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Ragtime Review

I've never read a book quite like Ragtime. Historical fiction is too weak of a categorization. Author E. L. Doctorow deeply leverages the reader's basic knowledge of 1890's American culture and history to create a believable, multi-layered story which incorporates fictional and historical characters seamlessly.
This is a novel about America in transition. Everything is new, active and changing. There is hope for the future and conflict with the past. The existing elites and powerful of all kinds are moving to the future, while protecting their positions from immigrants, blacks, women, workers and innovators. This is not a rosy portrait of America, but one that emphasizes the dirt, grime and corruption of a new industrial era powered by steam locomotives and electricity.
America's east coast population is small enough at this time to allow the reader to believe the interconnections of the 3 families and the historical figures. In a world of change, the characters seek progress and security. There is an emphasis on escapism, reflected in the acts of Harry Houdini, among others. The author describes the failures of escapism, idealism, materialism, socialism, conformism, nationalism and new age spiritualism to provide comfort and guidance.
The work is narrated in a matter of fact voice which is quite jarring when descriptions of life and death are encountered. The author's choice of Ragtime for the title may have been intended to send a positive message about the ultimate path of America as it finds its own voice in the twentieth century. The characters also provided some hope for optimism, but the final tone of the novel is discordant and the taste is bittersweet. Progress provides opportunities but not clear solutions for human life.
This is an excellent work, worthy of the praise from critics and readers.

Ragtime Overview

This novel recounts the interrelated early 20th-century lives of the families of a New Rochelle manufacturer, an immigrant socialist, and a Harlem musician and their involvement with Evelyn Nesbit, Henry Ford, Houdini, Morgan, Freud, Zapata, and other period notables.

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Customer Reviews

Parsing the non/fictional divide - J. Edgar Mihelic - Chicago
Doctorow spins and weaves the separate threads of several lives together in a beautiful tapestry. Some of the characters you might know; we meet Emma Goldman and J. P. Morgan. Other characters I have never met. Perhaps they lived, perhaps they only invaded the mind of their creator.

While I enjoyed the book, I do not have enough interest in parsing the non/fictional divide. I liked the story of a young America shaking off its wings and learning to fly.

That said, some of the character's seem poorly drawn or have hard to understand motivations behind major changes in their character: Tatah and Younger Brother come to mind here. In terms of style and subject matter, the work is strangely reminiscent of John Dos Passos. Both authors cover the same period and both authors even import at least one character that I can remember to help tell their story: Big Bill Hayward. I don't know if the Doctorow is too derivative, but at the very least it finds in its heart a quality author to ape.

A new reader to Ragtime - Barbara A. Hall - Pasadena, CA
Dear Amazon: Mostly this was a good buy for the No Name Book Club. I had hoped for less than .00 per item, but at the time I could not find that price, but just today I see .01 cent copies. The bad is as follows: One of the paperback books was badly marked up with several colors of highlighters and then comments written in ink on several pages. Nicely, Amazon refunded my money and shipping and said keep the book which I tossed in the trash. Your responder said they did not know how that book slipped into consumer's hands. Barbara PS Of course the book is outstanding!

Ragtime - K. RAMSTAD - Usa
We just read this book for in our book club & I thought it was a tremendous achievement. This was my first encounter with a book by E. L. Doctorow, & it was fantastic. The first half contained some crude sexuality, but it is not there for mindless sensationalism but it is there as a powerful statement adding to the theme of the book. I was also intrigued & thrilled with the way he wrote the book, as he was trying to convey some insights to & evoke the experience of Ragtime music. It is a great book; I have bought four more of his other works & am anxious to read those, starting with "The March".

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Saturday, August 21, 2010