Ragtime | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Ragtime Critical Overview

It would be very difficult to find a piece of criticism that does not take Ragtime as a serious work of art. In his book-length survey of Doctorow's career, John G. Parks briefly mentions a few negative reviews of the book, including one by Roger Dale, who, in The New York Times Book Review, called it "all surface," and a piece by respected reviewer Hilton Kramer, who objected in Commentary to the novel's leftist political sensibilities. Parks identifies these critics as "second wave," who, having seen the glowing newspaper reviews and high sales figures after the novel was published, set out to go against popular opinion. Parks himself pays close attention to the themes of the book and finds it to be worthy of study and respect, in addition to being a "carnivalesque novel" that explores serious literary issues, such as the instability of history and the transitory nature of...
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