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Ragtime
Published in 1975, Ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. An extraordinary tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century & the First World War. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, NY, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. Almost magically, the line between fantasy & historical fact, between real & imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud & Emiliano Zapata slip in & out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family & other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler & a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence.
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 1975
About the author
E.L. Doctorow
91 books1,011 followersHistory based known novels of American writer Edgar Laurence Doctorow. His works of fiction include Homer & Langley, The March, Billy Bathgate, Ragtime, The Book of Daniel, City of God, Welcome to Hard Times, Loon Lake, World’s Fair, The Waterworks, and All the Time in the World. Among his honors are the National Book Award, three National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN Faulkner Awards, The Edith Wharton Citation for Fiction, and the presidentially conferred National Humanities Medal. In 2009 he was short listed for the Man Booker International Prize honoring a writer’s lifetime achievement in fiction, and in 2012 he won the PEN Saul Bellow Award given to an author whose “scale of achievement over a sustained career places him in the highest rank of American Literature.” In 2013 the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the Gold Medal for Fiction.
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August 21, 2021
(Book 335 from 1001 books) - Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow
Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975.
This work of historical fiction is mainly set in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912, with brief scenes towards the end describing the United States' entry into World War I in 1917.
The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, simply named Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The narrator is never identified.
The family business is the manufacturer of flags and fireworks, an easy source of wealth due to the national enthusiasm for patriotic displays.
Father joins the first expedition to the North Pole, and his return sees a change in his relationship with his wife, who has experienced a taste of independence in his absence.
Mother's Younger Brother is a genius at explosives and fireworks, but is an insecure, unhappy character who chases after love and excitement.
He becomes obsessed with the notorious socialite Evelyn Nesbit, stalking her through the city and eventually embarking on a brief, unsatisfactory affair with her that leaves him even more isolated. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه نوامبر سال 2006میلادی
عنوان: رگتایم؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: نجف دریابندری؛ تهران، خوارزمی، چاپ دوم مهرماه 1367؛ چاپ سوم 1385، در 280ص؛ شابک9644870735؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان کتاب یعنی: «رگتایم»، نام نوعی موسیقی جاز است؛ نوعی موسیقی که از ترانه های بردگان سیاه‌پوست «آمریکا» سرچشمه گرفته؛ «رگ» به معنای ژنده و پاره و گسیخته؛ و «تایم» به معنای وزن و ضربان موسیقی است؛ نویسنده می‌خواهد کیفیت پرضربان، گسسته، پیوسته، و دردآلود داستانی را که بنوشته، به خوانشگر گوشزد کند؛
در داستان «کولهاس واکر»، «رگتایم» می‌نوازد؛ کسی که معادل واقعی و تاریخی «کولهاس» است، یک سیاه دیگر است، به نام «اسکات جابلین»، که «رگتایم» را او اختراع کرده است؛ او جمله معروفی دارد، می‌گوید: «این قطعه را تند ننوازید؛ درست نیست که رگتایم را تند بنوازید»؛ توصیه به درد بخوری است؛ «رگتایم» را آهسته آهسته بخوانید، و از آن لذت بسزا ببرید؛ آقای «دکتروف» خیلی بهتر از آنکه بیندیشید، دروغ بافته است؛ «ادگار لارنس دکتروف»، جایی گفته است: «این جهان برای دروغگوها ساخته شده، و ما نویسندگان، دروغگوهای مادرزادیم؛ اما مردم باید ما را باور کنند، چون که تنها ماییم که اعلام می‌کنیم حرفه مان دروغگویی است؛ پس این یعنی که فقط ما صادق هستیم!»؛ «دکتروف» راست می‌گویند؛ ایشان از بهترین دروغگوها هستند؛ او داستانی نوشته، که در آن بخشی از تاریخ یک کشور را روایت کرده، اما آنقدر ماهرانه اینکار را انجام داده، که کسی باورش نمی‌شود، داستان را از خودش درآورده است؛ او برای بیان صادقانه ی دروغ‌های شاخدارش، حتی از خبرهای فرعی روزنامه های آن زمان هم نگذشته، و کتابی نوشته پر از جزئیات واقعی؛ شاید حرف «دکتروف» در «رگتایم» این پرسش اساسی بوده باشد که: « آیا ما تاریخ را می‌سازیم یا تاریخ ما را؟»؛ و شاید هم این حرف که: «تاریخ، نوعی ادبیات است»؛ هر کدام که باشد، «رگتایم» همگی آدم‌های بیزار از تاریخ را، جذب می‌کند؛ ایشان جزئیات «آمریکا»ی در حال صنعتی شدن را، نشانتان می‌دهند، و با شما کاری می‌کنند، که حتی جزئیات فنی ماشین‌سازی «هنری فورد» را هم، نمی‌خواهید نخوانده بگذارید؛ «رگتایم» با ترجمه ی خوب جناب «نجف دریابندری»، و با ظاهری ساده آراسته شده است، و البته فونتی دل آزار دارد؛ آمیزه ای از رویدادها و کنش شخصیتهای واقعی و خیالی و ینگه دنیایی، افرادی چون «هنری فورد» و ...، آغاز رویدادها از سالهای نخستین سده بیستم میلادی، تا پایان جنگ جهانگیر نخست است، اطلاعات تاریخی و روحیه ی آمریکائی است
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 29/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, published in 1975.
This work of historical fiction is mainly set in the New York City area from 1902 until 1912, with brief scenes towards the end describing the United States' entry into World War I in 1917.
The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York, simply named Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The narrator is never identified.
The family business is the manufacturer of flags and fireworks, an easy source of wealth due to the national enthusiasm for patriotic displays.
Father joins the first expedition to the North Pole, and his return sees a change in his relationship with his wife, who has experienced a taste of independence in his absence.
Mother's Younger Brother is a genius at explosives and fireworks, but is an insecure, unhappy character who chases after love and excitement.
He becomes obsessed with the notorious socialite Evelyn Nesbit, stalking her through the city and eventually embarking on a brief, unsatisfactory affair with her that leaves him even more isolated. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه نوامبر سال 2006میلادی
عنوان: رگتایم؛ نویسنده: ای.ال دکتروف؛ مترجم: نجف دریابندری؛ تهران، خوارزمی، چاپ دوم مهرماه 1367؛ چاپ سوم 1385، در 280ص؛ شابک9644870735؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان کتاب یعنی: «رگتایم»، نام نوعی موسیقی جاز است؛ نوعی موسیقی که از ترانه های بردگان سیاه‌پوست «آمریکا» سرچشمه گرفته؛ «رگ» به معنای ژنده و پاره و گسیخته؛ و «تایم» به معنای وزن و ضربان موسیقی است؛ نویسنده می‌خواهد کیفیت پرضربان، گسسته، پیوسته، و دردآلود داستانی را که بنوشته، به خوانشگر گوشزد کند؛
در داستان «کولهاس واکر»، «رگتایم» می‌نوازد؛ کسی که معادل واقعی و تاریخی «کولهاس» است، یک سیاه دیگر است، به نام «اسکات جابلین»، که «رگتایم» را او اختراع کرده است؛ او جمله معروفی دارد، می‌گوید: «این قطعه را تند ننوازید؛ درست نیست که رگتایم را تند بنوازید»؛ توصیه به درد بخوری است؛ «رگتایم» را آهسته آهسته بخوانید، و از آن لذت بسزا ببرید؛ آقای «دکتروف» خیلی بهتر از آنکه بیندیشید، دروغ بافته است؛ «ادگار لارنس دکتروف»، جایی گفته است: «این جهان برای دروغگوها ساخته شده، و ما نویسندگان، دروغگوهای مادرزادیم؛ اما مردم باید ما را باور کنند، چون که تنها ماییم که اعلام می‌کنیم حرفه مان دروغگویی است؛ پس این یعنی که فقط ما صادق هستیم!»؛ «دکتروف» راست می‌گویند؛ ایشان از بهترین دروغگوها هستند؛ او داستانی نوشته، که در آن بخشی از تاریخ یک کشور را روایت کرده، اما آنقدر ماهرانه اینکار را انجام داده، که کسی باورش نمی‌شود، داستان را از خودش درآورده است؛ او برای بیان صادقانه ی دروغ‌های شاخدارش، حتی از خبرهای فرعی روزنامه های آن زمان هم نگذشته، و کتابی نوشته پر از جزئیات واقعی؛ شاید حرف «دکتروف» در «رگتایم» این پرسش اساسی بوده باشد که: « آیا ما تاریخ را می‌سازیم یا تاریخ ما را؟»؛ و شاید هم این حرف که: «تاریخ، نوعی ادبیات است»؛ هر کدام که باشد، «رگتایم» همگی آدم‌های بیزار از تاریخ را، جذب می‌کند؛ ایشان جزئیات «آمریکا»ی در حال صنعتی شدن را، نشانتان می‌دهند، و با شما کاری می‌کنند، که حتی جزئیات فنی ماشین‌سازی «هنری فورد» را هم، نمی‌خواهید نخوانده بگذارید؛ «رگتایم» با ترجمه ی خوب جناب «نجف دریابندری»، و با ظاهری ساده آراسته شده است، و البته فونتی دل آزار دارد؛ آمیزه ای از رویدادها و کنش شخصیتهای واقعی و خیالی و ینگه دنیایی، افرادی چون «هنری فورد» و ...، آغاز رویدادها از سالهای نخستین سده بیستم میلادی، تا پایان جنگ جهانگیر نخست است، اطلاعات تاریخی و روحیه ی آمریکائی است
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 24/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 29/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
November 9, 2021
No One Ever Drove This Fast Before
The most startling thing about Ragtime is the pace of the narrative. It never slackens, even to allow direct speech. It moves relentlessly from place to place, person to person, with non-stop description, assertion, connection, reversal. There are crowds and traffic and excitement wherever you look. If there is temporary equilibrium, it is fragile: a tour boat listing first to starboard then to port; a motor car belching steam at the crest of a hill, a chauffeur bribed to keep his mouth shut.
This is extrovert writing. Active voice. Strong verbs. Present tense. High-frequency transmission. Introspection and interior monologue are almost non-existent. It's like travelling in an empty railway carriage as the scenery of events passes by, with billboards flashing the names of contemporary celebrities: Admiral Peary, Teddy Roosevelt, Stanford White, Freud, Houdini. Not until Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho will there be more trendy brand names and trademarks in a novel.
