Ragtime

E. L. Doctorow, 1974 Read 11/6/21

This isn't a very long novel - only 320 pages in the edition I read (1997 Modern Library Edition). However, it is a very full story. There is a lot going on, and large cast of characters doing it. I found it immersive and fascinating. This isn't a time period I know a lot about (America shortly before WWI) but I am familiar with the celebrities of the time - Ford, Houdini, Morgan, etc. I like how Doctorow mixed the real and the fictional so seamlessly.

I also liked how the main mover of the story was not the protagonist. In fact I'm not sure who the protagonist was supposed to be. Google says it is Coalhouse Walker. He's certainly the most active individual and the focus of many chapters. But "the boy" who is not named appeared to be the protagonist originally. Doctorow also uses dialog in a unique way, written as reported speech as opposed to quotations. Exactly opposite what you're taught to do in school!

Shout out for using the work "spermatazoie" which I had never encountered in a novel before (pg 196). Also Saratoga Springs, my favorite place on Earth, on page 215!

I thought it was familiar but checking on GoodReads I hadn't listed it there, which means if I read it before, it was pre-2014. I may have seen the movie? I don't recall. At any rate, I really enjoyed this and look forward to the other Doctorow novels on the list!

Rereadable: yes

Time to Read: 2 days

Classic: yes! Definitely.