Reviews

• やっと読み終えた。

  難しかったけれどなんとか最後まで読めました。 読み始めたきっかけは、スティーブンキングの小説「ディフアレントシーズンズ」のなかの、映画「スタンバイミー」の原作で、主人公がこの本を読んで自分とインビジブルマンを重ね合わせる部分があったから。 読み通せて達成感を得た。

• 黒人文学を変える作品

  名前もわからない主人公。穴ぐらの中でルイ・アームストロングの歌を聴きながら自分の人生を回想する。 複雑なアメリカ社会を懸命に生きようとする学生。そしてあくなき自己の探求。黒人の人種差別、迫害の歴史、1900年代の動きを主人公と共に追いながら、人種差別という枠を越え、現代の我々の社会にも通じる、人とは何かという疑問を突き詰める物語。 社会の中のちっぽけな自分はどんな価値があるのか考えさせられる作品。

• "透明"にはなったけど...

  野心を秘めて苦労しながら研究を続け、ついに透明になる方法を見出した主人公。実際に透明になってみると思惑とは違って..... 段々と追い詰められてゆく透明人間と、彼を向かえる社会の困惑を、身近な視点から描いている。 もし自分が彼と同じ状況になったら、と誰もが考えさせられる一冊。

• 外見に阻まれた人格

  ２０世紀前半のアメリカ。まだ黒人が人権を完全に認められていない舞台で白人社会に認められようと、黒人青年は奮闘するが、すべてが裏目に出てしまう。白人に腰を低くして、社会に進出をしようとするが、心の片隅では、この主人公は白人の視点から世間を見ている。さまざまな人間、仕事を通じて「自己」を認められていると思い込んでいくが、彼に携わったもののほとんどが自分の利益、目的のために彼を利用したにすぎない。黒い肌という壁を身にまとっているかれの本当の姿を誰も見ようとはしないのだ。そのことに気付いた彼は、自ら透明人間として生きていくことを決意する。タイトルのインビジブル・マンは主人公の「自己」を誰も見ていない、つまり、人の本質が見えていないことをさしている。単一民族!の日本でも同じ様なことは日常的に起きていると思う。外見に囚われてしまい、お互いの本質を見ることができない。ヤマンバ・メーク、ふとっている、眼鏡をかけている等、外見的先入観に犯され、多くのインビジブル・マンを互いにつくりだしているのではないだろうか。

• 書籍の瑕疵

  配達された書籍の表紙と本文が折れていた。最近購入した書籍にこのような瑕疵が続けてある。箱に入っているが、中でビニールで留める際ぞんざいに扱っているのだろうか。一体どうなっているのか⁉️作業員はちゃんと仕事をしているのだろうか⁉️がっかりだ‼️

• Black humour

  This belongs up there with Boccaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes and yes Chaucer. It is an absolute romp through black America, as if someone had asked the author to tell them about what it meant to be black and he'd said to them and to himself "I'LL show you...' And in the showing there is a great reserve of humour though as with The Sellout one could never be sure of the intention of humour, as though it were an unconscious product of the skin colour interface. Yet in the end it is common humanity in an existential quandary that comes to the fore, or rather takes a back seat. On the way we are treated to various religious, political and downright tragic scenarios and strategies for each of which the orator in Ellison has a rip roaring speech. Great stuff!

• Clássico

  Um ótimo livro, trás uma perspectiva diferente das lutas pelos direitos.

• One of the most important American novels of the 20th century

  I just reread this novel, not having touched it since 1994, and was once again impressed at Ellison's abilities as a storyteller, an observer, a thinker, and a prose stylist. I found myself (as I did 20 years ago and in the 1970s when I first read it) stopping frequently to reflect, to retrace my thoughts, and to think hard about all the things this book is about. In short, this is a serious novel for serious readers. While clearly this is a novel about race and identity, it transcends those two very common themes in American literature. It challenges both the racial politics prevailing in the American South and the liberal politics (and Marxist politics) of the supposedly more enlightened North, exposing both to be merely implements of people (both black and white) who use them for personal power and gain. Among the many things I love about this novel is that it challenges the usual pattern of the Bildungsroman, the growth of the central character into some kind of disillusioned authenticity. The last chapter of Invisible Man, along with the epilogue, suggest that such a state of autonomy is a goal that always remains elusively ahead of us, receding into the distance as we try to close on it. And so the novel interrogates both the idea of racial identity and the Emersonian ideal of individuality (the two are often counterpoised in discussion of affirmative action, for instance, and the novel reveals how complicated and tangled both ideas are in practice). Ellison's prose can at times be difficult, but it is worth careful attention. Its rhythms are beautiful and at times hypnotizing, and his play with words and with myth -- arguably this is a rewritten Odyssey -- is always thought provoking. Moreover, while incorporating a number of character types -- Norton, Bledsoe, Emerson, Jack, Mary, Ras, and even Rinehart all represents kinds of people I know of -- each comes across as an idiosyncratic individual, each neatly developed through revealing specifics. This novel is obviously the product of both genius and master craftsmanship. The Vintage edition is very good -- for one thing, it includes the prologue and epilogue (I've learned that some editions, sadly, omit them). The quality of the paper and the binding hold up well; it's important to me that a book feel right in my hands and this one feels great. I'm surprised that neither the Library of America nor the Norton Critical Editions have produced editions of this work. It is worthy of either series, and much wider exposure. It is without question one of the most important American novels of the 20th century.

• Sympa

  J'ai acheté ce livre pour mes cours en licence. La lecture était intéressante et l'édition est très correcte.

• A definite Reas.

  A great painting of Black in the day.

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