emma's Reviews > Invisible Man
Invisible Man
by
by
emma's review
bookshelves: classics, non-ya, owned, authors-of-color, 4-stars, recommend, reviewed, project-long-classics
Jun 11, 2022
bookshelves: classics, non-ya, owned, authors-of-color, 4-stars, recommend, reviewed, project-long-classics
welcome to...INVISIBLE MAY.
i've done it again. another impeccable pun combining the title of a seminal work with the month it currently is. another paragon of literature added to my currently reading. another several-week period that shall be spent reading it, one chapter at a time, daily.
it's another PROJECT LONG CLASSIC installment.
if saying you want to read long classics counts as reading them, i'm the smartest girl in the world. and now i'm reading them, also.
let's get started.
PROLOGUE
love to own a book for 8 years without ever picking it up and then immediately find it compulsively readable from the very first page. extremely cool nonsense behavior by me.
CHAPTER ONE
clear from the prologue this would be a solid read for me. clear from chapter one that it is going to be brutal and excellent.
CHAPTER TWO
the way the theme of what white people want and expect and reward in Black people here is shown and not told is brilliant. the dichotomy between how the intellectual student and the castout are treated by the millionaire...so fascinating.
CHAPTER THREE
kind of cool that there was very little that could ail you in old times that couldn't be cured by a glass of whiskey at a strip club.
CHAPTER FOUR
love a secret code.
CHAPTER FIVE
the OTHER thing is that, on top of everything else, this also has some of the most gorgeous and visual descriptions i've read in recent memory.
CHAPTER SIX
we're going to the big city!
CHAPTER SEVEN
it is very hard to come up with my goofy little entries for each day of this project when i think each chapter is very good and i keep finding myself taking it very seriously.
very.
CHAPTER EIGHT
okay cliffhanger!
it speaks to how invested i am in this that "something had to happen tomorrow, and it did. i got a letter" feels suspenseful to me.
CHAPTER NINE
a rich white daddy's boy telling our protagonist that he's the one who's "freed" while this spoiled kid is trapped, and that he can be his valet, since he really wants to help...
sheesh. "I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge" is the proper reaction to literally all of this.
CHAPTER 10
he's working in the Liberty White Paint factory...folks, we have officially moved into metaphor city.
CHAPTER 11
nothing is horror-movie-level scary like medical malpractice.
CHAPTER 12
"the cool splash of sleep" — that's so good.
nearly as good as this mary character and the idea of dumping a bucket of mop water on an actively preaching reverend.
CHAPTER 13
we're getting into the invisibility origin story. and also my origin story of accidentally reinventing the word "invisibleness" through a combination of parallel thinking and it being monday.
CHAPTER 14
it's party time!!!!
and the party is mostly an induction into the revolution. which is the best kind.
CHAPTER 15
breaking ugly decorations in a home should be the right of every single human. it's called the betterment of society — look it up.
also to throw things away? i thought that went without saying but then i encountered the plot of this chapter.
CHAPTER 16
let's get fired up!!!!! it's speech time!
CHAPTER 17
watching the beautiful and pastoral color-based descriptions switch to the same language and style for violence and suffering...wow.
CHAPTER 18
the worst kind of sabotage is when the person f*cking your sh*t up is not malicious. just dumb.
there's no coming back from that.
CHAPTER 19
the Woman Question? sounds like me asking my boyfriend why he loves me at the exact moment he's about to fall asleep, am i right? this guy gets it!
"And I wanted both to smash her and to stay with her..." little did ralph ellison know that in the future those would be synonyms.
CHAPTER 20
folks, i believe we are beginning to witness the titular invisibility.
CHAPTER 21
never mind. not yet. getting ahead of myself i guess.
CHAPTER 22
this has that specific high school assigned reading feeling of "I Am Culturally Relevant In A Way That May Fit The Syllabi Of Both Your History And Your English Classes." which is a bizarre sense to have in the midst of adult life.
CHAPTER 23
ah yes, literature's favorite problem-solving tactic: There Must Be A Woman Who Can Do This For Me
CHAPTER 24
welp.
crazy how you can be absolutely and totally on board for an entire book only for the penultimate chapter to just about lose you entirely.
CHAPTER 25
if we don't get invisible now, when will we.
we have found the time. and i fear i may be back on board.
EPILOGUE
and it all comes full circle.
