My Nine Lives by Leon Fleisher and Anne Midgette

The memoir of the pianist Leon Fleisher, who can trace his teacher ancestry back to Beethoven through his teacher Schnabel. Fleisher was a child prodigy, full of promise, playing with the best orchestras and giving recitals in New York's Carnegie Hall. That in itself is a compelling story, but then tragedy struck, in the form of what we would call now a repetitive stress injury, or dystonia, or carpal tunnel syndrome. He lost the use of his right hand for playing the piano.

The memoir details that life-changing injury and Fleisher's attempts to cope, as well as his three marriages, five children, and countless musician friends and colleagues. It is an informative, if not inspiring, read. The writing is low key and personal, as if Fleisher were sitting next to you, talking about his life. An added benefit for musicians are several "master classes" of important pieces of piano literature, in which Fleisher gives his personal views on interpretation.

The Reckoning by Howard Owen

A tragic coming-of-age novel, set in Virginia and North Carolina. Jake is the teenager, troubled after the death of his mother. George, his father, is depressed over the loss of his wife and the selling of his company, which has been in the family for generation. An old friend of George's, Freeman Hawk, a Vietnam-era draft dodger and ex-patriot from Canada, visits and brings tragedy with him.

The novel gets off to a slow, confusing start. It's not clear at times what story is actually being told. Things do pick up about midway, but there is still quite a bit of confusion at times, due, I think, to some awkward storytelling.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Pretty disappointing book. The original novel is repackaged with a selection of short stories with no distinction or division between the novel and the stories. Nowhere on the covers or inside is there any indication of what was done.

So, when I got to the end of the novel, I did not realize I was at the end of the novel, and thought the next short story was the next chapter of the novel. Very confusing.

The original novel is very short, either a novella or long short story. And it leaves a lot to be desired. As science fiction/horror, I suppose it works - the image of the sole human surrounded by vampires is chilling, but the attempt to explain the science behind vampires is week, and the female character is not convincing. I haven't seen the movie, but knowing Hollywood, no doubt they changed it quite a bit.

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart

A very enjoyable memoir that chronicles the author's relationship with the piano, a particular piano that he purchased, and the the owner of the Paris shop where he purchased it. Along the way we learn about piano history and construction, piano performance, and the quirks of the residents of Paris. A lot of fun to read for anyone with an interest in pianos or Paris.

Hell by Robert Olen Butler

One of Butler's better novels - his forte is short fiction. This one imagines Hell from the viewpoint of a network news anchor that finds himself dead and damned. Lots of famous people and their unique tortures are described, in the manner of Dante's Inferno.

Unfortunately the author includes living people in Hell, putting words in their mouths. Such as Bush and both Clintons, etc. I find that petty and vindictive - he could easily have restricted himself to only the dead.

Other than that, it's an interesting read. The ending is so so. There are some humorous parts, but not the laugh-out-loud type of humor.

The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett

Don't waste your time on these. Something is definitely lost when converting the Discworld novels to graphic novels, and the artwork is just your standard stuff. Pretty disappointing.

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

Another in the post-apocalypse series that I am reading...

This is an odd book. Plot and characters take a back seat to the idea - in a sense this is a polemical - the author has something he wants to say and uses the book to say it.

Imagine a future where nuclear war has knocked civilization back to a dark age where knowledge is being preserved by monasteries, much as it was in the original dark ages. Except the knowledge is incomplete and often misunderstood. The novel is divided into three smaller books that are hundreds of years apart and share no characters, tracing the re-emergence of civilization and the way history repeats itself.

Because of this blocky treatment where character and plot are subservient I don't think this is a very successful book.

The Postman by David Brin

Another "end of the world" novel. In this one, nuclear war has reduced humankind to isolated bands of farmers and hunters, very low-tech. The protagonist, while struggling to escape bandits who have stolen all his survival gear, stumbles across the long-dead body of a US Postman. He takes the uniform and cap, and is afterward mistaken for an actual postman, a symbol of the fictional "restored" US government. He goes along with the misunderstanding, taking advantage of it, establishing regular mail service and post offices in the scattered settlements of what was once Oregon. Of course things have to turn bad, and his deception has to be discovered, etc.