What matters in Ragtime is mood, style, spirit. Plot is really the history of the epoch, a new age in America. Character is the making of that history by immigrants and street people and freaks and the new suburbanites and the Robber Barons of Fifth Avenue and Murray Hill. The principle characters are roles not people: Father, Tateh (Yiddish for Daddy), Younger Brother, The Boy. To have a proper name in Ragtime means the character is disposable background used to connect the principle roles to historical events: Houdini comes to the suburban house and exchanges adventure-tales with Father; Evelyn Nesbit, notorious wife of a celebrity-murderer, has an affair with Younger Brother and falls in love with Tateh.
Getting on, moving up, splashing out is what everyone does. Each in their own way dependent on class: insanely opulent parties for the insanely wealthy, polar expeditions for the well-off bourgeoisie, and an outing on the street cars for the proles. Members of each class know almost nothing of those of another, but each celebrates its distinct freedoms to the most they are able. This is the American Way. If it seems heartless or pointless - racist lynchings, destitution, child labour, starvation wages - that's only because you're not part of it. This constitutes the real world: get over it, or go back where you came from, or die: it's called freedom of choice.
Socialism and anarchism come with the immigrants. Agitation is intellectual - plays, lectures, study groups - with an international awareness that would disappear by mid-century. The plays of Ibsen are used to incite the masses as well as provoke police retaliation. Sex is something you discover accidentally for yourself. Unanalysed, it just happens, and you get on with that too, usually badly, and with the still prevailing dire consequences. Assassination is still a common form of transfer of governmental power.
Men still love their non-Oedipal mothers without guilt or shame. Women radicals like Emma Goldman make no distinction between capitalist oppression and patriarchal abuse. Both oppression and abuse have to be eradicated and the corporate system, because neither it nor its universal media yet exist, don't co-opt them as armchair liberals. The automobile is a luxury but that doesn't matter because trams can get you from New York to Boston for a nickel. But probably not if you're Black.
This is a novel of America on the turn, racing to get somewhere else as rapidly as possible. The immigrants want out of New York, the aspiring rubes want in. The national horror of the Civil War has been fictionalised by both sides into an heroic misunderstanding. So much fuss it was and no one could remember what it was about. These labour unions are going to crush this country if we don't crush them first. None of 'em is even American, yet. The only thing more irritating than immigrants is black folk, specially when they start acting like they was white folk.
Europeans may be decadent and always feuding over something silly, but their armies are sufficiently distant not to be a worry. Everything we want is made, or grown, or taken out of the earth right here, or soon will be thanks to Morgan's money and Ford's genius. Anyway the Pacific is easier prey: Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines in the bag already.
Industrialisation has taken an unexpected direction: not the factory-model of England so effectively attacked by Marx, but in the construction of giant corporate cartels controlled by a few hundred financiers. But who’s worried: the American world runs on parallel rails of steel that have no obvious terminus.
Everything after this cultural turn we can recognise as modern America. What happened before is forgotten or mythologised. It might as well be the new creation talked about in the Bible. At least that idea would keep the momentum, the crowds, the traffic, the striving upward, the excitement of 20th century America going; even if the ultimate destination isn't a religious paradise but entirely un-thought and unknown.
Movement is the most important thing. Our legacy, honoured still.
The most startling thing about Ragtime is the pace of the narrative. It never slackens, even to allow direct speech. It moves relentlessly from place to place, person to person, with non-stop description, assertion, connection, reversal. There are crowds and traffic and excitement wherever you look. If there is temporary equilibrium, it is fragile: a tour boat listing first to starboard then to port; a motor car belching steam at the crest of a hill, a chauffeur bribed to keep his mouth shut.
This is extrovert writing. Active voice. Strong verbs. Present tense. High-frequency transmission. Introspection and interior monologue are almost non-existent. It's like travelling in an empty railway carriage as the scenery of events passes by, with billboards flashing the names of contemporary celebrities: Admiral Peary, Teddy Roosevelt, Stanford White, Freud, Houdini. Not until Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho will there be more trendy brand names and trademarks in a novel.
What matters in Ragtime is mood, style, spirit. Plot is really the history of the epoch, a new age in America. Character is the making of that history by immigrants and street people and freaks and the new suburbanites and the Robber Barons of Fifth Avenue and Murray Hill. The principle characters are roles not people: Father, Tateh (Yiddish for Daddy), Younger Brother, The Boy. To have a proper name in Ragtime means the character is disposable background used to connect the principle roles to historical events: Houdini comes to the suburban house and exchanges adventure-tales with Father; Evelyn Nesbit, notorious wife of a celebrity-murderer, has an affair with Younger Brother and falls in love with Tateh.
Getting on, moving up, splashing out is what everyone does. Each in their own way dependent on class: insanely opulent parties for the insanely wealthy, polar expeditions for the well-off bourgeoisie, and an outing on the street cars for the proles. Members of each class know almost nothing of those of another, but each celebrates its distinct freedoms to the most they are able. This is the American Way. If it seems heartless or pointless - racist lynchings, destitution, child labour, starvation wages - that's only because you're not part of it. This constitutes the real world: get over it, or go back where you came from, or die: it's called freedom of choice.
Socialism and anarchism come with the immigrants. Agitation is intellectual - plays, lectures, study groups - with an international awareness that would disappear by mid-century. The plays of Ibsen are used to incite the masses as well as provoke police retaliation. Sex is something you discover accidentally for yourself. Unanalysed, it just happens, and you get on with that too, usually badly, and with the still prevailing dire consequences. Assassination is still a common form of transfer of governmental power.
Men still love their non-Oedipal mothers without guilt or shame. Women radicals like Emma Goldman make no distinction between capitalist oppression and patriarchal abuse. Both oppression and abuse have to be eradicated and the corporate system, because neither it nor its universal media yet exist, don't co-opt them as armchair liberals. The automobile is a luxury but that doesn't matter because trams can get you from New York to Boston for a nickel. But probably not if you're Black.
This is a novel of America on the turn, racing to get somewhere else as rapidly as possible. The immigrants want out of New York, the aspiring rubes want in. The national horror of the Civil War has been fictionalised by both sides into an heroic misunderstanding. So much fuss it was and no one could remember what it was about. These labour unions are going to crush this country if we don't crush them first. None of 'em is even American, yet. The only thing more irritating than immigrants is black folk, specially when they start acting like they was white folk.
Europeans may be decadent and always feuding over something silly, but their armies are sufficiently distant not to be a worry. Everything we want is made, or grown, or taken out of the earth right here, or soon will be thanks to Morgan's money and Ford's genius. Anyway the Pacific is easier prey: Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines in the bag already.
Industrialisation has taken an unexpected direction: not the factory-model of England so effectively attacked by Marx, but in the construction of giant corporate cartels controlled by a few hundred financiers. But who’s worried: the American world runs on parallel rails of steel that have no obvious terminus.
Everything after this cultural turn we can recognise as modern America. What happened before is forgotten or mythologised. It might as well be the new creation talked about in the Bible. At least that idea would keep the momentum, the crowds, the traffic, the striving upward, the excitement of 20th century America going; even if the ultimate destination isn't a religious paradise but entirely un-thought and unknown.
Movement is the most important thing. Our legacy, honoured still.
December 14, 2018
A ragin' feelin' I had during the first half of "Ragtime" was... oh-my-gawd, this may possibly become my favorite novel all year. Yeah. That overwhelmingly delicious feeling last year achieved during my "Where'd You Go Bernadette"/"The Godfather" double whammy was reproduced, until it, almost organically, chose to focus on one specific era in U.S. history! Ragtime is just so majestically beautiful, taking on the whole of America between 1903 & 1915, aka the dawning of the 20th century, displaying an intrepid attitude that blazes, that accelerates.
It is incredible; an accessible, long meditation, like a panorama-portrait described with broad, lush strokes; accessible unlike Saramago or Garcia Marquez. It's funny, it's very clever with its use of scales, for everything in literature is worth a mention: from a simple shadow on the floor to the features of the general populace of the great American metropolis--this novel has it all. & when the scale becomes unfathomable, Doctorow maintains one singular strand in a huge tapestry that has many strands, it seems. He chooses to fix the novel past the faux-majesties of the new money set (where Gatsby existed) and the slum-wretched-poor (the days before the grapes of wrath) in a factual story of a black man robbed of his property, his basic human dignity, and consequently of his revenge on the white cowards. "Ragtime" is entertaining, wholesome, very educational, & I would urge every American History teacher to add it to the syllabus. It describes a macrocosm effectively & the factoids are invigorating. Plus, the prose, well, it's endearing, unforgettable, good-great-amazing.
It is incredible; an accessible, long meditation, like a panorama-portrait described with broad, lush strokes; accessible unlike Saramago or Garcia Marquez. It's funny, it's very clever with its use of scales, for everything in literature is worth a mention: from a simple shadow on the floor to the features of the general populace of the great American metropolis--this novel has it all. & when the scale becomes unfathomable, Doctorow maintains one singular strand in a huge tapestry that has many strands, it seems. He chooses to fix the novel past the faux-majesties of the new money set (where Gatsby existed) and the slum-wretched-poor (the days before the grapes of wrath) in a factual story of a black man robbed of his property, his basic human dignity, and consequently of his revenge on the white cowards. "Ragtime" is entertaining, wholesome, very educational, & I would urge every American History teacher to add it to the syllabus. It describes a macrocosm effectively & the factoids are invigorating. Plus, the prose, well, it's endearing, unforgettable, good-great-amazing.
November 23, 2013
Today I was thinking of the 101 reasons why I love books, the actual physical papery pagey spiney things with words all over them, and one of the reasons was that they're not machines. Everything i seem to have to do these days is with some kind of machine. At work, of course, chained to the pc - actually it's a laptop on a docking station with two screens, I wonder when they'll add me a third, and although I'm emailing and talking to people all day long (sexy voiced nurses from France and Argentina and Ohio some of the time) still it's all software this, click here, upload that, database, gateway, you know. Then when you're home and you want to have a nice time watching somebody's life go off the rails and everything go to hell in a hand basket - let's say season three of Breaking Bad - it's dvd time, I haven't got with the streaming thing yet, still old fashioned, but that's all technobuttons and three remote controls for some reason. Enough of that - let's listen to some pre-war hillbilly or some French 60s stuff I got recently - iPod, more machinery - everything digitised, everything turned into waves and dots and Hoggs Bison particles.
