****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I just reread this novel, not having touched it since 1994, and was once again impressed at Ellison's abilities as a storyteller, an observer, a thinker, and a prose stylist. I found myself (as I did 20 years ago and in the 1970s when I first read it) stopping frequently to reflect, to retrace my thoughts, and to think hard about all the things this book is about.In short, this is a serious novel for serious readers.While clearly this is a novel about race and identity, it transcends those two very common themes in American literature. It challenges both the racial politics prevailing in the American South and the liberal politics (and Marxist politics) of the supposedly more enlightened North, exposing both to be merely implements of people (both black and white) who use them for personal power and gain.Among the many things I love about this novel is that it challenges the usual pattern of the Bildungsroman, the growth of the central character into some kind of disillusioned authenticity. The last chapter of Invisible Man, along with the epilogue, suggest that such a state of autonomy is a goal that always remains elusively ahead of us, receding into the distance as we try to close on it. And so the novel interrogates both the idea of racial identity and the Emersonian ideal of individuality (the two are often counterpoised in discussion of affirmative action, for instance, and the novel reveals how complicated and tangled both ideas are in practice).Ellison's prose can at times be difficult, but it is worth careful attention. Its rhythms are beautiful and at times hypnotizing, and his play with words and with myth -- arguably this is a rewritten Odyssey -- is always thought provoking. Moreover, while incorporating a number of character types -- Norton, Bledsoe, Emerson, Jack, Mary, Ras, and even Rinehart all represents kinds of people I know of -- each comes across as an idiosyncratic individual, each neatly developed through revealing specifics. This novel is obviously the product of both genius and master craftsmanship.The Vintage edition is very good -- for one thing, it includes the prologue and epilogue (I've learned that some editions, sadly, omit them). The quality of the paper and the binding hold up well; it's important to me that a book feel right in my hands and this one feels great.I'm surprised that neither the Library of America nor the Norton Critical Editions have produced editions of this work. It is worthy of either series, and much wider exposure. It is without question one of the most important American novels of the 20th century.