To my taste, the novel is a little too much science fiction. It would have worked just as well without some of the elements introduced later in the book. But it is science fiction, so I cannot really complain. It is not as good an apocalyptic novel as "Earth Abides" or "Day of the Triffids", but it's still worth a read.

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

Classic book about the collapse of civilization. The protagonist recovers from a snakebite to find that, while he has been sick, almost everyone else has died as the result of a plaque. The novel, as evidenced by the title, focuses on the ecological changes that occur after the sudden collapse of humankind, as well as the struggles of the few remaining survivors to cope and perpetuate the species.

I first read this 30 years ago - it was first published in 1949. I loved it then, and still remembered many parts of it three decades later. I especially liked the protagonist's cross-country trip to see what was left of America. A great read.

Bound by Antonya Nelson

An interesting novel with some interesting characters that are written well. There is an aging serial adulterer on his third wife and looking for his fourth, an AWOL young Army man suffering from PTSD, a teenage loner who has been orphaned, and a peculiarly ambivalent woman who is about to become the guardian for an orphaned teen she has never met. Tie it all together with the background noise of an aging serial killer. And dogs - yes, dogs are used as a recurring motif, including puppies.

It's a good read though. It's not at first obvious how the disparate characters will be drawn together, which is generally a good thing since it keeps the reader guessing. Nelson is an excellent writer.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Winner of the National Book Award, this is an intelligent novel, well constructed, with an intricate plot and great characters. It is not clear at times where the author is going and how he intends to get there, but in the end it all comes together and works very well.

The book, and the characters in it, are inspired by a tightrope walker who illegally strings a cable between the twin towers of the World Trade Center and walks across. The author is making a statement about 9/11. but to me he connection is tenuous. That was the weakest part of the book - the final section that moved forward to the current time. But it's still a great read, filled with interesting characters and an engrossing look back into the 1970s.

The Day of the Trifids by John Wyndham

I have started reading a series of books on the theme It's the End of the World! What fun! An entertaining diversion from the literary novels I usually read.

This is a fun book. A little subdued by modern standards (first published in 1951), it has a lot in common with the work of H. G. Wells. Everybody knows the story: Everyone on earth goes blind after viewing the breakup of a comet in the night skies. Was it really a comet, or something man-made? Only a few lucky individuals escape with their sight intact.

The collapse of human society gives the mysterious plants called the triffids an advantage. Where did the triffids come from? No one knows, but they are carnivorous, ambulatory, and sentient. Creepy stuff. The novel draws on the fright about global destruction in the fifties. But it is still relevant today, and a lot of fun to read.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson

The last of the thrillers by Larsson, once again continuing the characters of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. It ties up the loose ends of the second novel in the series and comes to a satisfying conclusion, which is good, since there will be no more novels after Larsson's death.

For me this was the least satisfying of the novels because of the subject matter. The theme this time is out-of-control spies, corrupt police, and unethical doctors. There is a lot of tension in this novel, even more than in the others, so I had a constant feeling of anxiety while reading it. Larsson does an excellent job generating that anxiety, which thriller readers thrive on. But I'm not a big fan of thrillers - I was glad when it was all over.

There are a few loose ends. Makes me wonder if Larsson had planned another novel. What about Lisbeth's sister? Will Blomkist actually settle down and marry someone? But we'll never know.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

The second of the novels by Larsson about the characters Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. In this one, Lisbeth is accused of three murders and goes into hiding. She finally has a showdown with the mysterious Zala. Plenty of plot twists and surprising revelations, along with Larsson's excellent pacing and use of thriller techniques.

There are lots of plot elements left hanging at the end of this - obviously a sequel was planned from the beginning. Once again a confusing array of characters - keep a list if you want to make sense of the novel.

Larsson also changes the "theme". The first novel was about a dysfunctional family hiding secrets and violence against women. This one is about media abuse and corrupt and inept police. It's also about a third longer than a typical US thriller and much more detailed.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Slow to start, bewildering array of characters, but once it gets going it is hard to stop reading. An impressive novel, almost a literary mystery.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Classic retelling of the story of Cain and Abel. It actually retells the story twice, in two different generations, with several other subplots thrown in, so it's not a novel for those with a short attention span.

