[fantasyfan]

For those interested, the film gets quite mixed reviews. Malten gives it 3 out of 4 stars while Time Out claims it is a failed attempt to transfer an "over-rated" novel to the screen. James Cagney does get praise for his performance.

I was somewhat disappointed with the novel itself. It certainly does create a vivid portrait of that era in American social history. At the same time, I really didn't find some of the quite exaggerated characters particularly believable. I felt the same about the fictionalised events.

Perhaps I shouldn't have read the Penguin introduction to the book which seems to imply that Ragtime is on a par with Moby Dick as "The Great American Novel". Opinions will always differ, and many will inevitably disagree with me, but I just can't see Ragtime as being anywhere near the class of Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, or, for that matter, Huckleberry Finn despite the creative lapse in the final chapters of that book. Of course, I do realise that my attitude is more a reflection of my limited critical apparatus than of the book.

All that said, I am glad to have read this book and it galvanised me to look up those characters who actually existed. Further, it does explore some quite significant themes such as racism and the spiritual vacuum in that society.