But not books. No downloading, no clicking, no batteries, no booting up. You open it, and there it is, working for you. You can drop it on rugged terrain from a height of - well, any height - I bet you could sling a paperback off a fifty storey tower block and still read it after it landed - unless it landed on a passing pedestrian and brained them and had to be bagged as evidence. Books are almost indestructible. I left one out in the rain once. Didn't matter. I dried it out over a two week period and aside from a little crinkling, you couldn't tell. Books are tough customers. They can take it. Not like iPods. They can't take it. Try throwing one of those from a speeding car.
They're trying to turn books into machinery. Not my books. Might be good for the new generation of teenage cyborgs sprouting up, who'll never know the joy of shelves, but I like the heft of the thing in your fist - or your delicate spindly sensitive fingers, of course.
I thought Ragtime was the bees' knees, the cat's miaow and the turtle's lambada. I couldn't see that it was possible to dislike this novel . I wanna read it again.
But not books. No downloading, no clicking, no batteries, no booting up. You open it, and there it is, working for you. You can drop it on rugged terrain from a height of - well, any height - I bet you could sling a paperback off a fifty storey tower block and still read it after it landed - unless it landed on a passing pedestrian and brained them and had to be bagged as evidence. Books are almost indestructible. I left one out in the rain once. Didn't matter. I dried it out over a two week period and aside from a little crinkling, you couldn't tell. Books are tough customers. They can take it. Not like iPods. They can't take it. Try throwing one of those from a speeding car.
They're trying to turn books into machinery. Not my books. Might be good for the new generation of teenage cyborgs sprouting up, who'll never know the joy of shelves, but I like the heft of the thing in your fist - or your delicate spindly sensitive fingers, of course.
I thought Ragtime was the bees' knees, the cat's miaow and the turtle's lambada. I couldn't see that it was possible to dislike this novel . I wanna read it again.
March 3, 2020
The time from 1902 to about 1914, the place around New York City an its prosperous suburb New Rochelle, New York, the Ragtime Era, Scott Joplin lively, syncopated music has swept the nation ( if you ever seen the film The Sting, you will recognize the sounds). A wealthy family, they make fireworks and American flags, living contently in all appearances outside the city, Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather and the little boy...yes... no proper names given here, kind of quirky to be sure. The author E.L. Doctorow to mix things up, has an abandoned newly born black baby, found and saved by the unnamed family near their home. Sarah a naive teenager, who left her child on the ground to die, is very depressed, a broken love affair, the reason and taken in as a housekeeper, they feels sorry for her. Coalhouse Walker Jr. the unfazed lover, a musician and superb piano player locates Sarah, after a search, visits every week, the backdoor of course, ironically at first she will not see him, or even care for the unwanted infant. Mr. Walker, a native of St. Louis, is a proud man and doesn't take insults from anyone, the color of his skin has not made him feel inferior, quite the contrary. Showing the impressed family how great a pianist, in their out of tune piano, that embarrasses the head of the house. So when he is harassed by the volunteer firemen led by racist chief Will Conklin, jealous of Walker's Model T Ford, passing the station, the well dressed and soft spoken black man, demands justice, when his car is damaged by them. Not receiving satisfaction from the uninterested local authorities, he reported the incident to, and takes justice into his own hands...which causes much destruction , more than the fireworks family ever imagined; to the usually quiet, small town , no justice, no peace the writer seems to say . Terror permeates the whole municipality, making national headlines as the destruction spreads. Nevertheless how far can this be taken without injuring innocent people? This question can never be answered properly and it isn't here...Historical figures materialize in the novel continuously, Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Evelyn Nesbit etc. , they spice up the narrative. A fun aspect of this book, one of many. This a short but important and thought- provoking, prizewinning work, for readers who dig underneath and discover the truth, everyone wants respect... no matter the race they are born into...people are just people...
August 14, 2022
Fantastic. One of the most unusual books I've ever read.
August 28, 2021
This is a wonderful book. If you haven't tried E L Doctrow you are missing out. This is my first foray into his body of work and I will be reading more, they are on the TBR pile.
November 13, 2015
داستانى به شدت لذت بخش، به طورى كه دو روزه با ولع خوندم و تمومش كردم. با ترجمه ى دلنشين نجف دريابندرى.
دكتروف و ماركز
عنصرى كه داستان رو بسيار دلچسب مى كرد، شيوه ى دكتروف بود در روايت كه مكرراً من رو به ياد گابریل گارسیا ماركز مى انداخت. خلق يه دنياى پر از آدم، كه هر كدوم داستانى پر ماجرا دارن كه تلفيقى از واقعيت تاريخى و افسانه است، و دوربين روايت مدام از روى يكى روى ديگرى ميره.
نثر هم من رو به ياد ماركز مى انداخت: نثرى پر نشاط و در نهايت ايجاز كه بيشتر به واقعيات عينى مى پردازه، به جاى غرق شدن در ذهنيت شخصيت ها.
الکلام یجر الکلام
و عنصر ديگه اى كه داستان رو اين قدر مفرح مى كرد، وجود يه رشته ى نامرئى بين همه ى فصل هاست. نويسنده (به خلاف بيشتر نويسنده ها) بى مقدمه از يه شخصيت نمى پره روى شخصيت ديگه. بلكه هميشه بين دو تا فصل ارتباطى وجود داره.
پدر مى خواد به سفر قطب بره، سوار كشتى ميشه و در حالى كه كشتى عازم دريا ميشه، چشم پدر به كشتى مهاجران مى افته كه وارد امريكا ميشن. حالا دوربين از روى پدر ميره روى مهاجران. فصل بعد شرح لنگر انداختن كشتى مهاجران و اولين مواجهه ى اون ها با امريكاست و همين طور بين فصل ها، رشته ى ارتباطى زيبايى بر قراره و از اين جهت من رو ياد كتاب الکلام یجر الکلام انداخت.
دكتروف و ماركز
عنصرى كه داستان رو بسيار دلچسب مى كرد، شيوه ى دكتروف بود در روايت كه مكرراً من رو به ياد گابریل گارسیا ماركز مى انداخت. خلق يه دنياى پر از آدم، كه هر كدوم داستانى پر ماجرا دارن كه تلفيقى از واقعيت تاريخى و افسانه است، و دوربين روايت مدام از روى يكى روى ديگرى ميره.
نثر هم من رو به ياد ماركز مى انداخت: نثرى پر نشاط و در نهايت ايجاز كه بيشتر به واقعيات عينى مى پردازه، به جاى غرق شدن در ذهنيت شخصيت ها.
الکلام یجر الکلام
و عنصر ديگه اى كه داستان رو اين قدر مفرح مى كرد، وجود يه رشته ى نامرئى بين همه ى فصل هاست. نويسنده (به خلاف بيشتر نويسنده ها) بى مقدمه از يه شخصيت نمى پره روى شخصيت ديگه. بلكه هميشه بين دو تا فصل ارتباطى وجود داره.
پدر مى خواد به سفر قطب بره، سوار كشتى ميشه و در حالى كه كشتى عازم دريا ميشه، چشم پدر به كشتى مهاجران مى افته كه وارد امريكا ميشن. حالا دوربين از روى پدر ميره روى مهاجران. فصل بعد شرح لنگر انداختن كشتى مهاجران و اولين مواجهه ى اون ها با امريكاست و همين طور بين فصل ها، رشته ى ارتباطى زيبايى بر قراره و از اين جهت من رو ياد كتاب الکلام یجر الکلام انداخت.
September 23, 2016
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December 16, 2018
“Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
― E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
So my first book of 2014 isn't even on my to-read list. Must be good. Yes, in fact it is the killer historical novel of the Ragtime era. It is the big uncle to late 90s Philip Roth ('I Married a Communist', 'American Pastoral') , Don DeLillo ('Libra', 'Underworld'), Gore Vidal ('Empire, Hollywood') & Norman Mailer* (Executioner's Song & Harlot's Ghost) novels which seem to all bend a little to the wind that blew out of this syncopated, tight, urgent historical novel. Doctorow captures a swift and direct channel of New York's energy, contradiction, growth, insecurity, isolation as America transformed between the late 1800s and early 1900s. It captured the race, immigrant, monied, and cultural changes that gripped New York as cars were beginning to roll down the streets and planes and Houdini were both beginning to float, briefly, in the air.
* Doctorow actually edited Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream' so it might seem odd to call Doctorow a literary uncle to Mailer since 'Ragitme' was originally published in 1974, but as most large families invariably find some nephews ARE actually older than their biological uncles. But I still hold that 'Ragtime' was influential on Mailer's later historical novels and even nonfiction. OK, so, perhaps Mailer and Doctorow are more like kissing cousins. Fine. I'll call them cousins.
― E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
So my first book of 2014 isn't even on my to-read list. Must be good. Yes, in fact it is the killer historical novel of the Ragtime era. It is the big uncle to late 90s Philip Roth ('I Married a Communist', 'American Pastoral') , Don DeLillo ('Libra', 'Underworld'), Gore Vidal ('Empire, Hollywood') & Norman Mailer* (Executioner's Song & Harlot's Ghost) novels which seem to all bend a little to the wind that blew out of this syncopated, tight, urgent historical novel. Doctorow captures a swift and direct channel of New York's energy, contradiction, growth, insecurity, isolation as America transformed between the late 1800s and early 1900s. It captured the race, immigrant, monied, and cultural changes that gripped New York as cars were beginning to roll down the streets and planes and Houdini were both beginning to float, briefly, in the air.
* Doctorow actually edited Norman Mailer's 'An American Dream' so it might seem odd to call Doctorow a literary uncle to Mailer since 'Ragitme' was originally published in 1974, but as most large families invariably find some nephews ARE actually older than their biological uncles. But I still hold that 'Ragtime' was influential on Mailer's later historical novels and even nonfiction. OK, so, perhaps Mailer and Doctorow are more like kissing cousins. Fine. I'll call them cousins.
July 14, 2022
کتاب رگتایم نوشته ال دکترو ، نویسنده با مهارت خیال و حقیقت را به هم پیوند زده و با تمرکز بر این دو اصل آمریکایی را به تصویر کشیده که در عین حال که خیالی ایست اما به شدت پذیرفتنی و باورکردنی ایست . دکترو شخصیتهای واقعی مانند هری هودینی یا هنری فورد یا بانکدار معروف مورگان را به داستان آورده و حقیقت وجود آنها را با داستان هایی خیالی گره می زند و این گونه داستان کتاب را به جلو می برد .
آمریکای آقای دکترو محل برخورد و تلاقی اندیشه های سرمایه داری ، آنارشیست و سوسیالیست هست و البته آبستن مشکلات جدی تری مانند نژاد پرستی و اختلاف طبقاتی هم هست ، نویسنده نماینده ای از هریک از گروه ها درکتاب گذاشته و چندین داستان را موازی به جلو می برد ، گاهی شخصیت های داستان از هم دور می شوند و گاهی نزدیک .