A Contract With God by Will Eisner

Picked this up after reading "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", which was loosely inspired by the life of Will Eisner. I haven't read a comic book - sorry, "graphic novel", in over 40 years. It was surprisingly good, a collection of three stories about life in the tenements in New York. Amazing art work too.

Water Music by T. C. Boyle

Another odd, but good, novel from Boyle. Historical fiction, it tells the story of a Scottish explorer attempting to "discover" the Congo River in Africa. Of course the explorer is oblivious to the fact that the river has already been discovered by thousands of black and Muslim Africans. Just part of the irony that Boyle loves so much, and which he is so good at.

Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle

A novel from the pages of tonight's news, telling the story of an illegal alien couple juxtaposed with an affluent southern California couple. Ironic in a way that T. C. Boyle is famous for, the story is riveting and moving. An excellent read.

World's End by T. C. Boyle

An odd novel, telling parallel stories in different time periods, from the colonial America of the Patroons of New York to post World War II to recent history. The poor modern hero cannot catch a break, as history seems to repeat itself over and over. An intriguing read if you can keep all the characters and timelines straight!

East is East by T. C. Boyle

Great book! It really sucked me in with the contrasts between the characters, the irony of the situations, and the tragic-comic coloring of everything. It tells the story of a Japanese sailor who jumps ship off the shore of Georgia and meets an array of odd characters, some that help him and some that hurt him, as he struggles to make sense of America and find a place for himself. One of the people that "helps" him is an ambitious female writer at an artist colony on a secluded island off the Georgia coast. Boyle draws her with a deft touch, hilarious in places and sadly ironic in others. An excellent novel.

All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost by Lan Samantha Chang

A sensitive portrayal of the lives of two poets, one who is successful, wins awards, teaches at a university, and is married with a child, and one who works on a single poem all his life and lives a quiet, minimal life. This is literary fiction, concerned with the characters relationships to poetry, each other, and their friends and family. It's well written, insightful, and probing.

It begins slowly, however. A BAM! POW! opening is not to be expected from a novel of this type, and things do pick up and become interesting as the novel progresses, but the opening is particularly bland - it could do with an interesting sentence or a unique situation to draw the reader in. I'm afraid many readers who pick the novel up and read the opening may put it down again and miss out on a good read.

The Inner Circle by T. C. Boyle

I'm a big fan of T. C. Boyle, and this book is well-written and meticulously crafted, as I have come to expect from Boyle, but, I was just disgusted with two of the main characters. The novel tells the story of Professor Kinsey and his inner circle of sex researchers. Kinsey and his wife are historical figures, the rest of the characters are fictional. Kinsey is portrayed as overbearing, authoritarian, obsessed, domineering, abusive, and borderline perverted - all of which is probably close to the mark historically. And I really hated him.

The other major character, and the narrator, is John Milk, the first researcher that Kinsey hired. He is weak and easily led, treating Kinsey as a god, to the detriment of his own marriage. I'm sure Boyle, in the manner of Dickens, chose Milk's name on purpose - he really is a milquetoast. I wanted him to stand up to Kinsey, quit his job, maybe buy a gun and take some revenge, but he could never bring himself to do much of anything.

So I liked the writing but hated the two most important characters! What a dilemma...

Percival's Planet by Michael Byers

An excellent novel on so many levels. It tells the story of the discovery of the planet Pluto, from the viewpoint of the people involved and their friends and family. The characters revolve around and influence each other in much the same way that the planets revolve and perturb each others orbits. The characters are real, interesting, and varied. Several times I was surprised by their actions, only to realize in retrospect that the author had done an excellent job steering their behavior.

The plot, most of which takes place in 1929-1930, is framed by a begging and ending in the current time, which was also well done. The beginning sets the stage (literally) and gets the reader engaged in the story and anxious to find out what really happened.

Highly recommended.

