw pain, the breathtaking beauty, the intense struggle, and the essence of life itself. It's also a profound Hegelian dialectic that makes you think deeply about various aspects of existence. Just like Melville's Moby Dick, this book is like a black whale, powerful and real. Even now, it still has a firm grip on me, captivating my heart and mind. There are certain scenes within this book that are seared into my memory, as if they are tattooed on my very soul. They will stay with me forever, leaving an indelible mark.

“I remember that I'm invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.”
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man