Title: Cutting Both Ways: E. L. Doctorow's Critique of the Left
Abstract: THE EXPERIMENTAL, POSTMODERN elements in E. L. Doctorow's novels are remarked upon by virtually all his critics. In most of his major novels the narrative voice is self-conscious and calls attention to itself. In his first novel, Welcome to Hard Times (1960), the narrator Blue is writing his story in old ledgers and reflects on his penchant, even obsession, for record keeping and wonders if the truth of events can be captured in words. Daniel Isaacson, the narrator of The Book of Daniel (1971), begins his highly self-conscious story by commenting on his writing instrument (a felt-tip marker), moves back and forth in time, frequently shifts from firstto third-person narrative, and interpolates numerous historical and analytical passages into his memoir. The narrative voice in Ragtime (1975) is flat and detached, a parody of the style used in documentaries or textbooks. This parody is given a twist when near the end of the novel we realize that one of the characters, the now grown Little Boy, is telling the story. In Loon Lake (1980) the reader confronts multiple narrative voices-firstand third-person, computer-generated text, poems, resum6s, stream of consciousness-though in the end it turns out all has been composed by the central character, Joe of Paterson. What makes Doctorow's postmodern narrative experiments noteworthy is that they occur in novels that deal historical and political topics and characters. The way Doctorow plays with historical figures can be disconcerting to many readers who want certainty, who want to know what is true and what is invented. In his
Publication Year: 1993
Publication Date: 1993-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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