E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime (Modern Critical Interpretations)

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Summary: Julia P. , Miller Place, NY
Review: A nicely done historical tale of America in the first years of the last century, Ragtime takes us back to a time that is different than, yet eerily similar to, our own. Of particular interest is the parallel with the violence and terrorism perpetrated by the anarchists and wobblies (International Workers of the World) back then, whose anger at the existing capitalist system suffuse and drive this tale, and events in our own time, as we face, once more, an upswelling of terrorism directed against our nation and society. In the first years of the twentieth century, a well-off family in New Rochelle, New York, which takes its income from the manufacture of fireworks and flags, thriving on the patriotism of the nation, is suddenly thrust into a series of events which will bring its members face to face with some of the less savory characterstics and characters of American society. Famous personages from that era (Houdini, Stanford White, Elizabeth Nesbit, Emma Goldman, J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford) intermingle with the fictional characters and come together in a remarkable confluence as a proud, self-made black musician named Coalhouse Walker comes courting, only to find himself a victim of mindless racism one evening on his way back to New York City. Too proud to walk away or accept less than full restitution for his loss, he at last precipitates a series of events that bring the historical and fictional players together in a shocking moment of violence and careless killing. The characters move on despite the carnage, as America flows forward into the turmoil that will become the twentieth century, but Walker makes his point. Despite its intriguing sense of period, the tale has some weaknesses. None of the characterizations are particularly strong or moving and the story reads as though Doctorow, having immersed himself in the documents of the period, as part of his research, just decided to write out a description of the real events as he found them, interspersing these with his imagined characters and their doings. Dialogue is buried in the narrative, an interesting technique that does work in this case though it causes the book to read more like an historical narrative than a genuinely dramatized tale of the people at its center. This unfortunately tends to make the characters seem a bit distant and vague. Nevertheless, the tale works and leaves you with a sense of having been there as we laughingly discover how the socialist artist from Eastern Europe, Tateh, finally leaves all his ideals behind to make his fortune in the unique American fantasyland of a newly burgeoning Hollywood. The implied narrative voice of a young boy who views all this from his unique vantage point as a son of a strangely conjoined family is subtly played and almost lost in the final denouement. You have to attend closely to catch it. Alas, we don't feel much for any of the players except a profound sense of ironic separation as America barrels its way more deeply into the new century, World War I looming darkly on the horizon. And that terrorism which manifested itself at our last entry into a "new century," and which has been so nicely caught in this novel, seems to have eerily returned once more as we move again into the next hundred year span, prompting me to wonder if Doctorow sensed or imagined any of this back in 1975 when this one was published. SWM

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Summary: A Lively, Intricate Composition
Review: Calling this "a novel about America" would be a crime, because it would make the average reader pitch forward into a deep coma (and if you're at Barnes & Noble at the time, you could be injured when a pile of Grisham falls on you), and you'd never read this vibrant crackerjack of a book. So let's call it "a lively, funny, poignant, well-paced novel that happens to be about America but it's so fascinating you might not notice." It's about an unnamed family (the characters are simply named Father, Mother, The Little Boy, etc., which makes for some very lovely metaphoric overtones) who keep running into and involving themselves in the lives of celebrities of the '20s (Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan...about a dozen of them are recurring characters) as well as some no-name underclass workers and immigrants, who were treated far more shabbily than popular memory tells. The classes clash in a contrapuntal dance, history is made, and all the while The Family is subtly changing, and by the end of the book we actually care that the stage is set for our modern world, and that the glories and abuses of the Roaring Twenties are about to be lost forever. The writing moves at a satisfying clip, and the book is on the brief side anyway, so you'll burn through much of it at your first sitting, and be eager to get back to it, even if you don't do what I did: get to the end, smile, and start to reread it at the beginning. I've wanted to meet E.L. Doctorow ever since. You should be similarly charmed

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Summary: It is about three groups involved in each other's destinies.
Review: E.L. Doctorow's novel, Ragtime, published in 1975 in America is a hilarious yet somber tale of life in America after the turn of the century. It is an extraordinary tapestry of three groups becoming involved in each other's destinies. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, New York, at the home of a wealthy American family. One sultry Sunday afternoon, little boy standing on the porch of the house witnesses Harry Houdini lose control of his car and crash into a telephone pole. Magically the story lines interweave historical figures become part of fictional events and fictional characters become part of real history. Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, Evelyn Nesbit, Simund Frend, and Zapata slip in and out of the story crossing paths with an imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler, Tateh, and a black Ragtime piano player from Harlem, Coalhouse, whose insistence on a point of justice and law drives him to revolutionary violence. Doctorow's bestseller was made into a major movie. There is a surprising upbeat ending, but let the reader discover it and ponder the implications. Ragtime deserves a thoughtful reading.

Salam. OAC English student, Canada.

