Ragtime
by E. L. Doctorow
List Price:
Our Price: $5.74
You Save: $9.26 (62%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.19 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: E. L. DoctorowEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 1997-05-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of Ragtime
Book Review: sketches of a time and place
Summary: 3 Stars
The last two books I read before picking up 'Ragtime' were Gore Vidal's '1876' and 'Empire', both historical fictions set at least partly in New York between the Civil War and the First World War. With interwoven historical and fictional characters these books substantively have much in common with 'Ragtime', but from a stylistic perspective they differ markedly. Whereas Vidal's characters, both real and imagined, are elaborately (and often hilariously) brought to life, Doctorow tells us little. His historical characters are often mere outlines filled in with the most elementary of biographical detail. An example of this is Booker T. Washington, whose appearance seems as unfulfilling and unnecessary as a celebrity TV cameo - certainly we learn nothing about the man that we did not know before. Harry Houdini, who is presented as a tragic character, is one of the few exceptions, and here Doctorow succeeds in presenting more than the facts found in a one-volume encyclopedia.
Another major point of divergence is in the writing style. It has been said that the short simple sentences of 'Ragtime' echo the rhythms of the music itself. Maybe my rhythm is off, but I found them to be a distraction that impeded the flow of the writing. Fortunately the style improves as the novel moves on - whether this is meant to signify a change in the music of the time, I don't know, but it came as a relief.
There are some great chapters in this book. Indeed, for the first half of the book they almost seem like separate vignettes bound together by a time and place. Given the contrived way they are eventually bound together, I almost wish they had been left alone, ala 'Winesburg, Ohio'. There is still much to like in this book, no doubt, but it disappointed this reader.
Summary of Ragtime
Doctorow's big bestseller, made into a major movie and now repackaged, was first published in mass market paper by Bantam.Classics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native sonby Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Bornby Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Raphael and the Noble Taskby Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.17
Price in other shops:
The Great Divorce CDby C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.06
Price in other shops:
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Black Coffee (Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar Books and other products
American Reformers, 1815-1860, Revised Editionby Ronald G. Walters
Hill and Wang; Published: 1997-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in Americaby Laura Wexler
Scribner; Published: 2003-12-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.32
Price in other shops:
Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Fiction (12th Edition)by James H. Pickering
Prentice Hall; Published: 2009-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $47.00
Price in other shops:
Libra (Contemporary American Fiction)by Don DeLillo
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1991-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
The Dante Club: A Novelby Matthew Pearl
Ballantine Books; Published: 2006-06-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Libra: A Novel (Penguin Ink)by Don DeLillo
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2011-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.65
Price in other shops:
The 9/ 11 Report: A Graphic Adaptationby Sid Jacobson, Ernie Colón
Hill and Wang; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Falling Man: A Novelby Don DeLillo
Scribner; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.09
Price in other shops:
Flags of Our Fathersby James Bradley, Ron Powers
Bantam; Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural Americaby Ronald Takaki
Back Bay Books; Published: 2008-12-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: