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A review by acsaper
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
3.0
I know I am supposed to revel in classic texts, or whatever I'm supposed to do with them, but they're just not my favorite type of writing. I can see the beauty here, in the endless allegories, parallels, symbolism and stripping away of the narrator's world beliefs. It's just not my favorite type of read. Unsophisticated am I? Sure, perhaps. Or, just personal preference.
I picked this up because I learned that someone I'm working with once read it and found it moving. Most fascinating to me is the many parallels I was able to see between their life and the narrator's (we never do learn his name, right?). In fact it's almost eerie - though perhaps if you go in looking for coincidences, it no coincidence when you find them. From the perceived invisibility to the move north, the leaving school to head to the city, the disillusionment with force-as-entertainment and self-interest of those that claim to help, as well as the house fire, lunatics, death of loved ones, and more. Oof.
I think I would have enjoyed reading more in a group or a class to really dive into the various contours of the text. Alone, I'm somewhat helpless. But, alas.
I picked this up because I learned that someone I'm working with once read it and found it moving. Most fascinating to me is the many parallels I was able to see between their life and the narrator's (we never do learn his name, right?). In fact it's almost eerie - though perhaps if you go in looking for coincidences, it no coincidence when you find them. From the perceived invisibility to the move north, the leaving school to head to the city, the disillusionment with force-as-entertainment and self-interest of those that claim to help, as well as the house fire, lunatics, death of loved ones, and more. Oof.
I think I would have enjoyed reading more in a group or a class to really dive into the various contours of the text. Alone, I'm somewhat helpless. But, alas.