آمریکا کتاب بیشتر سرزمین اختلاف و تضادها ست که آنها را در برخورد بین آمریکایی ها و مهاجرین ، سیاه پوستان و سفید پوستان ، فقرا و سرمایه داری می بینیم ، در حقیقت قهرمان داستان از دل همین تضاد برمی خیزد و چون از قانونی که او راحمایت نمی کند خسته و ناامید شده خود مُجری قانون می شود .اما تا اندازه ای سرزمین رویا ها هم هست ، یهودی سوسیالیست از برکت همین فرصت از فقر رها شده و به رویای آمریکایی خود می رسد .
جریان داستان همانند موسیقی رگتایم تند و پر شتاب است ، حوادث پشت سر هم رُخ می دهند و مجال تفکر به خواننده نمی دهد اما نویسنده با مهارت به داستان های پراکنده کتاب و شتاب حوادث آن نظم بخشیده و آنرا منسجم ساخته . حاصل کار کتابی شده خواندنی و متفاوت ، کتابی که شخصیت هایی مانند مورگان یک کاراکتر فرعی می شوند و شهروندان عادی قهرمانان آن
آمریکای آقای دکترو محل برخورد و تلاقی اندیشه های سرمایه داری ، آنارشیست و سوسیالیست هست و البته آبستن مشکلات جدی تری مانند نژاد پرستی و اختلاف طبقاتی هم هست ، نویسنده نماینده ای از هریک از گروه ها درکتاب گذاشته و چندین داستان را موازی به جلو می برد ، گاهی شخصیت های داستان از هم دور می شوند و گاهی نزدیک .
آمریکا کتاب بیشتر سرزمین اختلاف و تضادها ست که آنها را در برخورد بین آمریکایی ها و مهاجرین ، سیاه پوستان و سفید پوستان ، فقرا و سرمایه داری می بینیم ، در حقیقت قهرمان داستان از دل همین تضاد برمی خیزد و چون از قانونی که او راحمایت نمی کند خسته و ناامید شده خود مُجری قانون می شود .اما تا اندازه ای سرزمین رویا ها هم هست ، یهودی سوسیالیست از برکت همین فرصت از فقر رها شده و به رویای آمریکایی خود می رسد .
جریان داستان همانند موسیقی رگتایم تند و پر شتاب است ، حوادث پشت سر هم رُخ می دهند و مجال تفکر به خواننده نمی دهد اما نویسنده با مهارت به داستان های پراکنده کتاب و شتاب حوادث آن نظم بخشیده و آنرا منسجم ساخته . حاصل کار کتابی شده خواندنی و متفاوت ، کتابی که شخصیت هایی مانند مورگان یک کاراکتر فرعی می شوند و شهروندان عادی قهرمانان آن
May 9, 2011
Sometime early in his career E.L. Doctorow figured out a great formula for historical fiction. He takes real life iconic figures from whatever era he’s covering and has them interact in believable ways with his fictional characters. It makes for a “show, don’t tell” scenario that brings history alive. With Ragtime, we get to peek inside the heads of Houdini, Freud, J.P. Morgan, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford and others. In the process, we learn the issues of the day and get an authentic feel for the setting. We can appreciate the context and connections that animate his stories.
Ragtime is set in the decade leading up to WWI. There was a lot going on in those days, especially in a place like New York. It was a period of social unrest, brought on, no doubt, by the great divide between the haves and the have-nots. An upper middle-class family in New Rochelle was one focal point of the book, and a Jewish immigrant and his young daughter were another. Their changing fortunes were charted in revealing ways. A ragtime pianist also featured prominently – as articulate and clean as a President (sorry, Joe Biden has always seemed blunderously funny to me) until racist stupidity on the part of a fire chief pushed his buttons. Doctorow, as usual, weaved the stories together well. He was long on conflict, too, which kept the pages turning.
World’s Fair and Billy Bathgate were very good in a similar way, that is, in mixing real people and events with those of his own creation. At the same time, I’ve also noticed some common threads that have begun to put me off just a tad. For one, the men and even the young boys are often – how should I put it – carnally preoccupied. (Some might say it’s almost to the extreme of actuality.) Another repeated theme seems to be how much more fully evolved the Jewish soul is compared to the Gentile one. Again, some may say it’s a representative depiction of the true demographic, but it seems a little too overt when virtually all the Jews are wise (both in the book sense and the street sense), morally superior, and rife with character for having been so downtrodden. Doctorow grew up in the Bronx, of Russian Jewish parentage, so I suppose he comes by any biases honestly. It’s not like any of that particularly bothered me. It was just something I noticed. What seemed more provocative, though, was the favorable light he seemed to shine on the anarchists he profiled. Anytime killing people is part of your agenda, I like to believe you’re inviting an “Extremist” label to your cause, but I didn’t get the feeling from the book that E.L. agreed.
I’m still a big Doctorow fan, but I don’t necessarily look to him as a guide across history’s rockier political landscapes. When he’s just telling his stories, I think he’s great; as an essayist on morality, maybe less so.
Ragtime is set in the decade leading up to WWI. There was a lot going on in those days, especially in a place like New York. It was a period of social unrest, brought on, no doubt, by the great divide between the haves and the have-nots. An upper middle-class family in New Rochelle was one focal point of the book, and a Jewish immigrant and his young daughter were another. Their changing fortunes were charted in revealing ways. A ragtime pianist also featured prominently – as articulate and clean as a President (sorry, Joe Biden has always seemed blunderously funny to me) until racist stupidity on the part of a fire chief pushed his buttons. Doctorow, as usual, weaved the stories together well. He was long on conflict, too, which kept the pages turning.
World’s Fair and Billy Bathgate were very good in a similar way, that is, in mixing real people and events with those of his own creation. At the same time, I’ve also noticed some common threads that have begun to put me off just a tad. For one, the men and even the young boys are often – how should I put it – carnally preoccupied. (Some might say it’s almost to the extreme of actuality.) Another repeated theme seems to be how much more fully evolved the Jewish soul is compared to the Gentile one. Again, some may say it’s a representative depiction of the true demographic, but it seems a little too overt when virtually all the Jews are wise (both in the book sense and the street sense), morally superior, and rife with character for having been so downtrodden. Doctorow grew up in the Bronx, of Russian Jewish parentage, so I suppose he comes by any biases honestly. It’s not like any of that particularly bothered me. It was just something I noticed. What seemed more provocative, though, was the favorable light he seemed to shine on the anarchists he profiled. Anytime killing people is part of your agenda, I like to believe you’re inviting an “Extremist” label to your cause, but I didn’t get the feeling from the book that E.L. agreed.
I’m still a big Doctorow fan, but I don’t necessarily look to him as a guide across history’s rockier political landscapes. When he’s just telling his stories, I think he’s great; as an essayist on morality, maybe less so.
March 31, 2016
"Patriotism was a reliable sentiment in the early 1900's. Teddy Roosevelt was President. The population customarily gathered in great numbers either out of doors for parades, public concerts, fish fries, political picnics, social outings, or indoors in meeting halls, vaudeville theatres, operas, ballrooms."
This relatively short novel is jam-packed with a myriad of characters – some fictional and some real-life individuals. It is a grand undertaking that introduces us to the events and people of early twentieth century America, of New York in particular. For any reader interested in a panoramic view of the times, Ragtime definitely delivers. Anyone that savors an in-depth character study may find this book lacking in that regard. In fact, several major characters are without names throughout. Instead, we meet Mother, Father, Younger Brother, and the boy. I had a hard time connecting with them; besides being nameless they were also remote and I felt detached from them emotionally. A handful of imaginary characters are given names, that of Tateh, Sarah, Coalhouse Walker Jr., and the poverty and injustices suffered by this group is shown in stark contrast to the affluence and social standing of those unnamed. I did find it quite interesting when a variety of prominent historical figures wandered into the plot to make an appearance or two. Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Sigmund Freud, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, Emma Goldman and even the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to name a few are weaved into this story along with our fictional characters. At times the stories of the real and imaginary intersect in a curious manner.
This was my second E.L. Doctorow work. I enjoyed it but perhaps not quite as much as my first, Homer and Langley. I think it was an excellent endeavor and was clearly well-researched. I learned a little bit about a lot of folks. It was a bit too sweeping in such few pages for my taste and at times it was confusing as the plot jumped around. What I found to be the most stimulating was the story of Coalhouse Walker, Jr. From ragtime musician to outlaw, he was undoubtedly the most fascinating of fictional characters here. An interchange between this man and Booker T. Washington was one of my favorites in the entire novel. 3.5 stars
This relatively short novel is jam-packed with a myriad of characters – some fictional and some real-life individuals. It is a grand undertaking that introduces us to the events and people of early twentieth century America, of New York in particular. For any reader interested in a panoramic view of the times, Ragtime definitely delivers. Anyone that savors an in-depth character study may find this book lacking in that regard. In fact, several major characters are without names throughout. Instead, we meet Mother, Father, Younger Brother, and the boy. I had a hard time connecting with them; besides being nameless they were also remote and I felt detached from them emotionally. A handful of imaginary characters are given names, that of Tateh, Sarah, Coalhouse Walker Jr., and the poverty and injustices suffered by this group is shown in stark contrast to the affluence and social standing of those unnamed. I did find it quite interesting when a variety of prominent historical figures wandered into the plot to make an appearance or two. Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Sigmund Freud, J.P. Morgan, Booker T. Washington, Emma Goldman and even the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to name a few are weaved into this story along with our fictional characters. At times the stories of the real and imaginary intersect in a curious manner.
This was my second E.L. Doctorow work. I enjoyed it but perhaps not quite as much as my first, Homer and Langley. I think it was an excellent endeavor and was clearly well-researched. I learned a little bit about a lot of folks. It was a bit too sweeping in such few pages for my taste and at times it was confusing as the plot jumped around. What I found to be the most stimulating was the story of Coalhouse Walker, Jr. From ragtime musician to outlaw, he was undoubtedly the most fascinating of fictional characters here. An interchange between this man and Booker T. Washington was one of my favorites in the entire novel. 3.5 stars
May 24, 2020
E.L. Doctorow was not on my radar at all until my local bookstore proprietor sang his praises to me. He mentioned Ragtime as a good place to start. So thanks to Brian from Marrowbone Books for the excellent suggestion.
