“Ragtime” Doctorow in brief summary
1902 President of the United States – Teddy Roosevelt.
City of Kew-Rochelle, New York. On the fashionable Avenue of Krugozor, in a house on a hill surrounded by Norwegian maples, the family – Grandfather, Father, Mother, Baby and Younger Brother Mother – live. The life of the family is full of spirituality and is blessed with goodness.
The kid is extremely passionate about the tricks of the artist-esquepist Harry Houdini. By the will of Houdini case appears in their house – on the road near the hill the car breaks down. But the breakdown is eliminated, Houdini is going to leave. The kid stands near the car and looks at his reflection in the copper headlight. “Warn the Archduke,” he suddenly says and runs away. Many years later, on the day of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Houdini remembers this as the only truly mystical event in his life.
A few days after this incident, the Father departs for a polar expedition. In the
Immigrants: Mom, Tanya and Baby. A small room in the Lower East Side. All three work from morning till night. For an extra dollar, Mamka succumbs to the harassment of her employer. His aunt drives her out of the house and turns from grief into a gray-haired old man.
A well-known model Evelyn Nesbit participates in the trial of the murder of his former lover, architect Stanford White. The killer is her husband Harry Kay Fso. This process creates the first sex goddess in American history. One day, in obedience to a whim, she calls in poor neighborhoods and meets there Daddy and the Little One. But at a rally of socialists the orator-anarchist Red Emma Goldman reveals her incognito. Aunt in horror grabs Baby and disappears. Goldman leads Evelyn to himself. MBM, secretly in love with Evelyn, follows them. When Goldman does Evelyn massage, he suddenly falls out of the closet with a cry of ecstasy. Evelyn
After the ill-fated rally, Tyatya and Malysh leave wherever their eyes look. During the next transfer from the tram to the tram past them pass Mother and Baby. Children meet with looks, and the Baby forever remembers the color of his eyes: blue with yellow and green spots.
At this point in our story, Theodore Dreiser suffers from the failure of his first book, “Sister Kerry”. Sigmund Freud arrives in America to read a series of lectures. The president of the United States is the obese person William Howard Taft, and gluttony is becoming fashionable. Artist Harry Houdini learns to fly on an airplane. Images of Ancient Egypt capture all the minds.
The great financier Jay Pierpont Morgan invites Henry Ford, the inventor of the assembly line, to his white marble library, built to house the books and works of art that Morgan is buying around the world. He expounds to Ford his theory of transcendentally gifted individuals. Ford recognizes the possibility of its sacred origin. Subsequently, they establish an exclusive club that finances certain searches. In New Rochelle, Mother finds buried in the ground, but still a living newborn baby. An hour later, in the basement of the house in the next block, the police find a very young black woman named Sarah. Mother leaves her and the baby in the house. Together with them a feeling of trouble settles in the house.
Aunt and Baby live now in Lawrence, Massachusetts. For the fun of the little ones, he makes books from his silhouettes – such paper cartoons. At the weaving factory, where he works, a strike begins. The strike committee suggests that Tyate send the Baby to Philadelphia. But at the time of the solemnly organized departure of children, the police are dispersing the workers with shots. Aunt and Baby miraculously have time to jump into the train. The strike was won, but Tyatya no longer wants to go to the factory. Wandering with him through the streets of Philadelphia, Malyshka pays attention to the shop window of funny toys. Tyatya immediately goes to the store owner and concludes a contract with him for the production of cartoon books. So the life of Tyachi flows into the flow of American energy.
In the house in New Rochelle appears Kolhaus Walker the Younger – an elegant, confident black pianist. This is the father of Sarina Baby. Since then he travels every Sunday, makes Sarah an offer, but she does not want to see him. Once he is invited into the house. At the request of the Father, he sits at the piano, performs ragtime and conquers all with his game. Only in March, Sarah finally gives her consent.
The MBM now directs the firework department of the Father’s pyrotechnic enterprise. His latest invention strongly resembles a bomb. He understands that he can improve many types of weapons. Trying to find Evelyn Nesbit, he accidentally ends up at a congress in support of the Mexican revolution, after which he converges with Emma Goldman. Returning to New Rochelle between the cars of a milk train, he reflects on whether to rush under the wheels. The noise of the train reminds him of the sounds of reggaime – a suicidal reggae.