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Summary: A Riff on America at the Turn of the 20th Century
Review: Even before the Broadway musical and the film, Ragtime was E.L. Doctorow's best known work, a celebrated novel that combines the syncopation of ragtime and the literary sensibilities of a writer intrigued by history as literary device. Set primarily in Westchester County's New Rochelle but also in New York City and, briefly, Massachusetts, the novel follows the stories of real and fictional characters as they move from innocence to disillusionment, from peace time to the beginnings of racial conflict and World War I.

Because the novel contains so many stories, some as short as a few pages (in the case of Freud) and some woven throughout the entire novel, describing the plot of the book is a challenge. The author primarily follows the lives of a New Rochelle family (Father, Mother, Younger Brother, and the Little Boy) as they navigate changing times. Father accompanies Peary on his exploration to the North Pole. Mother takes in a young black woman, Sarah, and her newborn, an impulsive act which leads to the introduction of ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker and his simple demands which escalate into violence. Younger Brother becomes infatuated with the celebrated beauty Evelyn Nesbit, which in turn leads to his association with anarchist Emma Goldman. Harry Houdini's car breaks down in front of their house, and the novel enters his story as well. The family acts as a touchstone for the disparate stories of a generation. Meanwhile, the story of a counterpart family - Mameh, Tateh, and the Little Girl - unfolds in the ghetto, where the Jewish immigrant family struggles for survival. Unbeknownst to both families, their stories are linked by those of the others.

In syncopated prose that dissipates partway through the novel as the short age of ragtime gives way to jazz, Doctorow manages to infuse irony in short, seemingly unrelated sentences: "Everyone wore white in the summer. Tennis racquets were hefty and the racquet faces elliptical. There was a lot of sexual fainting. There were no Negroes." Since the novel is about the loss of the naiveté that gives birth to such generalizations, this kind of set-up allows for the numerous tales that shoot off in different directions.

The complicated novel is not demanding to read, although the huge cast of characters and the emphasis on history makes emotional identification with the characters difficult. If readers look at this novel as an Impressionistic look at life at the beginning of the 20th century, they will find more satisfaction than if they regard it as the story of Little Boy's family. The coherence of this novel comes from the brackets of an era and not from a tidy relation among the plots. I highly recommend this influential novel for serious readers and students of literature.

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Summary: Haunting and Beautiful
Review: I delayed reading this book for many years, because it sounded sort of hokey. That was a HUGE mistake. It is one of the most beautiful books that I've ever read. It makes me cringe when people describe a book using the "tapestry" metaphor, but it is really fitting here: the reader watches, spellbound, as a city full of individual lives come and go and interact in surprising ways during a fascinating period of American history.

Everyone is here: the Gilded Age millionaires, the upper middle class suburbanites, the newly-arrived immigrants, the writers and singers and musicians, the protesters. Every thread that still makes up a city appears and lives and works together. We see them all, and we see the world as they see it, even if only for a few moments. The book has some funny moments and some poignant moments, but ultimately it will leave you feeling like you've witnessed some very important events.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting and Beautiful
Review: I delayed reading this book for many years, because it sounded sort of hokey. That was a HUGE mistake. It is one of the most beautiful books that I've ever read. It makes me cringe when people describe a book using the "tapestry" metaphor, but it is really fitting here: the reader watches, spellbound, as a city full of individual lives come and go and interact in surprising ways during a fascinating period of American history.

Everyone is here: the Gilded Age millionaires, the upper middle class suburbanites, the newly-arrived immigrants, the writers and singers and musicians, the protesters. Every thread that still makes up a city appears and lives and works together. We see them all, and we see the world as they see it, even if only for a few moments. The book has some funny moments and some poignant moments, but ultimately it will leave you feeling like you've witnessed some very important events.

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Summary: Brilliant
Review: I first read this book in high school and have since read it again. It's one of my all time favorites. Ragtime captures the essence of the early 1900's in a way that's illuminating without becoming hokey or caricatured. While this portrayal in itself is satisfying, it is only a backdrop for an epic fable of class and love. The weaving together of three seperate tales keeps the reader interested by not lingering too long in any spot. It gets better I've time I read it.

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Summary: The play was better.
Review: I saw the play, and decided to read the book. Apart from the fact that I already knew the punchline and wanted to see how the original author had gotten there, I wouldn't have kept reading past page ten.

Doctorow apparently comes from the school of historical revision, and, realising that this is a work of fiction, it sometimes seems like his purpose in including some of his subplots is just to drag respectable historical names through the mud. He also seems to enjoy adding in gross sexual references that the book could do without, (I really didn't want to know anything about a victorian white man's conception of inuit sexual practices).