The story is set in New Rochelle, New York at the beginning of the 20th century, and mostly focuses on one well-to-do family. Father owns a successful flags and fireworks business. At one point, he sets off on Robert Peary's expedition to reach the North Pole, but on his return, he finds it hard to resume a normal relationship with his wife. Mother's Younger Brother is an unhappy fellow with a flair for designing elaborate fireworks. He becomes obsessed with the socialite Evelyn Nesbit and spends most of his time following her around. One day, the family take in Sarah, a depressed black girl, and her baby. Coalhouse Walker, the child's father, begins to visit every Sunday even though Sarah refuses to see him. The introduction of this young man will have enormous consequences for the household, and the city in general.
One of the things I loved about the book is how real-life figures are seamlessly woven into the narrative. Harry Houdini plays a significant part, and Doctorow does a good job of explaining the motivation behind his death-defying stunts. The financier J.P. Morgan also features, and has a fascinating conversation with Henry Ford. Other cameos include Sigmund Freud, Emiliano Zapata and Archduke Franz Ferdinand - you never know who might show up next.
Ragtime brings 1900s America to life in a spectacular way. It's an evocative, page-turning portrait of an exciting period in US history and I can see why it has been hailed as a classic. I look forward to reading more from the esteemed Mr Doctorow, and I'll be pestering my trusty bookseller for more recommendations.
The story is set in New Rochelle, New York at the beginning of the 20th century, and mostly focuses on one well-to-do family. Father owns a successful flags and fireworks business. At one point, he sets off on Robert Peary's expedition to reach the North Pole, but on his return, he finds it hard to resume a normal relationship with his wife. Mother's Younger Brother is an unhappy fellow with a flair for designing elaborate fireworks. He becomes obsessed with the socialite Evelyn Nesbit and spends most of his time following her around. One day, the family take in Sarah, a depressed black girl, and her baby. Coalhouse Walker, the child's father, begins to visit every Sunday even though Sarah refuses to see him. The introduction of this young man will have enormous consequences for the household, and the city in general.
One of the things I loved about the book is how real-life figures are seamlessly woven into the narrative. Harry Houdini plays a significant part, and Doctorow does a good job of explaining the motivation behind his death-defying stunts. The financier J.P. Morgan also features, and has a fascinating conversation with Henry Ford. Other cameos include Sigmund Freud, Emiliano Zapata and Archduke Franz Ferdinand - you never know who might show up next.
Ragtime brings 1900s America to life in a spectacular way. It's an evocative, page-turning portrait of an exciting period in US history and I can see why it has been hailed as a classic. I look forward to reading more from the esteemed Mr Doctorow, and I'll be pestering my trusty bookseller for more recommendations.
September 1, 2021
عجب ترجمه‌ای! عجب روایتی!
عالی 💯
عالی 💯
March 12, 2023
It’s 1906 and in New Rochelle, NY, there’s a family referred to as Father, Mother, Mother’s Younger Brother, Grandfather and a child known only as “the little boy.” Father is about to travel with Admiral Peary to reach the North Pole. Harry Houdini crashes his car outside their home. Mother takes in a young black woman and her baby, and the woman’s boyfriend Coalhouse Walker Jr. comes courting. And America is captivated by the saga of Harry Thaw murdering his wife Evelyn Nesbit’s lover, Stanford White, at Madison Square Garden, which is being called the “Crime of the Century” (though as one character wisely noted, “it was only 1906 and there were ninety-four years to go”).
Ragtime regularly appears on lists of the top 100 novels. Apparently, its greatness lays in the way it blurs the lines between fantasy and historical fact, weaving real-life characters in and around each other and the fictional ones. Well that’s objectively true. Real-life characters appear throughout Ragtime. A few, such as Houdini, Sigmund Freud, Henry Ford, and J.P. Morgan, are still remembered today, while the majority of them are not. But it’s not particularly clear why any of those real characters are in this story. Freud appears in one chapter, doesn’t like America, and leaves, so what exactly was the point? We learn a bit about the others—Houdini doubted himself, J.P. Morgan was really into pyramids—but the relevance to any larger story was just lost on me.
Instead, I thought Ragtime was a waste of time, and actively terrible in some places. There’s one interesting story, the one involving Coalhouse Walker Jr., his car, and his vengeance. But it seemed to be an anachronism, a 1975 novel imputing a lot of 1960s counterculture and society upheaval into 1906. I thought about giving the novel two stars for that portion, but I just couldn’t get past this subplot: Real-life anarchist Emma Goldman is giving Evelyn Nesbit a massage that seems to be progressing from sexual to actual sex, that is until:
First of all, gross. Second of all, I guess I could accept that scene as the precursor to the two women killing him, kicking his ass, or at least calling the cops and getting him thrown in jail. But no. In 1975, that scene was considered a valid setup for Nesbit to begin having a love affair with Mother’s Younger Brother. It would be funny if it wasn’t so emblematic of the ridiculous way men wrote about women and sex in that era. Read that description again and tell me if there’s ever been a woman in human history who was sexually assaulted like that and then decided “I think I’ll start hooking up with that guy.” I had a hard time taking anything in this book seriously after that insane scene.
I read Ragtime as part of my attempt to read all of the Pop Chart 100 Essential Novels. A couple of years ago, five books were dropped from that list in order to add five more recent novels. Two of the five novels dropped were from the 1970s, Dog Soldiers and Falconer. Both of those books were pretty flawed, but I have to say both were better than this novel. I honestly can’t believe Ragtime survived that cut. Not recommended.
Ragtime regularly appears on lists of the top 100 novels. Apparently, its greatness lays in the way it blurs the lines between fantasy and historical fact, weaving real-life characters in and around each other and the fictional ones. Well that’s objectively true. Real-life characters appear throughout Ragtime. A few, such as Houdini, Sigmund Freud, Henry Ford, and J.P. Morgan, are still remembered today, while the majority of them are not. But it’s not particularly clear why any of those real characters are in this story. Freud appears in one chapter, doesn’t like America, and leaves, so what exactly was the point? We learn a bit about the others—Houdini doubted himself, J.P. Morgan was really into pyramids—but the relevance to any larger story was just lost on me.
Instead, I thought Ragtime was a waste of time, and actively terrible in some places. There’s one interesting story, the one involving Coalhouse Walker Jr., his car, and his vengeance. But it seemed to be an anachronism, a 1975 novel imputing a lot of 1960s counterculture and society upheaval into 1906. I thought about giving the novel two stars for that portion, but I just couldn’t get past this subplot: Real-life anarchist Emma Goldman is giving Evelyn Nesbit a massage that seems to be progressing from sexual to actual sex, that is until:
At this moment a hoarse unearthly cry issued from the walls, the closet door flew open and Mother’s Younger Brother fell into the room, his face twisted in a paroxysm of saintly mortification. He was clutching in his hands, as if trying to choke it, a rampant penis which, scornful of his intentions, whipped him about the floor, launching to his cries of ecstasy or despair, great filamented spurts of jism that traced the air like bullets and then settled slowly over Evelyn in her bed like falling ticker tape.
First of all, gross. Second of all, I guess I could accept that scene as the precursor to the two women killing him, kicking his ass, or at least calling the cops and getting him thrown in jail. But no. In 1975, that scene was considered a valid setup for Nesbit to begin having a love affair with Mother’s Younger Brother. It would be funny if it wasn’t so emblematic of the ridiculous way men wrote about women and sex in that era. Read that description again and tell me if there’s ever been a woman in human history who was sexually assaulted like that and then decided “I think I’ll start hooking up with that guy.” I had a hard time taking anything in this book seriously after that insane scene.
I read Ragtime as part of my attempt to read all of the Pop Chart 100 Essential Novels. A couple of years ago, five books were dropped from that list in order to add five more recent novels. Two of the five novels dropped were from the 1970s, Dog Soldiers and Falconer. Both of those books were pretty flawed, but I have to say both were better than this novel. I honestly can’t believe Ragtime survived that cut. Not recommended.
January 20, 2023
Зачем писателю писать не сугубо историческую или не просто фантастическую книгу спустя десятилетия по прошествии описываемого периода, а смешать жанры? Очевидно, не для восстановления каких-то страниц истории в художественном изложении. Доктороу создал этот сложный, противоречивый роман для переосмысления этого исторического периода, который ввиду насыщенности технологических перемен, социально-экономических, трудовых, межрасовых отношений, роста революционных настроений, финализировавшихся кровопролитнейшей мировой войной, нуждался в осознании того, что многие современные проблемы уходят корнями в то время, в рассмотрении их под другим углом зрения.
Детский труд, балы "нищих", протестные акции от анархистов до коммунистов и социалистов, монополизация производства и концентрация капитала, забастовки, несоразмерное применение силы полицией, сексуальные домогательства, иммиграция, безнаказанное притеснение афроамериканцев и иммигрантов, расизм - это далеко не полный перечень поднимаемых проблем.
В числе прочих глубинных преобразований, это было время изменения положения женщин и зарождения феминизма. Эмма Голдман, анархистка и феминистка родом из Каунаса, упрекает Несбит в продажности ее любви, которое выражается в выборе богатого мужа. Разницу между ними она видит в свободе. По современной терминологии Эдит - икона стиля, топ-модель и натурщица, на которую равнялись все. Но она привержена идеалам денег, собственности, благополучия. В то время как Голдман может пойти на панель ради идеи, и она будет оставаться свободной. И Несбит, и Голдман - реально существовавшие исторические персоналии, равно как и Букер Ти Вашингтон - чернокожий просветитель, покоритель Арктики Пири, иллюзионист Гуддини, банкир Джей Пи Морган и многие другие, олицетворявшие собой эпоху.
Лично мне кажется, что очень важный аспект это то, что сверхбыстрый технический прогресс сильно меняет социальные отношения в обществе, которое в силу инертности, не успевает перестроиться. Мы тоже сейчас на пороге революционных изменений - развитие робототехники, высвобождение человеческого труда, миграционные процессы, ускоренный рост экономического неравенства, - все это очень похоже на революционные изменения, порожденные техническим прогрессом в начале двадцатого века. Дополнительно и в отличие от прошлого столетия, мы имеем очень сильные негативные изменения - климатические, которые тоже будут порождать новые проблемы и вызовы. Все это меняет геополитический расклад, миграционные потоки, эффективность производства, сознание людей, ценности и многие сферы жизни. Сопротивление этим изменениям провоцирует конфликты и кризисные ситуации. Чем переосмысливать спустя годы и десятилетия, нужно осознавать изменения своевременно.
