Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

13 reviews

kari_f's review against another edition

3.0

“Look at me! Look at me!” I said. “Everywhere I’ve turned somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my good—only they were the ones who benefited. And now we start on the old sacrificial merry-go-round. At what point do we stop? Is this the new true definition, is Brotherhood a matter of sacrificing the weak? If so, at what point do we stop?”

This was a book that I struggled to read and that I’m struggling to review. Packed to the brim with symbolism and cultural significance, I can see why the themes were relevant at the time of writing and remain relevant today. The book covers topics that include race relations and racial inequality (and how those compare and contrast based on the region), the problem with staunch ideologies over the needs of people, systemic oppression, police brutality, tokenism, and the viewing of groups of people as objects or the subjects of voyeuristic whims rather than autonomous humans.

On the other hand, there are some aspects of the book that made it really difficult for me to like. The social commentary sometimes feels heavy handed, and the plot seems secondary to the message. Not that this is bad in and of itself, but the book is around 600 pages and the writing often feels clunky, to the point where it feels like the actual writing was secondary to the commentary. There were also a few huge plot points that involved some pretty terrible ordeals happening that are never really condemned, and it almost feels like said actions were condoned because of this. It might be that I was so put off by the ick factor of them and was hoping for a condemnation that never came.

I felt quite connected to the book toward the beginning, but it felt like it unraveled for the next few hundred pages, and then it picked up again at the end. I knew it wouldn’t necessarily be an enjoyable read given the subject matter, but feeling disconnected enough that I didn’t want to read it for about half of the book was disappointing.

It’s definitely a thought-provoking read, but it’s one I don’t see myself ever revisiting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Classism

syntax_of_angels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Very interesting and thought provoking, but I think a lot went over my head. A few points really had me intrigued, though. Overall I'd say it's worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

mblanke's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

coolfoolmoon's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Normally I don't like when stories turn randomly anti communist but I like it here because I get it. White people have always been like that, white commies are still like that!

Loved the whole thought process. It made me think about people who are crazy or who are considered crazy and their perception of reality. Like you see everything that happens to him, his reality doesn't care about him so surely he must be invisible and you really get it. I love the raw untamed thought process. Very real.

I heard the voice actor for the audiobook version I was listening to flip the page at least three times which is kinda funny but unrelated to the book. He was really good. 5 stars for Joe Morton.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Stalking

amelody's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

vickymcckey's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the kind of book that needs a separate book to explain all the references you missed the first time. My advice to anyone reading it who wants to derive as much meaning as possible is to annotate like a nerdy high schooler. Color code references and keep wikipedia by your side to look up any word that seems even a little bit intentional. Because I promise you, it’s all intentional. Parts of this book are disturbing, parts dryly humorous, parts hopeful or sad, but every word has thought behind it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit

needlebrook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Dense- so very dense. it'll be helpful to pull up the litcharts summary webpage for some of the chapters. It can get real confusing at times. 

The beginning of the book is intriguing but can get to be a bit of a slog after the first handful of chapters(was considering abandoning this book during the dreamlike narration from Trueblood. Very glad I decided against it.)
But, after the narrator arrives in Harlem and starts to adapt to his surroundings, the book quickly picks up the pace and seemingly goes at break-neck pace for the rest of it.

All in all, I won't be forgetting this book very easily. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Hate crime and Slavery

Minor: Racial slurs and Classism

nunchikoi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

An incredible work by Ellison who manages to balance a magical reality that is also prescriptive to quantum physics; thoroughly examining Black experiences in North America, Ellison uniquely incorporates specific 'Negro-American' culturalisations like folkloric motifs in his story-telling. This results in a magnetic kind of writing which swings between being poetic and clinical, a fictional story which testifies to real historical experiences and events, and a narrator who keeps the reader at arms length but also confides in and almost prays to you.

Through this, Ellison constructs a compelling portrait that his contemporaries otherwise neglected: he demonstrates how Black characters in a novel can be complex and nuanced, with fully-realised moral, philosophical, and intellectual capacities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Violence

Moderate: Racism and Classism

lindseyas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A coming of age novel like you've never seen before. Set in the mid-1900s in a city where everything is happening all of the time, the unnamed southern Black man, our protagonist, is lost in the chaos. Told from an extremely early point in his life that he should just give in to the white man and white society, the protagonist goes with the flow easily, aiming to please and not be noticed as different. But when he makes his way to New York City, he's forced to be noticed. The protagonist is used as a political prop by a movement that cares little about him, is fought over by opposing sides and is worshipped only for his powerful voice and body — not for his character, his intelligence or his kindness. The protagonist is not treated as a human being, but as a way of being, as a set of values and to further an agenda that he is barely involved in. This novel is all about what being caught in the wave of history is like, and how invisibility, despite its loneliness and often futile attempt at security, is the only escape if we want to hold ourselves dear.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Classism

lonicera_fragrantissima's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Classism