Perhaps the most chilling coming-of-age novel I've ever read is Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. It can be regarded as the American equivalent of Dostoyevsky's Underground Man, presenting a new type of person molded by the painful realities of a novel social experience.

The protagonist, cast out alone into a harsh society, is tortured by its vicissitudes. He engages in a manic struggle to define himself and the surrounding reality. Throughout his life, he endures all the blatant and subtle ugliness that American society throws at him, yet still violently swims against the current.

Without revealing the plot, I found Ellison's portrayal of the unnamed Black American narrator's encounter with the "Brotherhood" to be a masterful evocation of the tense history between racial minorities and the Communist Party in the US. In the book, the narrator and his people are like chess pieces in the hands of various parties, who only view them as means to achieve their own ends.

The writing in this book has a truly hypnotic quality. It's not easy to describe it as elegant, but it's so immersive that it truly gives the feeling of being drawn into another terrifying world. This novel justifiably earns its reputation as one of the great works in American history. It is the product of a darkly brilliant mind, and as far as I know, the author never produced another work.

This is a Boo’ful piece of Art that I think will last the test of time.

It was first published in 1952 when America was on the verge of undergoing immense positive change.

The story features wonderful imagination and characters that vividly depict a man who is invisible simply because people choose not to see him.

Cleverly woven together in just 25 chapters, the narrative interestingly moves from college to an Harlem riot. The characters bring the story to life, being at times jaw-dropping, intriguing, believable, humorous, and daunting all simultaneously.

Take Jim Trueblood, for example, with his outrageous manly tale about incest and the blues. President Bledsoe is driven by his own self-interest and racial accommodation. Lucius Brockway, a black man, takes on the white man's burden. Ras the Exhorter transforms into Ras the Destroyer. Brother Tobitt made me laugh as it depicts Twobitt. And Mary Rambo - what a great name for a godly creature!

Throw in the Jim Crow laws and the Zoot Suiters, and this becomes a piece of history that should not be forgotten.

I especially loved the line “I Yam what I am”.

This is a true Modern Classic that may not seem modern in the years to come, but I am certain it will still resonate with the youth of today.