Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The novel is a poignant exploration of a young African-American man's journey through life, where he grapples with issues of race, identity, and individuality in mid-20th-century America. The protagonist, who remains unnamed throughout the story, considers himself socially invisible due to his race. The narrative follows his experiences from the South to the North, from being a student to a worker, and his involvement in the Brotherhood, a political organization. The book is a profound critique of societal norms and racial prejudice, highlighting the protagonist's struggle to assert his identity in a world that refuses to see him.
The 37th greatest book of all time
Ranking Details:
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This scoring system ensures that each book's ranking reflects both its presence on multiple lists and its positions within those lists, providing a comprehensive measure of its acclaim and popularity.
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Why This Matters
By mitigating recency bias, the List Date Penalty feature helps to ensure that books that have had more time to be evaluated by readers and critics are given their due weight. This results in a more equitable and historically balanced ranking that truly reflects the greatest books of all time.
Total Points: 3591
This book was first published in 1952
70 Lists
- score: 201 -- 222 Best Books of All Time That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf, With Picks from Bestselling Authors and Indie Booksellers - 2024 (Weight: 190)
- score: 200 -- Top 100 Works in World Literature - 2002 (Weight: 200)
- score: 190 -- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - 2006 (Weight: 180)
- score: 190 -- For The Love of Books - 1999 (Weight: 200)
- score: 173 -- The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time - 2007 (Weight: 160)
- score: 154 -- The Ideal Library - 2024 (Weight: 130)
- score: 143 -- Best Books (Fiction, Prose) : Experts Choose Their Favourites - 1996 (Weight: 150)
- score: 142 -- The Greatest Books of All Time - 2022 (Weight: 130)
- score: 132 -- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature - 2021 (Weight: 110)
- score: 127 -- The 100 Stories that Shaped the World - 2019 (Weight: 120)
- score: 127 -- The Booklist Century: 100 Books, 100 Years - 2005 (Weight: 120)
- score: 101 -- The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years - 2016 (Weight: 96)
- score: 94 -- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read - 2009 (Weight: 89)
- score: 94 -- The Great American Novels - 2024 (Weight: 89)
- score: 86 -- Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century - 1999 (Weight: 80)
- score: 85 -- Books Of The Century - 1999 (Weight: 80)
- score: 81 -- Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books - 2011 (Weight: 70)
- score: 80 -- All-Time Classics, According to Academics - 1985 (Weight: 110)
- score: 77 -- The Best Southern Novels of All Time - 2009 (Weight: 70)
- score: 74 -- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime - 2014 (Weight: 70)
- score: 64 -- TrueLit's Top 100 Favorite Books (2023) - 2023 (Weight: 60)
- score: 64 -- The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels - 1999 (Weight: 60)
- score: 63 -- The Spouter-Inn; or, A Conversation with Great Books - 2024 (Weight: 60)
- score: 62 -- Our Users' Top 100 Favorite Books of All Time - 2024 (Weight: 60)
- score: 62 -- Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels - 1998 (Weight: 60)
- score: 60 -- 100 Best 20th-Century American Books - 1999 (Weight: 60)
- score: 54 -- 100 Best Books - 2010 (Weight: 50)
- score: 53 -- 125 Books We Love for Adults - 2020 (Weight: 50)
- score: 42 -- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels - 2005 (Weight: 40)
- score: 42 -- 12 Novels Considered the Greatest Book Ever Written - 2016 (Weight: 40)
- score: 40 -- Top 100 Books - 1999 (Weight: 40)
- score: 38 -- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century - 1996 (Weight: 40)
- score: 37 -- Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 - 1984 (Weight: 50)
- score: 37 -- 40 Most Important Books, 1927-2001 - 2001 (Weight: 36)
- score: 33 -- Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels - 2013 (Weight: 30)
- score: 31 -- Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher - 2005 (Weight: 30)
- score: 30 -- The Great American Read - 2018 (Weight: 30)
- score: 21 -- The Great Books Podcast from John J. Miller - 2025 (Weight: 20)
- score: 21 -- Stephen King names his 10 favourite books of all time - 2017 (Weight: 20)
- score: 21 -- In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels - 2011 (Weight: 20)
- score: 18 -- The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Readers' List - 1998 (Weight: 20)
- score: 16 -- 101 Significant Books - 1989 (Weight: 20)
- score: 15 -- Donald Barthelme’s Reading List - 1985 (Weight: 20)
- score: 11 -- 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 - 2014 (Weight: 10)
- score: 11 -- Everything You Should Read without Being a Library Rat - 1972 (Weight: 20)
- score: 10 -- 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction - 1999 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- Books That Shaped America - 2012 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- A Century of Reading - 2018 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- Select 100 - 2015 (Weight: 10)
- score: 10 -- National Book Award - Fiction - Yearly Book Award (Weight: 50)
- score: 1 -- One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985 - 2014 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition - 2011 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The 100 Greatest Novels - 2007 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time - 2004 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Complete 500: OCLC - 2024 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- D. G. Myers’ 50 Greatest English Language Novels - 2009 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The College Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers - 2002 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Well-Educated Mind - 2003 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List - 2018 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Nancy Pearl's 100 Good Reads, Decade by Decade - 2009 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- 25 Books by Black Authors You Should Read This February - 2024 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 - 2011 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books - 2013 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The 80 Books Every Man Should Read - 2015 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Dream of the Great American Novel - 2014 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics - 2001 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- How to Read and Why - 2000 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon - 1994 (Weight: 1)
- score: 1 -- IWU Select 100 Must-Read Books - 1991 (Weight: 1)