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

An odd book, one of that sub-genre of fiction that borrows characters from another work of fiction, in this case Melville's Moby Dick. The best recent example I have read of this sub-genre is "March" by Geraldine Brooks - an excellent book that borrows characters from "Little Women". "Ahab's Wife" centers around the women who was barely mentioned in "Moby Dick", the wife of Ahab.

The writing is excellent, the author a real craft person, but the big is big and loose and self-indulgent. Melville's book is also big and somewhat self-indulgent, but it had the focus of a harponeer on it's destination. At times I had to wonder where "Ahab's Wife" was headed - it wandered all over the literary landscape. But still, it is a good read and worth the time.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

An interesting book, the Pulitzer prize winner for fiction in 2009. Interesting and fun to read. A series of related short stories that at least mention the character of Olive Kitteridge, a crusty New Englander that taught school for years. The stories involve people that knew her or were influenced by her, her husband, son, and so on. They are all finely crafted and suspenseful. Well worth a read.

Work Song by Ivan Doig

This is a pleasant enough book, basically a reminiscence of 1919 Butte, Montana. Morrie Morgan, a character from Doig's earlier novel, "The Whistling Season", blows into Butte, penniless and without prospects, and becomes a peripheral character in a conflict between the miner's union, a communist worker's group, and the mine owners. The conflict can be summarized as: union good, communists bad, capitalists evil. Only the union viewpoint is examined - none of the characters belong to any of the other groups.

There is not much depth here. The plot is thin, the characters are not surprising or even very interesting, and the ending is blah. Doig's earlier novel, "The Whistling Season", was much better.

Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos

Hot Latin Lovers! This is the story of the life of Maria Garcia, the beautiful Cuban dancer from the author's previous novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love", which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. "Mambo Kings" had more hot sex scenes than all the previous Pulitzer Prize winners combined, and this novel continues in that same tradition.

Maria grows from a poor illiterate child in rural Cuba, to a dancer in the pre-Castro nightclubs of Havana. She meets Nestor Castillo, one of the brothers at the heart of the Mambo Kings, and inspires him to write the classic love song that is the title of the novel.

The story follows Maria through her life, as she loves many men, has a daughter, escapes from Cuba to the US, marries, and so on. Always, her love for Nestor is something she cannot forget.

In an odd twist, the author shows up in his own novel as a character!. I cannot remember this happening in any of the other thousands of novels I have read. It's an intriguing twist to the story, and adds some verisimilitude, leaving the reader wondering what is real and what is fiction.

The novel is well done and satisfying, the love scenes are hot and graphic, and the portrayal of Cuba and Cubans realistic. Highly recommended.

The Whole World by Emily Winslow

A unique and interesting novel, a true literary mystery. Set in Cambridge, the story follows a group of loosely linked students, professors, a policeman, and their families, as they encounter a series of odd occurrences, disappearances and even murder. The plot is Gothic in nature, full of family secrets, hidden pasts, and violent passions.

But the unique part of the novel is the manner of telling the story. It's a first person serial, with each character telling their share of the story from their own viewpoint. That's nothing new, but usually the first person serial characters return over and over, as in Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying". In "The Whole World" each character has their say only once. It's an effective technique, and generates a real page turner of a novel as the complicated plot unfolds layer by layer.

An excellent read, on many levels.

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

Great title, excellent idea, depressing execution. The mix of humor and tragedy is off. Too much tragedy, not enough humor, especially the ending.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

An outstanding novel - if this doesn't win a major award this year I will be very surprised. It examines in detail a family of one husband, four wives, and twenty-eight or so children. The father is stretched too thin, economically and emotionally, and is lying to his wives and on the verge of having an affair - as odd as that may seem. Wife #4 and son #5 are followed closely as well, giving the reader a fascinating glimpse into the psychology of a poly-family.

But it is the humor that really makes the novel stand out. It's the humor of awkward situations and unintended consequences, the type where you just can't believe that happened, but are totally convinced it could have. The humor is mixed with pathos and tragedy, which makes it all the more real.

It's a fascinating novel, perfect for a book club or discussion group. A real page turner too, with unexpected twists and turns and an ending that is real and not manipulative or saccharine. Highly recommended.

