Invisible Man

A Novel

By: Ralph Ellison

Narrated by: Joe Morton

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time

Ralph Elllison's Invisible Man is a monumental novel, one that can well be called an epic of modern American Negro life. It is a strange story, in which many extraordinary things happen, some of them shocking and brutal, some of them pitiful and touching--yet always with elements of comedy and irony and burlesque that appear in unexpected places. It is a book that has a great deal to say and which is destined to have a great deal said about it.

After a brief prologue, the story begins with a terrifying experience of the hero's high school days, moves quickly to the campus of a Southern Negro college and then to New York's Harlem, where most of the action takes place. The many people that the hero meets in the course of his wanderings are remarkably various, complex and significant. With them he becomes involved in an amazing series of adventures, in which he is sometimes befriended but more often deceived and betrayed--as much by himself and his own illusions as by the duplicity of the blindness of others.

Invisible Man is not only a great triumph of storytelling and characterization; it is a profound and uncompromising interpretation of the Negro's anomalous position in American society.

Critic reviews

"A book of the very first order, a superb book." —Saul Bellow

A true American classic that I love!

First, thank you Don Katz and Audible for making this novel available to Audible members at no cost. Had I known it was available and narrated by Joe Morton I would have happily used an Audible credit. Next, thank you actor Joe Morton for narrating Invisible Man. It has been almost 15 years since I listened your magnificent voice narrate an audio novel and then it was on tape. You set the standard for narration of audiobooks to which the best today aspire.

At this point I have listened to 5 hours of this 19+ hour audio novel, but I first read Invisible Man during the late fall of 1961 during my first semester in college at UNC-Chapel Hill. That was 55 years ago and it was almost a decade after the novel was first published.

For those who have not listened to or read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man there lies ahead not just a great novel, but a unique one that is literally unlike any other. There is no use looking for comparisons; they do not exist. It is written in the first person of the protagonist who is never identified by any name other than singular pronouns. The novel is as complex as any you will ever encounter. The protagonist is literally invisible (except to some other "Negros"), but he can react to and physically impact through his actions the world around him. The author and the protagonist are black males and the time period begins in the Jim Crow south and moves to the equally, but differently, racist north, so race is a key facet of the novel. But to say race is the only key facet of the novel would be incorrect. Listen to this unique and uniquely beautiful and troubling audio novel narrated by the very best.

The author is of course Ralph Ellison and it is his only novel although he did release two books of essays. The book is best understood as a semi biographical novel. When Ellison began to write Invisible man he was approximately 35 years old and had moved from Alabama to New York City well over a decade earlier (most of his youth was in Oklahoma). WWII had ended and Ellison's involvement with Communism was in his past. He clearly viewed fictional literature as far more than an art form; he viewed it as an instrument for change. Today Ellison is remembered most for this novel and for his teaching at various universities.

Listen and understand the perspective of a black man! By the way, if you have not listened to Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin I highly recommend it and the cost at Audible is $5.95. It presents the a view of horrid racism mixed with some unexpected kindnesses in the Jim Crow south where I grew up better and more completely than any book I have read. I'm white but our closest neighbors and friends were a black family. Black Like Me is raw and real.

Reading slightly too dramatic, in EVERY paragraph

What did you love best about Invisible Man?

The opening chapter was brilliant, original, and engaging; very reminiscent of Dostoyevsky's _Notes from Underground_ but significantly new at the same time. The novel as a whole maintains a tacit Dostoyevskian tendency to constantly consider ambiguities of action and interpretation that seem honest throughout--you can really believe in this character. And yet the actual narrative is clear, not muddy like Henry James or other authors who might fit this same description.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Invisible Man?

The opening chapter; the book begins in media res, and you wonder throughout how we're ever going to get back to the beginning, which is fascinating in itself.

What three words best describe Joe Morton’s voice?

Overly dramatic, widely varying volume, impressive range of character voices

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No; I couldn't stomach it for more than an hour at a time.

Any additional comments?

Joe Morton has a truly impressive and useful range of character voices throughout, but he puts way too much dramatic emphasis on every paragraph of the whole novel, and it's just frustrating. Whereas on a scale from Robot (0) to Melodrama (10) I like my books to be about a 5, 6 or 7, he's a consistent 8. (For comparison, I'd put Jim Dale at a 6.) It makes the whole book sound like it's full of caps, italics, and ellipses, and it's just way too overstimulating. I can handle listening to the whole book, but only in 20-60 min. snippets at a time.

A Classic that deserves Whispersync!

Would you listen to Invisible Man again? Why?

If Whispersync was available I would be so excited to re-read and add notes! Too many layers for one reading.

DISCRIMINATION'S COMPLEXITY

Few books capture the complexity of discrimination and its societal consequence. Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is one of the few.

To re-read/listen to Ellison’s book, it seems a biography of its author. Ellison was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He attends Tuskegee Institute, a black university in Alabama. He fails to graduate and moves to New York. He becomes a spokesman and propagandist for the communist party before WWII. He eschews communism after the war while living in New York. He becomes acquainted with other writers like Richard Wright who expose discrimination in its abomination. In these details, one sees Ellison as the “Invisible Man”.

The intensity and credibility of Ellison’s story is magnified by Joe Morton’s skill as an actor. Every line reflects understanding and relevant emotion. In just reading “Invisible Man” much of what Ellison has written is missed. Morton offers clarity and visibility in his narration.

Majority rule is as tyrannical as minority rule when it discounts individual freedom. Human beings playing the game by rules of a collective is as harmful to minorities as slavery. Choosing to become invisible is not a solution for discrimination. In reality, invisibility is a symptom of American apathy that encourages discrimination. Small activist groups elect populists who pander to extremist views.

Ellison suggests his “Invisible Man” is only in hibernation. He ends his story by suggesting the “Invisible Man” will soon awaken to become an involved individual. One is skeptical of Ellison’s pronouncement. It is easier to be invisible.

excellent classic

First time author for me, debut novel for the author, The author was born and raised in Oklahoma, attended Tuskogee Institute in Alabama then moved to New York City.

Ellison wrote this book in the 1940s and published it in 1953 when it won the National Book Award for best book of the year. Ellison drew upon his experiences of growing up and attending college in the south before moving to the north where he had his first normal interactions with whites. His second wife, Fanny, was a graduate of the University of Iowa and had a journalism background in Chicago. She was his typist, editor, and confidant for the book.

The story itself is told from the first person where the protagonist tells his thoughts and experiences as he progresses through life trying to grasp the meaning of racism and life in general. It all seems crazy to him and he wrote this description which seemed meaningful to me 'the beautiful absurdity of the American identity'. If you are a person that contemplates life, like me, you will appreciate how the story unfolds.

The narrator, Joe Morton, was great.