Детский труд, балы "нищих", протестные акции от анархистов до коммунистов и социалистов, монополизация производства и концентрация капитала, забастовки, несоразмерное применение силы полицией, сексуальные домогательства, иммиграция, безнаказанное притеснение афроамериканцев и иммигрантов, расизм - это далеко не полный перечень поднимаемых проблем.
В числе прочих глубинных преобразований, это было время изменения положения женщин и зарождения феминизма. Эмма Голдман, анархистка и феминистка родом из Каунаса, упрекает Несбит в продажности ее любви, которое выражается в выборе богатого мужа. Разницу между ними она видит в свободе. По современной терминологии Эдит - икона стиля, топ-модель и натурщица, на которую равнялись все. Но она привержена идеалам денег, собственности, благополучия. В то время как Голдман может пойти на панель ради идеи, и она будет оставаться свободной. И Несбит, и Голдман - реально существовавшие исторические персоналии, равно как и Букер Ти Вашингтон - чернокожий просветитель, покоритель Арктики Пири, иллюзионист Гуддини, банкир Джей Пи Морган и многие другие, олицетворявшие собой эпоху.
Лично мне кажется, что очень важный аспект это то, что сверхбыстрый технический прогресс сильно меняет социальные отношения в обществе, которое в силу инертности, не успевает перестроиться. Мы тоже сейчас на пороге революционных изменений - развитие робототехники, высвобождение человеческого труда, миграционные процессы, ускоренный рост экономического неравенства, - все это очень похоже на революционные изменения, порожденные техническим прогрессом в начале двадцатого века. Дополнительно и в отличие от прошлого столетия, мы имеем очень сильные негативные изменения - климатические, которые тоже будут порождать новые проблемы и вызовы. Все это меняет геополитический расклад, миграционные потоки, эффективность производства, сознание людей, ценности и многие сферы жизни. Сопротивление этим изменениям провоцирует конфликты и кризисные ситуации. Чем переосмысливать спустя годы и десятилетия, нужно осознавать изменения своевременно.
May 24, 2018
به نام او
بعضی از کتابها رو باید چشم بسته و بدون تحقیق خرید یعنی زیاد به دنبال سابقه نویسنده و موضوع و غیره ذالک نرفت، همین که دیدی ناشرش فلان ناشره یا مترجم آقای فلانیه، کافیه. کتاب رو بخر بیا بیرون.
به عقیده بنده با طیب خاطر می‌توان هرچه که نجف دریابندری ترجمه کرده است را خواند، لذت برد و چیزهای فراوانی یاد گرفت. بی هیچ اغراق اگر سه چهار اسم بزرگ و قابل احترام دیگر نبودند به راحتی می‌توانستیم بگوییم که بزرگترین مترجم زبان فارسی ست.
و اما در مورد ناشر من تنها در مورد سه چهار تا ناشر چنین حسی دارم، این که هر کتابی که بیرون داده‌اند خواندنی‌ست. درست است که نشرخوارزمی سالهاست که دیگر خروجی چندانی ندارد ولی اینقدر کارنامه درخشانی دارد که حالاها حالاها برای امثال من کتاب خواندنی فراوان داشته باشد.
همه این حرفها را زدم که بگویم رگتایم ای ال دکتروف یک رمانِ درجه یک آمریکایی ست که بنده‌ای که به تازه‌گی به جرگه رمان‌خوانها پیوسته‌ام را بسیار غافلگیر کرد
بعضی از کتابها رو باید چشم بسته و بدون تحقیق خرید یعنی زیاد به دنبال سابقه نویسنده و موضوع و غیره ذالک نرفت، همین که دیدی ناشرش فلان ناشره یا مترجم آقای فلانیه، کافیه. کتاب رو بخر بیا بیرون.
به عقیده بنده با طیب خاطر می‌توان هرچه که نجف دریابندری ترجمه کرده است را خواند، لذت برد و چیزهای فراوانی یاد گرفت. بی هیچ اغراق اگر سه چهار اسم بزرگ و قابل احترام دیگر نبودند به راحتی می‌توانستیم بگوییم که بزرگترین مترجم زبان فارسی ست.
و اما در مورد ناشر من تنها در مورد سه چهار تا ناشر چنین حسی دارم، این که هر کتابی که بیرون داده‌اند خواندنی‌ست. درست است که نشرخوارزمی سالهاست که دیگر خروجی چندانی ندارد ولی اینقدر کارنامه درخشانی دارد که حالاها حالاها برای امثال من کتاب خواندنی فراوان داشته باشد.
همه این حرفها را زدم که بگویم رگتایم ای ال دکتروف یک رمانِ درجه یک آمریکایی ست که بنده‌ای که به تازه‌گی به جرگه رمان‌خوانها پیوسته‌ام را بسیار غافلگیر کرد
January 5, 2019
When we read history books, we are given a rather wide view of a tapestry of interconnected events: what Doctorow did with "Ragtime" is to take a magnifying glass to that intricate tapestry to give the reader a much, much closer look at some events that we thought we were familiar with. As such, it's a bit hard to summarize: we follow some episodes of the lives of a Upstate New York family and how their existence is linked to such famous figures as Harry Houdini, Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, etc.
The writing style is very simple and clean, which makes "Ragtime" a fast read, and it also strikes a very pleasant storytelling tone. But that tone is also a bit impersonal, and while I enjoyed this visit to early 20th century America, I'm not sure that I loved it... I never really felt transported to the setting, nor especially invested in the stories of the various characters. Which is weird because I am fascinated by that time period... To be honest, this might very well be a case of "it's not you, it's me", as I picked this book up after two rather mind-blowing books, to keep myself distracted during a grueling work retreat. I was definitely not in my best headspace and that might have influenced my reading experience.
I might revisit that one someday, just to see if it really is me, or if its the book...
The writing style is very simple and clean, which makes "Ragtime" a fast read, and it also strikes a very pleasant storytelling tone. But that tone is also a bit impersonal, and while I enjoyed this visit to early 20th century America, I'm not sure that I loved it... I never really felt transported to the setting, nor especially invested in the stories of the various characters. Which is weird because I am fascinated by that time period... To be honest, this might very well be a case of "it's not you, it's me", as I picked this book up after two rather mind-blowing books, to keep myself distracted during a grueling work retreat. I was definitely not in my best headspace and that might have influenced my reading experience.
I might revisit that one someday, just to see if it really is me, or if its the book...
April 1, 2014
Just stunning. One of the best books I've read in a long time. Beautifully written and utterly engrossing, I didn't want it to end (which is one reason I took so long reading it). Very cleverly plotted and extremely atmospheric. The way Doctorow weaves together all the loose ends is masterful. His blending of fact and fiction works superbly well. A wonderful novel.
September 23, 2020
Tasti neri, tasti bianchi...
”Ma un’ora dopo lui stava in piedi tra due vagoni del treno del latte diretto a New Rochelle. Pensava di gettarsi sotto le ruote. Ascoltava il loro ritmo, il loro battito continuo, come la mano sinistra di un rag. Il cigolio e il clangore del metallo contro il metallo alla giuntura dei due vagoni era il sincopato della mano destra. Sarebbe stato un suicidio rag.”
Il ragtime nasce a cavallo tra ottocento e novecento.
Una musica con due ritmi che all'unisono esprimono due anime differenti:
quella ripetitiva e martellante e quella varia e sincopata.
Questa particolare unione di due caratteri così diversi è evidente metafora di un'epoca che vive gli slanci di un progresso rampante e, al contempo, l'arroccarsi conservatore di patetici difensori della razza bianca.
E' il ritmo del ragtime sembra diffondersi anche nello stesso intreccio narrativo.
Doctorow si destreggia trai tasti della scrittura con repentini cambi di prospettiva ed un'ammirevole capacità di fusione tra ciò che è reale e ciò che è invenzione.
I protagonisti immaginati non hanno bisogno di nome ma si distinguono genericamente con il loro ruolo (il papà, la mamma, il bambino, il nonno, il fratello minore) ed assumono un valore esemplare di un'epoca ed i suoi cambiamenti.
Magicamente si trovano ad intersecare i loro destini con quelli di uomini e donne realmente esistiti: Houdini, Freud, Jung, Emma Goldman, Ferenczi, Henry Ford, Pierpont Morgan...
Piccole storie di vita quotidiana che entrano nella Storia:
alcune volte sfiorandola appena; altre diventandone parte integrante fino fondersi tanto da non distinguerne più né capo né coda.
”Chi può dire quali sono i fini e i mezzi. Chi di noi sia causa, e viva per causare negli altri, e chi di noi tragga da questi la sua causa.”
Maple Leaf Rag Played by Scott Joplin
https://youtu.be/pMAtL7n_-rc
”Ma un’ora dopo lui stava in piedi tra due vagoni del treno del latte diretto a New Rochelle. Pensava di gettarsi sotto le ruote. Ascoltava il loro ritmo, il loro battito continuo, come la mano sinistra di un rag. Il cigolio e il clangore del metallo contro il metallo alla giuntura dei due vagoni era il sincopato della mano destra. Sarebbe stato un suicidio rag.”
Il ragtime nasce a cavallo tra ottocento e novecento.
Una musica con due ritmi che all'unisono esprimono due anime differenti:
quella ripetitiva e martellante e quella varia e sincopata.
Questa particolare unione di due caratteri così diversi è evidente metafora di un'epoca che vive gli slanci di un progresso rampante e, al contempo, l'arroccarsi conservatore di patetici difensori della razza bianca.
E' il ritmo del ragtime sembra diffondersi anche nello stesso intreccio narrativo.
Doctorow si destreggia trai tasti della scrittura con repentini cambi di prospettiva ed un'ammirevole capacità di fusione tra ciò che è reale e ciò che è invenzione.
I protagonisti immaginati non hanno bisogno di nome ma si distinguono genericamente con il loro ruolo (il papà, la mamma, il bambino, il nonno, il fratello minore) ed assumono un valore esemplare di un'epoca ed i suoi cambiamenti.
Magicamente si trovano ad intersecare i loro destini con quelli di uomini e donne realmente esistiti: Houdini, Freud, Jung, Emma Goldman, Ferenczi, Henry Ford, Pierpont Morgan...
Piccole storie di vita quotidiana che entrano nella Storia:
alcune volte sfiorandola appena; altre diventandone parte integrante fino fondersi tanto da non distinguerne più né capo né coda.
”Chi può dire quali sono i fini e i mezzi. Chi di noi sia causa, e viva per causare negli altri, e chi di noi tragga da questi la sua causa.”
