From Irving Howe's negative review of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man:
Though immensely gifted, Ellison is not a finished craftsman. The tempo of his book is too feverish, and at times almost hysterical. Too often he tries to overwhelm the reader; but when he should be doing something other then overwhelm, when he should be persuading or suggesting or simply telling, he forces and tears. Because the book is written in the first person singular, Ellison cannot establish ironic distance between his hero and himself, or between the matured "I" telling the story and the "I" who is its victim. And because the experience is so apocalyptic and magnified, it absorbs and then dissolves the hero; every minor character comes through brilliantly, but the seeing "I" is seldom seen.
Published in The Nation May 10, 1952. Here's the whole review.
Truths of outrage and truths of possibility
by Evelyn Reilly
In this election season my desk is littered with post-it notes, images, and quotes: