Posted on 11/18/2002 3:34:26 AM PST by PJ-Comix
This month's Freeper Reading Club (now over 100 members) discussion is about Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." As I stated when assigning this book, as soon as you think you know where this book is heading, it completely changes directions and surprises you. Upon re-reading "Invisible Man" it seems apparent to me that Joseph Heller, author of "Catch-22," must have read this book since much of the surreal absurdity in "Invisible Man" was reflected in his own acclaimed book years later.
As we saw in "Invisible Man," nobody really saw the man (never named) as he really was. To them he was just a symbol but never really existed as a man. Does this remind you of something nowadays? I sure saw a lot of this in how liberals treat blacks. To them, black people are merely voting blocks to be counted on at election day. Too bad that this strategy didn't quite work this time around.
I really like the section of "Invisible Man" where the man (not named) puts on a hat and sunglasses and is immediately mistaken for Rinehart, another black man who uses his invisibility to assume many different roles. Somehow on the first reading of this book, I missed the significance of this. It sure opened the eyes of the Invisible Man to the possibilities of life.
Also fantastic was the often hilarious look at the internal workings of the Communist Party U.S.A. circa the 1930s era. The character of Brother Jack was right on in it's characterization of a deceitful Communist Party bigwig.
Oh, and one other thing. Can anyone out there tell me why "Invisible Man" (Ralph Ellison book) has NOT been made into a movie. If ever there was a book SCREAMING out to be made as a movie this one is it. Perhaps its Politically Incorrect look at the antics of the Communist Party makes this book too embarrassing for liberals to make as a movie.
All in all, "Invisible Man" is an incredible book! Those of you who didn't read this one missed out on an incredible treat.
And if anybody wants to join the Freeper Reading Club (over 100 members strong) please let me know and I'll put you on the Freeper Reading Club Ping List. The pings are low level since I usually never ping more than once or twice a month, just to let you know when a book discussion has started and to give the next book assignment.
BTW, the next Freeper Reading Club book discussion will be From Here To Eternity by James Jones. This book is probably the GREATEST American novel ever written. Because i want as many Freepers as possible to read this book (Peggy Noonan even wrote a column on why this is an IMPORTANT book to read), I am giving two full months and several holidays to complete From Here To Eternity which will be due on Monday, January 13.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
SIGH!
That was the H.G. WELLS Invisible Man, completely different than Ralph Ellison's book of the same name. This is why I always made sure to mention RALPH ELLISON as the author so there would be no confusion as to what book we're talking about. I sure hope others out there have NOT read the H.G. Wells Invisible Man thinking it was the book that I assigned which was written by RALPH ELLISON.
I purchased "From Here To Eternity" over the weekend and started Chapter 4 last night. Looks to be a great read already. I'll be back here tonight.
BINGO!!! And can you guess why Mr. Norton was so fascinated by that story of incest?
Oh, I made an error in my previous reply. The movie I was Freepmailed about was From Here To Eternity, not Invisible Man. However, this brings me to an important point about the next book assignment. From Here To Eternity, the novel is MUCH DIFFERENT than the movie. In fact, after reading the novel, the movie will seem to be a very hollow shell of what the novel is. So don't think you know the book by merely watching the movie.
You really should finish the book. You left off when it looked like this would be a "hate whitey" type book but soon after that section it changed into something MUCH BROADER.
And what was the problem with the scenes your read about? Nothing much different there than what you would see on HBO or WWF (or that new wimpy WWE name). I really suggest you finish the book. That early scene was about as risque at it got.
I don't know how long you've had the Freeper Reading Club....but it's something I've been thinking would be a great idea....just now saw this thread. Would you please put me on your ping list? Thanks.
It wasn't but scenes like this did happen a lot back in the Jim Crow South. What did you want Ellison to do, gloss over conditions that existed back them? BTW, a lot of liberals would have you believe that conditions for blacks haven't changed since then. However, they did change for the better....DRAMATICALLY. Sorry if you were offended by those scenes but that was the reality of the South (and to some extent the North) back about 70 years ago.
You're on. At this rate the Freeper Reading Club will have 200 members before long. BTW, a few weeks ago Katie Couric had some members of a Miami Reading Club on her show and yet they had fewer than 20 members (Yuppies) plus they read mainly touchy-feely type books. When I saw that and compared it to the size of the Freeper Reading Club, I wanted to pull an Elvis on my TV set.
I read "Invisible Man" in high school and i have to say it was a very difficult book to get through. I have never cared for stream of consciousness. Maybe it is just that my consciousness and theirs do not stream in the same direction.
When I was in the Army in the 60's there were still a few WW2 Vets around and the tales that they told are mirrored in these books, great read.
Oh, try again. I haven't read it in 15 years, but I've read it a couple of times, and it's a great book. I'll have to dig it back out and read it again...
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