The Whole Wide Beauty by Emily Woof

A surprisingly good book. Surprising, because the back-cover copy led me to believe it was about a woman's passionate affair with a poet. It is about that, but it is also much more. It gets off to somewhat of a slow start, introducing lots of peripheral characters. At least they seemed to be peripheral, until the novel blossomed into an examination of all the linked characters and their loves and lives. The author does a great job portraying the diverse characters and examining their motivations and desires. A very enjoyable and satisfying novel.

Link to Amazon: The Whole Wide Beauty: A Novel

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

I dislike books that are overly manipulative and heavy on pop psychology, and that's what this book is. The author follows the trials of a family through the eyes of their dog. He throws in a mother with brain cancer, a child taken away by evil, rich grandparents who engage in a devastating legal battle with their poor son-in-law, and a father who puts his family ahead of his career as a race car driver. The dog narrator is treated like a dog, hit by a car, suffers from arthritis, and so on. Everything is tied together by the pop psychology of race car driving, reminiscent of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". In addition, the dog narrator is hardly a dog. He understands more about life than all the people around him. He speaks in complete sentences, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of old movies and auto racing. Entirely unbelievable.

But it is a page-turner and easy to read. Once begun, it is hard to stop. I found myself caught up in the trials of the family even as I condemned the author for manipulating me.

Link to Amazon: The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel

The Life of Johnny Reb by Bell Irvin Wiley

First published in 1943, this is a classic text that dispels many of the myths and legends about the soldiers of the confederacy and reveals their lives during the war as revealed by letters, journals, and primary sources of facts. Facts are good, romanticized notions of history are bad. If you are writing a historical novel dealing with the civil war, then this book is for you. If you are an interested student of history, this book is for you.

Link to Amazon: The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy

Chopin by Jim Samson

This if one of the Master Musicians series from Oxford University Press.

This biography takes an interesting approach. The chapters alternate between history and musical analysis. So a chapter will detail Chopin's early life, and the next chapter will discuss his early compositions during that period. I think that's an effective approach - those readers who are not interested in detailed musical analysis can skip those chapters, and those readers who are interested in the music can use it as a reference.

Of course, no book on Chopin can succeed without dealing with the elephant in the room - his relationship with George Sand. I think this book does an excellent job of reporting the facts that can be verified about their life together without vilifying Sand or even placing blame. It's much better to report the facts and let the readers reach their own conclusion.

Now that I have read it I'll weigh in with my opinion, for what's it worth. Obviously they would not have stayed together as long as they did (9 years?) if each had not gotten something of value from the relationship. The fact that they were probably platonic after the second year means that it wasn't sex that keep them together. Sand mothered Chopin, and he let her. She provided stability and a place of refuge for him. She nursed him back to health several times. She also reinvented her past to suit her own purposes, probably to justify her own actions. Chopin seemed easily manipulated by Sand's daughter, who at least provided the immediate reason for the breakup.

But I don't think the facts, as presented in this book, support the idea that Chopin would have lived much longer and written more and better music if he had not lived with Sand. In my opinion the opposite is probably true. She provided some stability in his life during his most productive periods.

So read this biography and make up your own mind already!

Link to Amazon: Chopin (Master Musicians Series)

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Dickens' last complete novel. I think that the influence of Wilkie Collins' success is evident. Dickens' novel has some of the same elements - a mystery (more than one, actually) and unexpected twists and turns in the plot.

It still has Dickens' exceptional treatment of the characters. There are many scenes in which the reader can revel in the details of character and setting - the first scene in the bone articulator's shop, for instance.

But the part of the novel that exasperated me was the plot to test the moral character of Bella Wilfer carried out by Rokesmith and the Boffins. It borders on lying to the reader. It is an intentional deception, at least. Such a deception should be accompanied by clues and symbolism that allow the reader to have a chance at predicting where the plot will turn. I don't think there are any clues here. The Harmon/Handford/Rokesmith complication is amply telegraphed to the reader - it does not come across as an unexpected plot surprise. But the deception to fool Bella also fools the reader and leads to a certain amount of disgust - at least for me.