One Sunday, at the fire station, they suddenly block the way to Kolkhaus’s car. Brandmaster Willie Conklin states that this is a private toll road. Kolhaus goes after the policeman, but he does not even consider it necessary to go to the scene. Returning, Kolhaus finds his “Ford-T” shaggy and broken. It requires washing and repairing the machine. The police are coming. The next day, Father makes a pledge, and Kolhaus is released. The father recommends that he turn to a lawyer. But none of the lawyers wants to help Kolhaus. White – because he is black, black – because he is rich. He vainly tries to go to court himself, just as vainly writes a complaint in the police station. Here Sara decides to protect her fiancé herself. But her cry from the crowd, meeting Vice President Jim Sherman, draws the attention of the police. Father and Mother find Sarah in the hospital. Kolhaus does not depart from her bed. By the end of the week Sarah dies of beatings. On wedding money, Kolhaus arranges a posh funeral for her.
And now he goes to the warpath. Explodes two fire stations. Leaves in the editorial offices of local newspapers letters in which he demands trial of the fire-maker Willie Conklin and repair of the car. Threatens with terror. The city begins to panic. All Negroes are hiding. The father goes to the police and tells there everything he knows about Kolhaus.
MBM from the very beginning on the side of Kolhaus. Having found his combat headquarters in the depths of Harlem, he offers his help as an explosive. He shaves his head and paints his face with a burnt cork so as not to differ from the young Negroes – Kolhaus’ helpers.
The family drives off to Atlantic City, away from these events. Mother is quite satisfied with the society that is going there. Foreigners seem more interesting to her than compatriots. In the field of her vision, Baron Ashkenazi, a successful film business man, comes. This is another transformation of the Heavens. Now his concern is for the Baby to forget all their sad past. Baby with the Baby become inseparable friends.
But the Kolkhausian story continues. Father is called to New York.
Kolhaus and his comrades enter the library of Pierpont Morgan and threaten to destroy it. The library is mined. The police arrange the headquarters in the house opposite. There the district attorney of New York Charles Es Wheatman arrives. He understands that he is involved in a politically dangerous affair. Emma Goldman, at the time of his arrest, makes a statement in support of Kolhaus, who gets into the newspapers. The most famous Negro of his time, the great enlightener Booker T. Washington, on the contrary, condemns this action. Whitman asks Washington to use its authority to resolve the situation. Booker Tee Washington and Kolhaus talk among the great works of art and historical values. Kolhaus agrees to surrender, but the assistants must be released and Willie Conklin must repair the car himself. Here comes a telegram from DP Morgan. Morgan demands to give the car and then hang up Kolhaus. The car is pulled out of the pond. The father goes to the library as an intermediary and then remains as an official hostage. With amazement, he meets his brother-in-law there, who at night safely leaves with the rest of his companions at the renovated “Forde-T”. After their departure, Kolhaus asks Father to tell him about his son, all to the smallest detail. Two hours later, Kolhaus goes out with his hands up. Police detachment shoots him at point-blank range. Two hours later, Kolhaus goes out with his hands up. Police detachment shoots him at point-blank range. Two hours later, Kolhaus goes out with his hands up. Police detachment shoots him at point-blank range.
Companions Kolhaus give MBM ill-fated “Ford.” On it, the MBM goes to Mexico, where it participates in the Mexican Revolution on the side of the insurgents. As a result of his activities as an assassin, he stalls and eventually dies in a shootout with government troops.
The president of the United States is Woodrow Wilson. The Palace of Peace opens in The Hague. A conference of socialists is held in Vienna. Artists-abstractionists appear in Paris. Pirpont Morgan goes to Egypt to spend the night inside the pyramid and to know the essence of ancient philosophy. But it only gets cold and bites of bedbugs. Soon he dies in Rome. Following his death, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand occurs. Harry Houdini, remembering the baby’s prophecy, makes a visit to New Rochelle, but finds no one. Grandfather no longer exists. Mother, Baby and Negro Kolkhaus Walker The third on the coast of Maine, where Mother poses for the artist Winslow Homer. The father in Washington is negotiating the introduction of new weapons invented by the MBM. In 1915 he went to London on the British ship Lusitania with the first batch of grenades and bombs for the Allies. The German submarine torpedoes the ship, and the Father dies. An immigrant in this life, like every human being, in his last expedition, he comes to the shores of His Essence. A year later, Mother marries her. They move to California. Film business is doing well. The era of ragtime is a thing of the past.
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