Maple Leaf Rag Played by Scott Joplin
https://youtu.be/pMAtL7n_-rc
Read
November 27, 2018Very enjoyable novel of turn of the century America. The central plot element is a modernised retelling of Kleist's Michael Kohlhaas - foreknowledge of which is not required for enjoyment of this novel. In a sense I feel it sells that story a little short because it has to share Ragtime with a bunch of other elements and Doctorow doesn't to my taste project the same kind of moral outrage as Kleist but making race the equivalent of late medieval/early modern social structure is still a strong statement.
It is a lean, dry and witty book. The plot elements and characters are chopped up and interspersed with historical figures - including Houdini learning to fly an aeroplane and being mistaken for it's inventor, Freud and Jung going through the tunnel of love together at a Coney Island fairground & Emma Goldmann speaking up for truth and justice. The fictional characters are mainly nameless, reduced to labels. Lots of humour and sharp observation. It is a picture of the USA before the First World War from broken fragments of scandal and celebrity, injustice and struggle, innovation, invention and misunderstanding that has to end inevitably with the promise of Holywood and the mythologisation of the past, of family of a country not big enough for anybody to be able to escape their demons for long, but still with odd implausible chances of happiness for a few.
It is a lean, dry and witty book. The plot elements and characters are chopped up and interspersed with historical figures - including Houdini learning to fly an aeroplane and being mistaken for it's inventor, Freud and Jung going through the tunnel of love together at a Coney Island fairground & Emma Goldmann speaking up for truth and justice. The fictional characters are mainly nameless, reduced to labels. Lots of humour and sharp observation. It is a picture of the USA before the First World War from broken fragments of scandal and celebrity, injustice and struggle, innovation, invention and misunderstanding that has to end inevitably with the promise of Holywood and the mythologisation of the past, of family of a country not big enough for anybody to be able to escape their demons for long, but still with odd implausible chances of happiness for a few.
February 9, 2017
And though the newspapers called the shooting the Crime of the Century, Goldman knew it was only 1906 and there were ninety-four years to go.
Ragtime is a vivid, colourful patchwork-like picture of America in the early XX century, when …patriotism was a reliable sentiment…everyone wore white in summer…there were no Negroes. There were no immigrants . It’s a story in which fates of fictitious heroes intertwine with authentic figures of epoch like magician Houdini, tycoons J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford, an anarchist Emma Goldman or Sigismund Freud, who stated only after his back to Vienna America is a mistake, a gigantic mistake.
It’s a story about these non-existent and invisible for average American, people: black musician struggling with the world of white man for his rights and dignity or poor emigrants from eastern Europe stayed in slums. We can observe a flourishing capitalism, an anarchism versus socialism, an American dream versus racism, world of the poor and the rich. The novel is set in New York, New Rochelle, Atlantic City and even Arctica when R.E. Peary is reaching the North Pole. Ragtime is a time of economic and social transformations, and technological development.
And later ...Well, later the era of Ragtime had finished and America entered the War.
Ragtime is a vivid, colourful patchwork-like picture of America in the early XX century, when …patriotism was a reliable sentiment…everyone wore white in summer…there were no Negroes. There were no immigrants . It’s a story in which fates of fictitious heroes intertwine with authentic figures of epoch like magician Houdini, tycoons J.P. Morgan and Henry Ford, an anarchist Emma Goldman or Sigismund Freud, who stated only after his back to Vienna America is a mistake, a gigantic mistake.
It’s a story about these non-existent and invisible for average American, people: black musician struggling with the world of white man for his rights and dignity or poor emigrants from eastern Europe stayed in slums. We can observe a flourishing capitalism, an anarchism versus socialism, an American dream versus racism, world of the poor and the rich. The novel is set in New York, New Rochelle, Atlantic City and even Arctica when R.E. Peary is reaching the North Pole. Ragtime is a time of economic and social transformations, and technological development.
And later ...Well, later the era of Ragtime had finished and America entered the War.
April 14, 2013
Wildly Overrated (2013)
Doctorow, E.L. (1974). Ragtime. New York: Penguin.
This impressionistic portrait of New York in the early 1900’s has been widely praised as a “classic,” and has been made into a movie and a Broadway show. I can't understand the attraction.
The story is roughly centered on the life of an upper-class family in New York, but dozens of other sub-stories flare up and die down around them. A rich socialite who married for money defends her husband who killed her lover, a famous architect. For no reason at all, she takes up with an impoverished Jewish immigrant and his daughter. Anarchist Emma Goldman appears and “liberates” her from her corset. Harry Houdini appears when he accidentally runs his car into the rich family’s yard. Sigmund Freud appears on his visit to Clark University in 1909. William Taft wins the presidency. Henry Ford has lunch with J.P Morgan. And so on, and on, and on,and on.
Toward the end of the (300-page) novel, a black man becomes enraged by an act of racial discrimination and finding no satisfaction in the legal system, turns to violence. That’s the only dramatic move in the entire novel, and it’s supposed to show America’s “loss of innocence” and rising awareness of racism. But that is pure nonsense, as anyone who knows anything about American history (and Black history) can attest. There never was an “age of innocence,” except among the profoundly ignorant, a condition that persists today.
I think the reader is supposed to be charmed, or possibly amazed, at the intermingling of fictional and historical characters. I think that was a literary innovation in 1975, I can’t remember, but if so, it is method that no longer has novelty. Charitably, I can say this literary style has not aged well.
The writing is pedestrian. Quotation marks are dispensed with, so I guess that’s a sort of innovation, but the language is mundane, the narration predictable and the descriptions full of empty abstraction. There are few memorable scenes or turns of phrase, and there are so many characters, you can’t even remember them, let alone identify with any of them, so the emotional effect of the work is nil.
If you don’t know the social history of America during this period, it seems you would be mystified by all the random comings and goings. If you do know the history, you would be stupefied by its unimaginative recitation. Children might like the book because it gives easily digestible access to reasonably accurate history, though without insight.
The acclaim this book has received is a mystery to me. It was a huge disappointment.
Doctorow, E.L. (1974). Ragtime. New York: Penguin.
This impressionistic portrait of New York in the early 1900’s has been widely praised as a “classic,” and has been made into a movie and a Broadway show. I can't understand the attraction.
The story is roughly centered on the life of an upper-class family in New York, but dozens of other sub-stories flare up and die down around them. A rich socialite who married for money defends her husband who killed her lover, a famous architect. For no reason at all, she takes up with an impoverished Jewish immigrant and his daughter. Anarchist Emma Goldman appears and “liberates” her from her corset. Harry Houdini appears when he accidentally runs his car into the rich family’s yard. Sigmund Freud appears on his visit to Clark University in 1909. William Taft wins the presidency. Henry Ford has lunch with J.P Morgan. And so on, and on, and on,and on.
Toward the end of the (300-page) novel, a black man becomes enraged by an act of racial discrimination and finding no satisfaction in the legal system, turns to violence. That’s the only dramatic move in the entire novel, and it’s supposed to show America’s “loss of innocence” and rising awareness of racism. But that is pure nonsense, as anyone who knows anything about American history (and Black history) can attest. There never was an “age of innocence,” except among the profoundly ignorant, a condition that persists today.
I think the reader is supposed to be charmed, or possibly amazed, at the intermingling of fictional and historical characters. I think that was a literary innovation in 1975, I can’t remember, but if so, it is method that no longer has novelty. Charitably, I can say this literary style has not aged well.
The writing is pedestrian. Quotation marks are dispensed with, so I guess that’s a sort of innovation, but the language is mundane, the narration predictable and the descriptions full of empty abstraction. There are few memorable scenes or turns of phrase, and there are so many characters, you can’t even remember them, let alone identify with any of them, so the emotional effect of the work is nil.
If you don’t know the social history of America during this period, it seems you would be mystified by all the random comings and goings. If you do know the history, you would be stupefied by its unimaginative recitation. Children might like the book because it gives easily digestible access to reasonably accurate history, though without insight.
The acclaim this book has received is a mystery to me. It was a huge disappointment.
June 22, 2017
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book.
I went back and forth between giving it 3 or 4 stars. What to do? I decided that, since I was unsure, erring on the higher side would be more fair. I mean, the content of the book was really good. There were stories centered around a diverse mixiture of people from the early 1900s that included Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, Emma Goldman and Henry Ford. And therein lies my problem. The collection of stories, imho, didn't translate into one amazing book. There was no common thread. While the author clearly knew lots of really cool bits of information about each of the characters, weaving them together was a big ol' mess, and the commonalities felt forced.
I realize that this book is a classic and was chosen by Modern Library as one of the 100 Best Novels of All Time. Like I said, the content was good. I love history. And I love to learn things about historical figures that aren't widely known. In that way, Ragtime was really good. It just jumped around too much for my taste and seemed to throw random events in for no reason (e.g., Freud) other than social observation.
Also, I was really skeeved out by Doctorow's descriptions of sex (between Mother and Father and between Father and the Eskimo woman) and bodies, especially of the little girl. It felt dirty-old-man creepy. There was absolutely no need for any of that. It added nothing to the "historical" part of this historical fiction book.
I know my opinion is not a popular one. I own this book because it was an Audible Daily Deal forever ago, but I knew nothing about it. I guess I just expected more of a coherent story as opposed to a collection of shorts. So I feel like... "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." BUT...
I went back and forth between giving it 3 or 4 stars. What to do? I decided that, since I was unsure, erring on the higher side would be more fair. I mean, the content of the book was really good. There were stories centered around a diverse mixiture of people from the early 1900s that included Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud, Emma Goldman and Henry Ford. And therein lies my problem. The collection of stories, imho, didn't translate into one amazing book. There was no common thread. While the author clearly knew lots of really cool bits of information about each of the characters, weaving them together was a big ol' mess, and the commonalities felt forced.
I realize that this book is a classic and was chosen by Modern Library as one of the 100 Best Novels of All Time. Like I said, the content was good. I love history. And I love to learn things about historical figures that aren't widely known. In that way, Ragtime was really good. It just jumped around too much for my taste and seemed to throw random events in for no reason (e.g., Freud) other than social observation.
Also, I was really skeeved out by Doctorow's descriptions of sex (between Mother and Father and between Father and the Eskimo woman) and bodies, especially of the little girl. It felt dirty-old-man creepy. There was absolutely no need for any of that. It added nothing to the "historical" part of this historical fiction book.
I know my opinion is not a popular one. I own this book because it was an Audible Daily Deal forever ago, but I knew nothing about it. I guess I just expected more of a coherent story as opposed to a collection of shorts. So I feel like... "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting." BUT...
