Book Club: Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow
by: Eric
BOOK 1 in the I STEPPED ON MY KOBO SO I READ WHATEVER I FIND IN A GROCERY BAG IN MY ROOM SERIES
LOOK, I don’t like to overtly analyze books. I prefer to let books have their way with me while I read them, then I move on hoping that some ideas stick. And if they are any good they do stick and later, days, months, years, they echo in my head and I can go “ah” and feel very good about myself. This is what made me a lousy academic but good at jokes.
I say this because I feel there is something to Ragtime I missed, perhaps even intentionally. But frankly it didn’t stick. It is a good read, very entertaining and you learn a few things. It has lots of neat elements: Houdini is in it, the narrators father goes with Shackleton to discover the north pole, there are anarchists, issues of race relations, a character who invites a bunch of firecrackers and lots of references to Teddy Roosevelt. Perhaps my favourite scene is when JP Morgan invites Henry Ford to his house because he thinks that they are both reincarnations of Pharaohs.
Heres another Rag that’s less of a drag. Not to say that Rag Time is a rag but you know what I mean….
But these are plot points and they are all I remember. I don’t remember “feeling” anything besides entertainment. I don’t see it and me having much of a future. When it comes to the turn of the 20th century lit I will stick to my Teddy Roosevelt Biographies.
And so I can’t fully recommend Ragtime as one of “Eric’s Picks”.
Sung: And and all I give it a mid range rating Raaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggg.
