Doctorow is the author of numerous novels, including ragtime and, most recently, city of god. Selected by the modern library as one of the 100 best novels of all time published in 1975, ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. The story begins in the fall of 1999, with the random notebook jottings of a writer seeking a fictional subject, meanwhile worrying the idea of the physical universes profound, disastrous, hopeless. Afterwards, however, that very city of the athenians, which had publicly condemned him, did publicly bewail him the popular indignation having turned with such vehemence on his accusers, that one of them perished by the violence of the multitude. Zeebra books new york at the end of the 20th centuryhardly st.
Among his honors are the national book award, three national book critics circle awards, two penfaulkner awards, and the presidentially conferred. Augustines city of godis the canvas on which doctorow paints an impressionistic portrait of mans frail moral nature and the possibilities of red. In doctorows novel, the city is new york, the time 1999, and the apocalypse at once personal, psychological, social, and theological. Buy city of god by lins, paulo, entrekin, alison isbn. As city of god begins, readers find everetta secular man without extensive. I have just completed the first reading of edgar laurence doctorows latest novel, city of god. The true miracle of city of god is the way its disparate parts fuse into a consistently enthralling and suspenseful whole. We get a closeup view of the bleeding edge of contemporary philosophy. Indepth literary analysis on the book of daniel by e. It embodies the results of thirteen years of intellectual labor and study from a. Doctorows novel promises to strike readers as a wonderfully unusual novel with a liberating narrative technique that breaks many of the socalled rules of the novel and also echoes and.
Continuing the story of the turner and devrey families, this one stuck more to the families and the theme of medicine that began with the first book. The city of god by saint augustine, paperback barnes. City of god is a piece of postmodern theology and theosophy or of heresy and sacrilege if you please. L, doctorows turnofthe century novel city of god 2001 explores the nature of religious faith for those for whom traditional forms of religion have become difficult or lost their meaning. Please be aware that this discussion guide may contain spoilers.
Doctorows amazing new novel is about, and i will tell you. The more personal novel won him the national book award. The book was in response to allegations that christianity brought about the decline of rome and is considered one of augustines most important works, standing. Doctorow, author of the sociopolitical novel, the book of daniel, his first best known and most important work. Some of the characters require imaginative guesswork. Doctorow would seem to be consumed with history his bestknown novel, ragtime, offers a pastiche of america at the turn of the 20th century, a nation wrestling with. The story opens in 1906 in new rochelle, new york, at the home of an affluent. Augustine saw human history as a struggle between an earthly city and the city of god with the holy city winning in a final apocalyptic battle.
The book of daniel was a powerful and brilliant novel. Augustines book of the same title, which responded to. A novel of passion and wonder in old new york by beverly swerling and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Is it possible to capture the human condition in 270 pages. One critic has written that city of god is a story about storytellingabout the ubiquity of narrative. It is doctorows gift that he can connect difficult theological and cosmological ideas and render them simply and vividly for his readers. A reworking of the biblical book of daniel in the book of daniel part 1 of 2 introduction all history is composed, declares e. Augustines city of godis the canvas on which doctorow paints an impressionistic portrait of mans frail moral nature and the. An intensely conceived study of the varieties of contemporary religious experience that teases the mind intriguingly while never quite fully becoming the fiction it aspires to be.
Shipping may be from multiple locations in the us or from the uk, depending on stock availability. Anyone who has lived the majority of his or her life in the 20th century will find a shock of recognition on many pages. Doctorows meditation on god is thoughtprovoking, perfectly accessible, intelligently told through satisfying characters and generally beautifully written. City of god 2000, consisting of what are ostensibly the journal entries of a writer, splinters into several different narratives, including a detective story and a holocaust narrative. The march 2005 follows a fictionalized version of the union general william tecumseh sherman on his infamously. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. The material collected by writer everett, the narrator in city of god, is an examination of the relationship between human beings and god, between human beings and the world around them, between. The times city of god is a very good novel about contemporary america and its troubled search for reconciliation between science and faith. Set in the 1960s the novel takes the readers to the height of the us anticommunism. Discuss the dozens of stories that comprise doctorows book, from the story. Written as an eloquent defence of the faith at a time when the roman empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of rome, the arguments of the greek philosophers and the. The third book in a new york series, i was glad city of god was better than the previous one. City of god is mosaic in structure and polyphonic in narration.
Doctorow was born january 6, 1931, in the bronx, the son of rose levine and david richard doctorow, secondgeneration americans of russian jewish extraction who named him after edgar allan poe. Unquestionably doctorows most popular novel, made into a film in 1981, ragtime is one more expression of its authors. St augustine, bishop of hippo, was one of the central figures in the history of christianity, and city of god is one of his greatest theological works. Doctorows city of god is a novel about almost everything imaginable. An extraordinary tapestry, ragtime captures the spirit of america in the era between the turn of the century and the first world war. While building a utopia much like the republic does, augustine uses sound theology to build the foundations of the cities morals and lawful authority. L doctorows new novel city of god random house seem to agree on is that its an ambitious work. City of god holland novel, a 1979 historical novel by cecelia holland. Time blooms with humor, and a humanity that carries triumphant as intelligent a novel as one might hope to find these days. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion on city of god by e. As research for the book, doctorow read shermans writings and asked medical experts about battlefield surgery during the civil war.
City of god is about everything, including both world wars. Doctorow wrote about three characters a writer, a rabbi and a priest and the search for faith in a cacophonous and especially hazardous age. Last month queens college in new york city held a symposium on the work of the late german. Doctorow creates a breathtaking collage of memories, events, visions, and provocative thought, all centered on an idea of the modern reality of god. Introduction city of god city of god opens a vast window on a range of religious, scientific, historic, and aesthetic concerns. Billy bathgate, a 1989 novel set in the era of prohibition gangster dutch schultz, was a major. Doctorows novels, andrews brain, billy bathgate, city of god, e. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. While i read city of god last year, i amassed a large number of notes and quotes, so i am posting them here as they form a summary of the things that caught my attention as i worked through it. Doctorow s novel promises to strike readers as a wonderfully unusual novel with a liberating narrative technique that breaks many of the socalled rules of the novel and also echoes and riffs on styles and themes from a wide range of literary and historical antecedents. Beginning with his novels title and its augustinian overtones, every aspect of doctorows survey is in the service of the novels thematic preoccupation with the nature of belief, the mystery of human consciousness, and above all, our wrecked romance with god. Lord, there is something so exhausted about the ny waterfront, as if the smell of the sea were oil, as if boats were buses, as if all heaven were a garage hung with girlie calendars, the months to come.
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