February 20, 2015
Ragtime is piano music with a syncopated melody.
And I would call the novel Ragtime a highly syncopated prose…
“He suddenly had an idea for a film. A bunch of children who were pals, white black, fat thin, rich poor, all kinds, mischievous little urchins who would have funny adventures in their own neighborhood, a society of ragamuffins, like all of us, a gang, getting into trouble and getting out again. Actually not one movie but several were made of this vision. And by that time the era of Ragtime had run out, with the heavy breath of the machine, as if history were no more than a tune on a player piano.”
History isn’t a timetable. Every person has one’s own history.
Ragtime is a ragged music of the ragged times.
And I would call the novel Ragtime a highly syncopated prose…
“He suddenly had an idea for a film. A bunch of children who were pals, white black, fat thin, rich poor, all kinds, mischievous little urchins who would have funny adventures in their own neighborhood, a society of ragamuffins, like all of us, a gang, getting into trouble and getting out again. Actually not one movie but several were made of this vision. And by that time the era of Ragtime had run out, with the heavy breath of the machine, as if history were no more than a tune on a player piano.”
History isn’t a timetable. Every person has one’s own history.
Ragtime is a ragged music of the ragged times.
May 14, 2020
الرواية رائعة من النوع السردي، تقع احداث الرواية في بداية القرن العشرون، وعام 1906 تحديدا. تبدو الاحداث في البداية متباعدة ولا يوجد رابط بينها ثم تبدأ في التجمع وتتلاقى مع بعضها البعض.
طريقة سرد الاحداث رائعة وبدون اي فلسفة ويركز المؤلف على الاحداث المتلاحقة بدون اي اطالة وبدون اهمال ايضا.
تصف الرواية المجتمع الامريكي الناهض في ذلك الوقت ومجالات الابداع والفرص السانحة لافراد المجتمع للتقدم وحصد الاموال والمكانة الرفيعة واختيار شخصيات حقيقية واحداث حقيقية ودمجها كذلك باحداث خيالية وشخصيات خيالية ايضا.
ويلقي الضوء على المجتمع الاوروبي بطبقته الارستقراطية المفلسة والتي اكل الدهر عليها وشرب باظطرارهم الى بيع مقتنيات عائلاتهم التاريخية للعيش والمحافظة على مكانتهم الاجتماعية.
السرد رائع والترجمة متميزة مع انه كان يمكن التعريف ببعض الشخصيات التاريخية اكثر من خلال الهوامش.
طريقة سرد الاحداث رائعة وبدون اي فلسفة ويركز المؤلف على الاحداث المتلاحقة بدون اي اطالة وبدون اهمال ايضا.
تصف الرواية المجتمع الامريكي الناهض في ذلك الوقت ومجالات الابداع والفرص السانحة لافراد المجتمع للتقدم وحصد الاموال والمكانة الرفيعة واختيار شخصيات حقيقية واحداث حقيقية ودمجها كذلك باحداث خيالية وشخصيات خيالية ايضا.
ويلقي الضوء على المجتمع الاوروبي بطبقته الارستقراطية المفلسة والتي اكل الدهر عليها وشرب باظطرارهم الى بيع مقتنيات عائلاتهم التاريخية للعيش والمحافظة على مكانتهم الاجتماعية.
السرد رائع والترجمة متميزة مع انه كان يمكن التعريف ببعض الشخصيات التاريخية اكثر من خلال الهوامش.
February 21, 2021
دکتروف عزیز
یک ضد آمریکایی دوست داشتنی
یک رمان ضد نژادپرستی فوق‌العاده با قصه‌ای جذاب و شخصیت‌هایی عالی
پشیمون نیستم
یک ضد آمریکایی دوست داشتنی
یک رمان ضد نژادپرستی فوق‌العاده با قصه‌ای جذاب و شخصیت‌هایی عالی
پشیمون نیستم
February 5, 2016
I first read "Ragtime" twelve years ago, and loved it. It soared into my top ten list. I reread it recently for a book club, and I was disappointed. A lot has happened in the intervening years between the readings, and this work simply does not impress like I thought it would. First off, the novel is over praised to a ridiculous degree. Secondly, it has no real depth. It is a series of scenarios and vignettes with some cameos by historical figures thrown in for good measure. And the point of the text still eludes me. My book club is filled with college professors, English teachers, avid readers of immense education, and the novel fell flat, despite our best wishes for it not to. To appreciate this text, and to elevate its status, you have to project a lot onto it and I don't think that if a book is as profound as "Ragtime" supposedly is it should take so much work to make it seem good.
Now, that is not to say that I did not enjoy this text. I enjoyed reading it very much. I just don't think there is all that much to it because I feel like the story and characters are very surface. And I believe that E.L. Doctorow did that on purpose, I just can't figure out why.
I will praise the book's artistry. Doctorow does a lovely job of interweaving numerous fictional threads and historical figures in a mostly convincing manner. The book stylistically reads like a ragtime piano piece, and the beat of history and progress, and social evolution marches on relentlessly. I get it. But is there anything else sir? If not, the book does not have all that much to say.
Also perplexing is what Doctorow intends to show through the characters. In the character of Younger Brother and the black maid Sarah, Doctorow seems to be knocking people who allow their emotional and physical well being to be determined by others. But especially in the character of Younger Brother he belabors this point for way too long, and it does not seem to connect with any other plotline in the text. So, the point is...? Another qualm is his characterization of "the boy". This young child has thoughts that are well beyond even the most intelligent small child, and since Doctorow uses this character to express some of his philosophical themes, it reads as very unbelievable because you don't buy that the kid is really having these thoughts. It reminds you of the author, and his intrusion disrupts the story (such as it is) and further detracts from the text.
I am disappointed in "Ragtime". I wish I wasn't. If I read it again, knowing what I know now, I will probably enjoy it better for the simple fact that I won't expect much of it. Doctorow is a talented writer, and his "The March" is excellent and vivid historical fiction. Read it instead.
Now, that is not to say that I did not enjoy this text. I enjoyed reading it very much. I just don't think there is all that much to it because I feel like the story and characters are very surface. And I believe that E.L. Doctorow did that on purpose, I just can't figure out why.
I will praise the book's artistry. Doctorow does a lovely job of interweaving numerous fictional threads and historical figures in a mostly convincing manner. The book stylistically reads like a ragtime piano piece, and the beat of history and progress, and social evolution marches on relentlessly. I get it. But is there anything else sir? If not, the book does not have all that much to say.
Also perplexing is what Doctorow intends to show through the characters. In the character of Younger Brother and the black maid Sarah, Doctorow seems to be knocking people who allow their emotional and physical well being to be determined by others. But especially in the character of Younger Brother he belabors this point for way too long, and it does not seem to connect with any other plotline in the text. So, the point is...? Another qualm is his characterization of "the boy". This young child has thoughts that are well beyond even the most intelligent small child, and since Doctorow uses this character to express some of his philosophical themes, it reads as very unbelievable because you don't buy that the kid is really having these thoughts. It reminds you of the author, and his intrusion disrupts the story (such as it is) and further detracts from the text.
I am disappointed in "Ragtime". I wish I wasn't. If I read it again, knowing what I know now, I will probably enjoy it better for the simple fact that I won't expect much of it. Doctorow is a talented writer, and his "The March" is excellent and vivid historical fiction. Read it instead.
February 9, 2018
2018'de okuduğum, tartışmasız en iyi kitap.
Etrafta bu kitaptan bahseden de görmedim. Herkes okudu da, kendisine mi saklıyor bilmiyorum ama :) Gerçekten de insanın alıp bağrına basası, pamuklara sarıp evin en güzel köşesine asası geliyor! Merak unsuru konusunda bir şahika. Yazarını da tanımıyordum. Daha çok şey okumamız lazım kendisinden. Tabii bu kitabın bu kadar güzel olmasının bir sebebi de çevirmeni Tomris Uyar Hanımefendidir. Ne kadar güzel, ne kadar içten bir çeviri olmuş.
Kitabın bende bıraktığı etki şuna benziyordu: Takeshi Kitano'nun Zatoichi'sinde tüm film bittikten sonra bütün ekibin hep birlikte bir cümbüşe dönüştürdükleri bir sahne vardır. İşte bu kitap, o cümbüşün ham halidir. Baştan aşağıya kitap budur. Yazarımız bir jazz tabiri ile kendi başına bir jam session yapmıştır. Aradaki geçişleri farkettirmeden muazzam bir şekilde hem de...
Bir de ufak bir hatırlatma! Bu kitabı zamanında Can yayınları Ragtime adını "Caz Dönemi" diye çevirerek yayımlamıştır. Caz Dönemi, tam olarak Ragtime'ı ifade etmez. Ragtime, jazz'ın başlangıç dönemidir sadece. Neden sonra YKY'e sanıyorum birileri bunu hatırlatmış da, onlar Ragtime'ı doğrudan o hali ile bırakmayı uygun görmüşler. Bence de doğru yapmışlardır.
Etrafta bu kitaptan bahseden de görmedim. Herkes okudu da, kendisine mi saklıyor bilmiyorum ama :) Gerçekten de insanın alıp bağrına basası, pamuklara sarıp evin en güzel köşesine asası geliyor! Merak unsuru konusunda bir şahika. Yazarını da tanımıyordum. Daha çok şey okumamız lazım kendisinden. Tabii bu kitabın bu kadar güzel olmasının bir sebebi de çevirmeni Tomris Uyar Hanımefendidir. Ne kadar güzel, ne kadar içten bir çeviri olmuş.
Kitabın bende bıraktığı etki şuna benziyordu: Takeshi Kitano'nun Zatoichi'sinde tüm film bittikten sonra bütün ekibin hep birlikte bir cümbüşe dönüştürdükleri bir sahne vardır. İşte bu kitap, o cümbüşün ham halidir. Baştan aşağıya kitap budur. Yazarımız bir jazz tabiri ile kendi başına bir jam session yapmıştır. Aradaki geçişleri farkettirmeden muazzam bir şekilde hem de...
Bir de ufak bir hatırlatma! Bu kitabı zamanında Can yayınları Ragtime adını "Caz Dönemi" diye çevirerek yayımlamıştır. Caz Dönemi, tam olarak Ragtime'ı ifade etmez. Ragtime, jazz'ın başlangıç dönemidir sadece. Neden sonra YKY'e sanıyorum birileri bunu hatırlatmış da, onlar Ragtime'ı doğrudan o hali ile bırakmayı uygun görmüşler. Bence de doğru yapmışlardır.
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