That said, this book would probably have done much better as a short story, because, boiled down to the elements relevant to the plot, it's only about twenty pages long. Doctorow also seems to have major characterization defecits. The historical character's motives are examined (although one wonders how accurate they are), but the Family's motives and backstory are never really discussed (aside from how they came to be well off, which is not in the least bit relevant to the story anyway). Coalhouse's motivation is obvious, but he doesn't have any back story, which leaves the reader wondering just where this guy came from and how a black musician got a model-T in a time when cars were reserved for the wealthiest of the wealthy. Since the mutilation of the car is the catalyst to what is seemingly the most important plot thread, this seems like a pretty serious oversight.

The white family that supposedly ties all of the historical aspects together doesn't seem to quite work in the book, either. Mother and Father's relationship doesn't really make any sense (even in victorian times people that had that little interest in each other wouldn't have gotten married). And Father reads like a stereotype, which he is. Doctorow doesn't seem to want to relinquish the concept of the repressed white male, but he doesn't explore it either, and there was certainly enough room to do it.

Probably the book's biggest sin is putting all of the sub-plots on the same level. From the standpoint that they all relate in some way to the big stand off in the end they're interesting, but I for one don't have any interest in a book that spends a fifth of its time exploring a charcter that has a role simply because his library is used as a 'hostage' on page 112.

The book did provide the material for the play though, and so I give it three stars because we wouldn't have Ragtime's beautiful score without it.

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Summary: Ragtime is original, but it tries to do too much
Review: Ragtime is a classic example of a book about nothing and everything all at the same time. Same might call it daring, others might call it entertaining and others might call it confusing. I think this book is capable of generating a slew of different responses depending on the reader.

Ragtime is set at the turn of the century. You will find yourself puzzled at the beginning of the novel as to who is speaking and what in the world is going on. Hold on, it will make sense if you just keep reading. The narrator is never mentioned my name, but I suppose he is the one referred to as the "boy". We never learn the names of the family in this novel; they are simply referred to as Mother, Father, Younger Brother, and Grandfather.

The wandering story follows the life of this family and the lives of a few other famous people: including Harry Houdini, Pierpoint Morgan, Sigmund Freud, and Henry Ford. There are also many others. The story does a good job of intertwining the lives of these famous people with the main family in the story.

Ragtime is written more like a journal than a novel. It has no clear cut plot, but rather drops us off at one event and then we are transported to the next. Some interesting passages include: The discovery of the black baby by Mother, the final showdown with Coalhouse, a famous whore has an affair with Younger Brother, and Father's voyage to the arctic.

The story seems more intent on sharing scenes than telling a story. There is dialogue, but no quotation marks around it. The style is very original. I have not read anything like it. At first it takes some getting used to, but if you stick with it, the events will unravel in your mind and you will be able to follow what happens.

I am recommending Ragtime because I feel you have to read it to believe it. I certainly would understand if one thought it was a masterpiece and the other hated it. With that in mind, it certainly deserves to be taken a look at, and you can't argue with its imagination and inventiveness.

I have two main quarrels with the book that prevent me from thinking this work of fiction deserves to be called a masterpiece. The main one is that the book tries to do too many things. I understand the feeling Doctorow wants to give us about the turn of the century, but he tries to juggle too many issues at once here. He never really gives the proper focus on any one issue for very long before throwing another one in our face. For that reason, the book seems a bit heavy handed at times (which is my second quarrel).

Despite those issues I found myself enjoying a great deal of Ragtime and marveled at its writing style and unusual characters. I also enjoyed how strong Doctorow ended his chapters. His most thoughtful and sublime sentences in the book are those he chooses to end the chapters with. That alone made me want to keep reading. There really is a lot to appreciate and admire here if you can get past the flaws and past the unconventional way of telling a story.

Grade: B

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Summary: Ragtime: Distant Thunder
Review: When I first heard of Ragtime, it was in the musical form of the book. The musical interested me so much, that I decided to read the book as well. I highly recommend both. This book is wonderful! It is very historical, and one must applaud Doctorow for being so accurate. Take Henry Ford. Not only does he talk about the relationship of him and J.P. Morgan, but also says something about his anti-semitism (Which is a proven fact). He gives a real person, Evelyn Nesbit, heart when she helps Tateh and The Little Girl. Emma Goldman is an influence in Younger Brother's life. All of the historical characters tie in with the fiction characters perfectly. Father's relationship with Admiral Peary is another example. All of the subplots tie in perfectly as well. Coalhouse and The Famliy, Tateh and Mother, the Younger Brother "saga" are all subplots that are like this. The only "problem" with this book is the Tateh subplot. Doctorow uses him as a metaphor for the immigrant population so it gets a bit confusing somewhat. You don't know if that is all of the immigrants or just him. Also, Tateh is never really part of the story. His character is more of an onlooker, watching other people in his life. However, all in all this book is one of the best I have read. I recommend it for all historical fiction fans and also recommend that if you have read the book, listen to the wonderful musical written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaterery.