![]() The book feeling impersonal kind of made seems to me the point (in terms of the narrator) in the end he says something like on a lower frequency I speak for you or something to that effect. I thought it was amazing especially those long speeches and tangents, especially because this book was before the famous MLK speech and to me the novel captures the mood- for lack of a better word- at that time. A story about this subject with a clearly talented wordsmith should have some humanity in it, but this book is shockingly sterile. I hate that this book didn't make me feel anything. Maybe he's a more natural essayist than novelist. Ps - my favorite part was probably Ellison's introduction (30th anniversary). I'd recommend trying the prologue and if you find it engaging, not just interesting, then read on. I don't think it's necessarily a bad book, it just didn't click with me. Then the painfully undisguised symbolism that beats you over the head - ugh. I found the prose/narration style, especially the pages-long philosophizing tangents, to be insufferable blathering. Just when you sort of get invested the narrative jerks away and there's no conclusion (and not in a fun way) over and over again. The experimental structure was so frustrating. I appreciated the themes but the way the book is put together just ain't for me. I also wonder if I just "didn't get it" because I couldn't identify with many of the experiences. Am I fair in my judgement (review below) or is it my fault for expecting something "deeper"? I wonder how much taste comes into my interpretation, as I couldn't stand the prose (though not in an anti-elitist way, I enjoy indulgent prose + narration sometimes(Nabokov, Hugo etc)) or the naked symbolism (pretty much ever, like Fahrenheit 451 etc). I didn't care about anything that was happening. But as the novel progressed I found myself struggling to pay attention. And man, the prologue sure seemed to promise that. I expected something emotionally moving whilst bitingly and deftly critic. I was long familiar with this book's general reputation and was eager to read it. Example: Hello.Įxplanation of our link flairs Join our /r/bookclub Don't forget /new! Filter by Flair AMA Weekly Thread Mod PostĪma Check out this week's Thread Calendar Spoiler tags cover spoilers with black bars that reveal spoilers when a cursor hovers over them They are written as: >!spoiler! ![]()
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