OVERALL
this is a very clever and very incisive and very allegorical but still compelling plotwise book, which had one chapter i hated and 24 i truly enjoyed.
rating: 4
i've done it again. another impeccable pun combining the title of a seminal work with the month it currently is. another paragon of literature added to my currently reading. another several-week period that shall be spent reading it, one chapter at a time, daily.
it's another PROJECT LONG CLASSIC installment.
if saying you want to read long classics counts as reading them, i'm the smartest girl in the world. and now i'm reading them, also.
let's get started.
PROLOGUE
love to own a book for 8 years without ever picking it up and then immediately find it compulsively readable from the very first page. extremely cool nonsense behavior by me.
CHAPTER ONE
clear from the prologue this would be a solid read for me. clear from chapter one that it is going to be brutal and excellent.
CHAPTER TWO
the way the theme of what white people want and expect and reward in Black people here is shown and not told is brilliant. the dichotomy between how the intellectual student and the castout are treated by the millionaire...so fascinating.
CHAPTER THREE
kind of cool that there was very little that could ail you in old times that couldn't be cured by a glass of whiskey at a strip club.
CHAPTER FOUR
love a secret code.
CHAPTER FIVE
the OTHER thing is that, on top of everything else, this also has some of the most gorgeous and visual descriptions i've read in recent memory.
CHAPTER SIX
we're going to the big city!
CHAPTER SEVEN
it is very hard to come up with my goofy little entries for each day of this project when i think each chapter is very good and i keep finding myself taking it very seriously.
very.
CHAPTER EIGHT
okay cliffhanger!
it speaks to how invested i am in this that "something had to happen tomorrow, and it did. i got a letter" feels suspenseful to me.
CHAPTER NINE
a rich white daddy's boy telling our protagonist that he's the one who's "freed" while this spoiled kid is trapped, and that he can be his valet, since he really wants to help...
sheesh. "I could hardly get to sleep for dreaming of revenge" is the proper reaction to literally all of this.
CHAPTER 10
he's working in the Liberty White Paint factory...folks, we have officially moved into metaphor city.
CHAPTER 11
nothing is horror-movie-level scary like medical malpractice.
CHAPTER 12
"the cool splash of sleep" — that's so good.
nearly as good as this mary character and the idea of dumping a bucket of mop water on an actively preaching reverend.
CHAPTER 13
we're getting into the invisibility origin story. and also my origin story of accidentally reinventing the word "invisibleness" through a combination of parallel thinking and it being monday.
CHAPTER 14
it's party time!!!!
and the party is mostly an induction into the revolution. which is the best kind.
CHAPTER 15
breaking ugly decorations in a home should be the right of every single human. it's called the betterment of society — look it up.
also to throw things away? i thought that went without saying but then i encountered the plot of this chapter.
CHAPTER 16
let's get fired up!!!!! it's speech time!
CHAPTER 17
watching the beautiful and pastoral color-based descriptions switch to the same language and style for violence and suffering...wow.
CHAPTER 18
the worst kind of sabotage is when the person f*cking your sh*t up is not malicious. just dumb.
there's no coming back from that.
CHAPTER 19
the Woman Question? sounds like me asking my boyfriend why he loves me at the exact moment he's about to fall asleep, am i right? this guy gets it!
"And I wanted both to smash her and to stay with her..." little did ralph ellison know that in the future those would be synonyms.
CHAPTER 20
folks, i believe we are beginning to witness the titular invisibility.
CHAPTER 21
never mind. not yet. getting ahead of myself i guess.
CHAPTER 22
this has that specific high school assigned reading feeling of "I Am Culturally Relevant In A Way That May Fit The Syllabi Of Both Your History And Your English Classes." which is a bizarre sense to have in the midst of adult life.
CHAPTER 23
ah yes, literature's favorite problem-solving tactic: There Must Be A Woman Who Can Do This For Me
CHAPTER 24
welp.
crazy how you can be absolutely and totally on board for an entire book only for the penultimate chapter to just about lose you entirely.
CHAPTER 25
if we don't get invisible now, when will we.
we have found the time. and i fear i may be back on board.
EPILOGUE
and it all comes full circle.
OVERALL
this is a very clever and very incisive and very allegorical but still compelling plotwise book, which had one chapter i hated and 24 i truly enjoyed.
rating: 4
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Reading Progress
April 30, 2021
– Shelved
May 1, 2023
–
Started Reading
May 29, 2023
–
Finished Reading
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Samantha (WLABB)
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Jun 12, 2022 03:44PM
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good assigned reading is the best!!