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Overview
Overview
A milestone in American literature--a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read 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.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Ellison, Ralph
- ISBN: 9780679732761
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 8.00 x 1.00
- Number Of Pages: 608
- Publication Year: 1995
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
75%
4 ★
0%
3 ★
25%
2 ★
0%
1 ★
0%
8 Ratings
0
0% Would Recommend
0 Recommendations
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SHOULD LET BUYER KNOW OF NOTES WRITTEN IN MARGINS.
JEROME R. - 4 years 4 months agoBOOK WAS FINE. PREVIOUS OWNER WROTE TOO MANY NOTES IN BOOK THOUGH.
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Authenticity at its finest
Natalie H. - 4 years 9 months agoThis book is existentially life changing. If you find yourself wondering who you are and who anyone else is, you will better learn what the idea of self is through this book. More-so, you’ll see that understanding yourself isn’t as important as we think it is and is highly influenced by society. The idea of self and authenticity is something this book made me grapple with and was further amplified by the inclusion of racial discrimination.
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Great book to read right now!
Deborah N. - 5 years 9 months agoI picked out this book for me and my son to read and discuss. It is a very relevant book to read today even though it was written so long ago. We both enjoyed it and it has helped open up a lot of different discussions. #BannedBook
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Ellison's Plot Muddies his Irrefutable Talent
HPB S. - 5 years 9 months agoEllison is clearly a very talented writer but his magnum opus sometimes gets in its own way; clocking in at nearly 600 pages, there are many parts of the book that, upon further analysis, seem unnecessary. Its dissection of themes such as identity and American sociopolitics are admirable and extraordinary but the means by which they are explored sometimes appear tantamount to the "one step forward, two steps back" routine: i.e., one can become so bored by yet another of Ellison's myriad plot excursions (be it at the paint factory or the head-scratching quasi-lobotomy scene) that his talent and message can become tarnished and obscured. Overall, worth the read but I would much rather have read an abridged version (and this is coming from a guy who absolutely loved the unabridged copy of Les Misérables). #BannedBook
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A must read but especially in our current times.
GREG K. - 5 years 9 months agoAn excellent read! I first read it in college in 1975 and reread it about every other 2 or 3 years its that good. So descriptive you picture the scenes as you read. A true must read especially in these times. #BannedBook