I really enjoyed the rest of the novel, though. I think it would be much more popular if the unfortunate deception had been altered by Dickens.

Link to Amazon: Our Mutual Friend (Modern Library Classics)

Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment by James R. Gaines

This book needs to get an award just for the length of the subtitle!

Entertaining, excellent, and approachable history. Not a biography, but an examination of the lives of J.S. Bach and Frederick the Great inspired by their famous meeting. Late in Bach's life, he journeyed to the court of Frederick (where his son, C.P.E. Bach, was a court musician). Summoned by Frederick, he was presented with a theme and asked to compose a fugue on it in three parts. Back improvised the fugue, to the astonishment of everyone. Later, when Bach returned to Leipzig, he composed and had printed the "Musical Offering" on Frederic's theme and sent it to the court.

The author does a lot of creative reading between the lines to fill out the historical record. That is what makes the book so enjoyable, presenting the facts and giving an entertaining interpretation. He fills in the history of Bach and Frederick, and casts their meeting as a collision of the serious baroque music of Bach with the lighter music favored by Frederick, and uses that as a metaphor for the change from the religious reformation to the birth of the Enlightenment.

Link to Amazon: Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment (P.S.)

Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor

Grim. Depressing. The story of a group of heroin addicts, alcoholics, psychopaths, and street people. The injection of heroin is described in disturbing detail. Not exactly Dickens' Drood in the opium den. Dickens softened the impact of Drood's drug use by including his characteristic virgin female and comic relief. There is no softening of anything in "Even the Dogs". Don't even wish for a happy ending. Nobody gets out of this one alive or recovered or even with any hope.

Which is not to say that the writing is not good. I think it is. The author does an excellent job of portraying the single-minded obsession of the addicts with acquiring their next fix, at whatever cost. I question the decision to turn this into a novel. There is quite a bit of repetition. Considering the distasteful subject matter I wonder why it wasn't shortened and presented as, for instance, the centerpiece of a short story collection, including other stories that could have buffered the hopelessness of "Even the Dogs". I can't see this selling many copies or being commercially successful as a novel.

One thing that the author does which is interesting is the inclusion of a "Greek Chorus" of dead addicts that comment on the action and scenes. That is the basic structure of the novel. One of the group has died alone in what we in the US would call a "crack house" and a small amount of backstory is woven into the narrative and commented on by the chorus as the body is discovered and autopsied.

So, I have to give it a good rating because of the fine writing, but I would not recommend this to any but the most hardened of readers.

Link to Amazon: Even the Dogs: A Novel

The Beethoven Compendium by Barry Cooper

Not a biography, but an examination of everything Beethoven by four different editors. Not the type of book you would read from cover to cover, but an exhaustive reference to his life, influences, music, writings, portraits, career, students, and so on and so forth. Highly recommended for the serious amateur, music student, or professional.

Link to Amazon: The Beethoven Compendium (A Guide to Beethoven's Life and Music) [UNABRIDGED] (Paperback)

J.S. Bach - A Life in Music by Peter Williams

This biography takes a novel approach. It uses the printed obituary of Bach written by his son C.P.E. Bach, and examines it line by line, expanding it and speculating on the details. This is not a biography for the merely curious, since a knowledge of music theory and history is helpful, even though it includes a glossary. The target audience would be serious amateurs, music students, and professionals.

Link to Amazon: J.S. Bach: A Life in Music

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

What's most amazing about this book is the time that it was written - late 40s, published in the early 50s. Yet it pretty accurately predicts most facets of the civil rights movement for blacks, good and bad. In fact, the first scene in the book, the "battle royale" contains, in miniature, most of what happens later. Black man rewarded by white, reward turns out to be denigrating, blacks fight amongst themselves, whites are pulling the strings, and so on and so forth.

My advice, if you are reading this edition, is to skip the introduction - read it later if you want to. The author does quite a bit of pontificating.

The novel also is somewhat heavy-handed with the symbolism. Everything is a symbol, or can be viewed as a symbol. That gets old quickly, especially when it is so obvious.

Link to Amazon: Invisible Man