Rufus and Rose

Ragged Dick #6

by Horatio Alger Jr.

First published in 1870 by Loring, Boston.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1870

About the author

Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.

The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horatio Alger wrote books for boys until his death in 1899. His books continued under the Stratemeyer syndicate for several years afterward.

Alger’s books are extremely formulaic and follow one of three themes: 1. poor boy who betters himself through a combination of luck (rescuing a rich person , intelligence, and courage; 2. Poor boy, who is really the kidnapped son of a wealthy family, who better himself through a combination of luck, intelligence, and courage; and 3. Middle class boy runs away from an evil stepfather and betters himself through a combination of luck, intelligence, and courage. The boys are usually always 15 or 16, are always good looking without being too good looking, and always honest and courageous and godly (Alger was a Unitarian minister). There is always a bully, who is the lazy, selfish son of the wealthiest man in town. Our hero never starts a fight but always beats the bully when the bully strikes first.

This one takes place in Manhattan and it follows the first theme. This is an unusual book because the boy has a sister that he takes care of. In the majority of the books, the boy is an orphan or only child.

I have read over 100 and have enjoyed every one. I especially love the endings where Alger shows us a bit of the boy’s future. If you like Horatio Alger, try Oliver Optic (written before Alger) or Frank V. Webster, one of the pseudonyms for earlier authors in the Stratemeyer syndicate books.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I simply can’t get enough of these Horatio Alger books. They’re so totally upbeat! But you have to wade through some tense moments to get to the happy ending. Rufus, nicknamed “Rough and Ready,” sells newspapers on the streets of Manhattan. His earnings are always confiscated by his evil stepfather, who spends most of the money on drink, leaving Rufus’s little sister, Rose, without proper food and clothing. Oh, yes, and the stepfather beats her, too. Rufus kidnaps his sister and takes her to a woman who is eager for a small companion, and Rufus supports the three of them. The stepfather, having no liking for Rose, but wanting to hurt Rufus, snatches her back again. Can all this end well? It does. I would give this book two stars if I were judging on literary merit alone, but the story is completely captivating so I’m giving it three.

[[ J o ]]

Read the first book in the Ragged Dick series, Ragged Dick. 1 Star; therefore will not be continuing with the series.