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Invisible Man Paperback – March 14, 1995

by Ralph Ellison (Author)

1,358 customer reviews

in Classic Action & Adventure

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Invisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. 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.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

We rely, in this world, on the visual aspects of humanity as a means of learning who we are. This, Ralph Ellison argues convincingly, is a dangerous habit. A classic from the moment it first appeared in 1952, Invisible Man chronicles the travels of its narrator, a young, nameless black man, as he moves through the hellish levels of American intolerance and cultural blindness. Searching for a context in which to know himself, he exists in a very peculiar state. "I am an invisible man," he says in his prologue. "When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination--indeed, everything and anything except me." But this is hard-won self-knowledge, earned over the course of many years.

As the book gets started, the narrator is expelled from his Southern Negro college for inadvertently showing a white trustee the reality of black life in the south, including an incestuous farmer and a rural whorehouse. The college director chastises him: "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie! What kind of an education are you getting around here?" Mystified, the narrator moves north to New York City, where the truth, at least as he perceives it, is dealt another blow when he learns that his former headmaster's recommendation letters are, in fact, letters of condemnation.

What ensues is a search for what truth actually is, which proves to be supremely elusive. The narrator becomes a spokesman for a mixed-race band of social activists called "The Brotherhood" and believes he is fighting for equality. Once again, he realizes he's been duped into believing what he thought was the truth, when in fact it is only another variation. Of the Brothers, he eventually discerns: "They were blind, bat blind, moving only by the echoed sounds of their voices. And because they were blind they would destroy themselves.... Here I thought they accepted me because they felt that color made no difference, when in reality it made no difference because they didn't see either color or men."

Invisible Man is certainly a book about race in America, and sadly enough, few of the problems it chronicles have disappeared even now. But Ellison's first novel transcends such a narrow definition. It's also a book about the human race stumbling down the path to identity, challenged and successful to varying degrees. None of us can ever be sure of the truth beyond ourselves, and possibly not even there. The world is a tricky place, and no one knows this better than the invisible man, who leaves us with these chilling, provocative words: "And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" --Melanie Rehak

From Publishers Weekly

These three volumes have been redesigned and reissued to commemorate the first anniversary of Ellison's death.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product details

Paperback: 581 pages
Publisher: Vintage Books; 2nd edition (March 14, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0679732764
ISBN-13: 978-0679732761
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,358 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Classics
- #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Men's Adventure
- #53 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary

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A thought provoking tale, which is a parable

ByIsrael DrazinTOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon January 13, 2011

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Many books about an invisible man tantalize readers with adventures where an invisible man takes immoral advantage of other people, sexually and financially. An example is the ancient fable of a man who obtains a magic ring that makes him invisible. He enters the palace of the king, kills the king, and takes his wife, kingdom, and gold. Wells turns the tale in an opposite direction. He details the difficulties that an invisible man would face in society.

The invisible man in Wells' story, Griffin, needs to find the formula and then the chemicals to restore himself to visibility. While invisible, he needs to cover himself entirely from his hair to his toes; otherwise people would realize that he was invisible, fear and mistreat him. This causes many difficulties. When he wants to go out without being seen, for example, he needs to remove all of his cloths; and since it is winter, he catches a cold, coughs and sneezes; and walking without shoes, he cuts his feet, bleeds and leaves tracks.

Griffin had robbed his father of money to finance his discovery of invisibility, but is now, books and go out to find the chemicals that are required to restore him to visibility. He resorts to theft again and is discovered because of his bloody foot prints and his sneezes. The police and town people pursue him determined to kill him. He persuades a tramp to help him. Since he cannot carry his scientific books, for people would see the apparently floating books and know that he is carrying them, he gives them to the tramp to carry, but the tramp runs away with them. He goes to a friend from his school days who seems to sympathize with him, but the friend thinks that Griffin is insane and calls the police.

Readers will puzzle over the question "Has Griffin become crazy?" and answer it to their satisfaction. In reading the gripping tale, they will have to decide whether the many deaths in the story can be blamed on Griffin. Also, does a great discovery justify theft? They will be curious what happens to him and to the tramp. They may also ask, "Is Wells offering us a parable and, if so, what is the message?"

