Let's remember this is a classic - set aside your modern tastes and just enjoy this really great book - go with the flow - read as the stunning fiction and talented writing it is.
Definitely an interesting piece of literature, however, getting a feel for the tone of the book was hard to do. At times it seemed as it if was a straight ahead, quasi-autobiographical account while at other times it ventured into the surreal. Still a good read, but one that you have to dedicate yourself to trying to take in fully.
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
(amazon.com)