November book review: 'Ragtime', by E.L. Doctorow

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Book: Ragtime, E.L. Doctorow 

Publication date: 1975 

WCRG meeting: 18 November, 2015 

Group rating: 7.4 


The Reading Group met on Wednesday evening where E.L. Dortorow’s deceptively slim volume generated some of the most passionate debate ever witnessed at a meeting. Ragtime, Doctorow’s novel set in early twentieth-century America, has been hailed by critics as one of the great American novels of the 1900s, and there were certainly many at this month’s meeting who agreed. One reader described her enjoyment of reading Ragtime as akin to that of reading Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby; while another reader was of the opinion that Doctorow’s novel surpassed Fitzgerald’s in literary skill and in capturing the mood of a nation.

Most agreed that the novel felt ‘very modern’ and that Doctorow’s unique blending of fact with fiction was skilful and effective. One member queried whether Doctorow had really captured the zeitgeist of early twentieth-century America; while others admitted to finding the movement between scenes too rapid to allow for development of ideas. However, the majority found it to be an absorbing and exciting read, an experience fostered by Doctorow’s unorthodox writing style. A few members confessed to finding the ‘parade’ of characters, real and imaginary, a bit confusing and felt that one needed a good grounding in American history and culture in order to fully appreciate Doctorow’s characterisations and determine where he was blurring the lines between fiction and non-fiction.

Among the small number who disliked the novel, it was remarked that there was ‘no kah-ching moment’: it was just a string of random people being mentioned, without any character or plot development. Those who did not enjoy the novel felt that it lacked heart and was too superficially constructed to allow for emotional engagement on the part of the reader. For these readers, the novel was admirable as an intellectual exercise, but failed as a piece of creative writing. It was felt by a minority that Doctorow prioritised his kaleidoscopic landscape of names and historical moments over the development of a single compelling focus and, while many at the meeting admired his deft handling of potentially divergent themes, some were disappointed by Doctorow’s decision not to flesh out any of the characters.

However, the novel’s admirers were passionate in their appreciation for the novel and they largely agreed that the fictional storyline of Coalhouse Walker was particularly affecting and was the most coherent and heartfelt element of the book. Tateh’s rise from obscurity was also felt to be an accurate depiction of American ambition. Proponents of the book found it ‘absorbing from the first page’; with one reader remarking that she ‘loved it and that surprised [her].’ Another reader commented that he found the book educational, as he learned a lot about American cultural history through reading it, while a new member explained how Doctorow’s work had inspired him to research the period further and branch out into reading other American fiction.

The majority were of the opinion that Doctorow captured the essence of American life and the American dream in this novel – particularly in his depictions of Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan, two giants of American industry, who appear together in some of the novel’s most electric scenes, and symbolise the dichotomy in American culture of the pragmatist and the dreamer. Although writing this work in the 1970s, Doctorow chose to set it in the early 1900s, a time when the American cultural landscape was changing irrevocably. For this reason, Ragtime was described as presenting the ideology of America and revealing ‘how nations are built’. One reader commented that all of the individual strands of the novel ‘related beautifully’ to one another, while another described it as a ‘patchwork of Americana’ and a ‘melting-pot’ of American social history. One member in particular spoke passionately about the extraordinary ‘layering and mirroring’, which Doctorow achieved and those who loved the story admired Doctorow’s efficient and intelligent manner of storytelling.

Divisiveness was certainly the theme of the evening, with one reader admiring the cleanliness of Doctorow’s narratorial style, in which he did not allow the disparate threads to clutter the narrative, while another found this aspect of the novel to be very ‘untidy’. There was also much discussion about whether Ragtime could be categorised as a novel! One member, who enjoyed the book enormously, strongly believed that it lacked the elements necessary for it to be called a ‘novel’, while another member described it as a ‘dramatised sociological history.’

It was noted by a number of members that Doctorow’s more intimate and sexual scenes were uncomfortably graphic, but this was felt to be a nod to the huge influence of Freud on American views on sexuality and desire. Indeed, the chapter where Freud tours the three major theme parks on his visit to America was felt to be just one of a number of very funny scenes in the book. Those who liked the book felt that Doctorow demonstrated particular skill in scene-setting and in capturing the spirit of a moment through a sparing use of words.

On Doctorow’s writing style, members were once again divided. The majority enjoyed his ‘staccato’ style, while others likened it to ‘spraying bullets’ and found it led to a jarring reading experience. There was much speculation about the title of the novel too and Doctorow’s prefatory quotation from Scott Joplin on Ragtime music: “Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play Ragtime fast…” It was felt that this was the ideal way in which to read Doctorow’s work – to linger over the details and decipher the cleverly concealed social commentary beneath the seemingly improvisational style of writing.

When it came to scoring the novel out of ten, opposing attitudes to the work were even more apparent – scores ranged from a high of 10 right down to the lowest of 4, with many giving it high scores of between 8 and 9.5. Despite the strong endorsement of the majority who read the book, the novel scored just 7.4. The level of enjoyment had by all in discussing the book, however, was certainly much higher than this.