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Poetical, Political, and Essential

ByAnne Millson December 1, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A strange and wonderful book. I expected a fairly conventional look at America from a black point of view in the early 20th century. Instead, it is a poetical, political, phantasmagorical story of an individual's education in blackness, America, and the hurman condition. This book has been more than adequately reviewed by other contributors; I would simply suggest that it an essential part of American literature, and essential reading for anyone who is interested in how America became what it is.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Terrific Read

BySconsetgalon June 30, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am enjoying this book immensely. The writing is really great and I love hearing the audible as the narrator uses many different accents and voices. It is wonderful, description writing about being an "invisible" goody two shoes black man living in the south.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Incredible writing

ByM J Leakeon February 3, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Ok, every now and then I read a novel that is so transforming of my idea of writing, that I cancan not quite believe what I read. This novel is a must have for all writers.

The author Ralph Ellison wrote this novel in a way that flies in the face of what many are taught about writing. The name of the central character is always vague or not known.

The main character, “The Invisible man.” will force the reader to look at the world from the eyes of an African American however, I can see applications for various cultures and ethnicities relating to the main character.

The style, of writing which uses the first, second and third person is incredible throughout the novel.

The philosophical commentary throughout will change many readers perception of the world providing the reader an understanding of the dynamic interactions between the main character and the world he maneuvers through as an African American in the early part of the 20th century.

There are so many lessons of humanity to learn and discover when you are invisible to the world.

22 comments 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Classic thriller

BymICHELLE bACONon January 20, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

What do you know of The Invisible Man? A stranger arrives in a small town bundled and bandaged leaving everyone curious. Something strange going on in his room at the inn. The stranger seems a bit angry about something too.
You can't see him, he's a physicist trying a painful experiment that could both work in his favor or not.
Wells leaves you worried about the outcome. A great classic!!!

11 commentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Not a good thing.

Byhtcoeon February 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This started out well but quickly became boring. The main character very quickly developed into a psycho with no redeeming anything, viciousness for viciousness sake. This dragged on with the same scenes different places and then it was over in a few pages. I like Wells' War of the Worlds but this was awful. I gave it two only because the concept intrigued me but it never really went anywhere.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

G WELLS Great book.

ByKatherine Henriquezon November 18, 2014

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

THE INVISIBLE MAN BY H.G WELLS

Great book... It met my expectations, H.G Wells did a good job describing each character. It's a sci-fi book, so the characters?... they're not the best ones out there, but they definitely go with the story!. This is a book that even a baby would be able to understand.
The beginning is somehow boring but as it progresses it gets super interesting to the point where you can actually imagine yourself in the story.

I highly recommend this book, is a book that you could read it in a short period of time. It's entertaining, it's funny and it has some horror parts!
what else do you want?
READ IT!

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Mediocre classic

ByACon October 8, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This story was a bit shallow for a classic piece of literature. It was dark all the way through. The Invisible Man was an evil character with no redeeming characteristics. Unlike the monster in Frankenstein who originally had the human desire for companionship and acceptance, this character had sinister motives and nothing else. The only part of this book that I found interesting was the discussion and explanation of how invisibility was achieved. Other than that, I was happy to finish the book so I could read something else.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Seems good to me

nice book, easy font to read, this is the international vintage copy by the way

Published 1 day ago by Your Honest Friend

Pretty heavy.

A thoughtful book. Pretty heavy.

Published 4 days ago by P. Murphy

Five Stars

A great story to read and kept me on my toes from begining to end.

Published 5 days ago by Amazon Customer

Great read

Great book.. Was hard to put down.

Published 5 days ago by Michael Paruszkiewicz

still a great read.

Much different from the movie. Told in a style reminicient of years past, still a
great read.

Published 5 days ago by S. Wood

School book

Great price!!

Published 6 days ago by GGirl67

Not like the stupid book of Hillary where she can not ...

#hillarynutcase . I am loving this book. Not like the stupid book of Hillary where she can not even go to sleep without shame nor remorse.Read more

Published 7 days ago by alvaro

God daughter needed this book for school

Arrived as scheduled.

Published 8 days ago by Aaron Collins

The description said that this book contained notes and analysis ...

The description said that this book contained notes and analysis, but the book is a cheap reprint with nothing but the text.

Published 8 days ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Very good book. My fifteen year old son loved it.

Published 9 days ago by retta williams

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