- Paperback: 236 pages
- Publisher: Picador; 9 edition (11 Jan 1985)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0330288490
- ISBN-13: 978-0330288491
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13.1 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 305,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
‘As exhilarating as a breath of pure oxygen . . . this highly original novel is enormous fun to read’ Newsweek
Book Description
‘Harry Houdini, the greatest escape artist of all time, walks stark naked up six flights of stairs to Murderers’ Row, to be incarcerated as a supreme test of his power . . . In a cell opposite, Harry Thaw, eccentric heir to a railway fortune who shot architect Stanford White, finishes a six-course dinner with champagne . . . Sigmund Freud is on the loose at Coney Island, riding the scenic railway and taking a boat through the Tunnel of Love with Carl Jung . . . These are the scenes from Ragtime whose author E. L. Doctorow can be named in the same sentence as such giants of the past as James Joyce and John Dos Passos’ Evening Standard ‘Like ragtime, the jazz form made famous by Scott Joplin, Doctorow’s book is a native American fugue, rhythmic, melodic and stately. The book never stands still for a moment. Story lines constantly interweave; historical figures become part of fictional events and fictional characters participate in real history. Doctorow’s image and improvisations foreshadow the twentieth century’s coming preoccupation with scandal, psychoanalysis, solipsism, race, technological power and megalomania . . . He has seized the strands of actuality and transformed them into a fabulous tale’ Time
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First Sentence
In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The first time I read Ragtime I was pregnant and so my over zealous enthusiasm for this book was put down to hormonial overload by everyone who knew me. I have since given birth, regained hormonal stability and re-read the book. It's even better second time around. It's a true "can't put it down" classic, leaping from chapter to chapter, pulling you through the Ragtime era of American history. The characters, all famously fimilar, ranging from Henry Ford to Harry Houndi, are alive and accesable. Each character, almost juicy with the richness of the writing, interlink with each other in a (visualise here!) family tree of a story. Each branch touching another. The plot, dark, heartbreaking, original, and massive - involves a typical family, or so they think. As the story evolves you catch your breath, and find youself shouting plaintive "noooooo"'s as each chapter ends. The subject matter on the surface seems heavy, and to a less skilled writer than Doctorow, taboo (racisim, child abandonment,terrorism); but don't be put off if it's just a good read you're after.Trust me, if I could buy this book for you I would. Yes, it's been made into a film. Yes, it's been made into a musical and a very good job they did too, but the detail and the real story's in the book. Enjoy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I loved this book-- truly. This book presented the real plight of American culture. It showed how the "color line" is the root of all problems created in America. Coalhouse Walker, Jr. is a character that transcends time and race. Every human wants to be treated as such, no matter their ethnic, religious, or economic background. Mother and Father are typical of their times. Sarah was a caring character and became a victim because of her love. Younger Brother radical and is realistic. I also saw the musical-- after I read the book twice. The sexual scenes lent to the new found freedom of the younger generation during that time. PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Doctorow digs into the unlovely truths behind our cosy received notions of the past - and blows them up in our faces. A salutary historical lesson, but told with such human warmth and meticulously imagined scenarios that, rather than despair, the reader feels a strange optimism: that we must, and can, do better next time. And Doctorow makes sure that we know there will be a next time; the intricate links between our past and our present are his great theme. Doctorow loves humanity and hates oppression - and portrays both with such immediacy that you laugh and cry along with him. A lovely man with a deep passion for humanity. Read this book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Literary classic
A thought provoking book full of history interlinked with real characters and events, thoroughly enjoyable and justifiably classed as the great American novel.
Published 7 months ago by Ian
An excellent read
It took me a short while to get into this book but once I was it was an astonishing read. Bizarre and macabre as well as thought provoking. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. R. Little
Divided by a common language
Unlike most of your reviewers, I did not enjoy this book. I found the mixing of real and fictitious persons confusing and thought the characters lacked depth. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Donald Hughes
Nothing Special
Despite all the factual information I didn't really learn anything about "Ragtime" America. Neither did the book make me connect with any of the characters. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Mark Twain
Read it now
This book was a joy to read. I was sceptical because I'd heard so much about it, but the story really drew me in and I found myself really caring for the characters and rooting for... Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2009 by serialdeviant
Ragtime- a students review
Ragtime is a cleverly formed masterpeice of interwoven narrative threads that interact and weave in and away from each other with fluency and unprediction. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2007 by Claire Shacken
Doctorow's Best
This is the modern day eqivalent of John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy. The vignettes Doctorow draws for us have a great deal in common, with Dos Passos' "I am a camera" snapshots. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2002 by Bruce Kendall
Simple
Ragtime is a clever, well-written, easy read. It contains a wee bit of controversy, a tincture of novelty, but none of the didactic truths upon which depends the immediacy of... Read more
Published on 25 April 1999
Could this book be any better?
I have long searched for a book that could grasp me the way E.L. Doctorow's did while I indulged myself in his cleverly woven masterpiece of modern time. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 1999
The Great American Novel!
My uncle took me to see the musical of Ragtime in New York and I liked it so much that he then bought me the book. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 1998
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