Audiobook · read by volunteers
Ragged Dick
Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832–1899)
Read by Alys AtteWater · 13 chapters · 4 h 37
About the book
Dick is a bootblack on the streets of New York. His clothes are ragged, his bed is a box, and his pockets are usually empty, yet he is cheerful, quick-witted and strictly honest. When a chance encounter with a boy from a wealthier family makes him decide to “grow up ’spectable,” a new chapter in his life begins. Horatio Alger’s story follows his adventures among newsboys, shopkeepers, passengers on the ferry and the odd rogue or two, as he works, saves and learns. It is a lively portrait of city life in the years after the American Civil War, and the first of a type of tale that made its author famous. Packed with incident and good humour, it runs for just over four and a half hours and is a pleasure from start to finish.
Introduction
Horatio Alger, Jr., who lived from 1832 to 1899, was well known for his best-selling series of books highlighting the American Dream of poor boys making good and becoming rich and successful through luck and pluck. Ragged Dick, published in 1867, was the first in this niche. It follows the adventures of Dick Hunter, a ragged bootblack, as he makes the decision to grow up respectable and goes about achieving his goals through the help of his friends, his inherent honesty and his belief in hard work.
The story is set in New York, and its scenes of streets, ferries and lodging houses give a lively picture of the city. Dick is not a model child from the start. He gambles a little and jokes constantly, but he is generous and he has a code of conduct of his own, and he is ready to learn. The book became enormously popular, and Alger repeated the pattern in many later stories, which earned his name a place in the language: a rags-to-riches career is still sometimes called a Horatio Alger story.
Modern readers may find the plot formulaic and the moralising rather obvious, but the freshness of the setting and the cheerful energy of the hero keep the book readable. It is also a useful document of what Americans of the time wanted to believe about opportunity and effort.
The recording has 13 sections, each covering two chapters (the last, three), and lasts about four and a half hours. LibriVox volunteers gave their time to produce it for anyone who wants to listen. It is a good companion for a journey or for several short evenings.
Public domain
Horatio Alger, Jr. died in 1899: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text