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Title: Three Soldiers (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by John Dos Passos, Townsend Ludington, John DOS Passos ISBN: 0-14-118027-7 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.1 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Intense, skillful, expression of war's toll on the psyche
Comment: The Signet Classic publication of John Dos Passos' brilliant anti-war novel provides us access to another significant account of the Great War and the writings of this 'lost generation' novelist. Although first released over seventy-six years ago, the novel's timeless message relating the effects of war and military life on the psyches of three young men is as relative today as in 1921. Dos Passos' indictment of the war and America's role in it, contrasts starkly with the crusade like image of the War presented to the American people. The novel accurately reflects the diversity of a conscript army embodied in the three soldiers; a first generation Italian-American from San Francisco, an Indiana farm boy and an east coast Harvard man. Each enters the service with confidence in the role they would play in this clash between good and evil. The transformation of these young men carries through until the end of the war. Although, they all survive there is little left of their former selves. The brilliance of the language and the depth of feeling demonstrated by the author will captivate the reader. This novel rightly belongs alongside cumming's The Enormous Room, Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, and Hemingway's Farewell to Arms
Rating: 3
Summary: Strong, but not truly a classic
Comment: "Three Soldiers" is John Dos Passos before he found his voice. With the originality of style and narrative punch of "Manhattan Transfer" and "USA" still a few years away, this overlooked writer gave us a good look at the common soldier during and after World War I that is well-written but which occasionally gets bogged down with repetition and the lack of a storyline. Yeah, I know, the repetition and social slavery of the soldier are part of what Dos Passos is trying to get across, but that doesn't make portions like the interminable "The World Outside" section any easier to read. This is probably only considered a classic because of what Dos Passos wrote later. I guess I was expecting World War I to play a larger role, but it really is only a backdrop; there is almost no actual fighting in the entire book, and the novel is less than half over when the war ends (a shame, it was just starting to gather momentum). If you're going to write about the war, at least let us experience some of its horrors with the characters. Still, it is generally a good book, the writing is fine and insightful if, again, a little redundant (the constant description of colors -- the night, nature, etc., got a bit old). But quite nice and recommended as a way to be led into his better works.
Rating: 3
Summary: Not as much about war as the title would have you believe...
Comment: This book is not so much about the First World War(most of the book takes place after the armistice) as about the boredom that is inflicted on soldiers to make them a unit. Even that isn't given in explicit detail, and without this level of detail the rest of the book just falls flat.
Also this book has many footnotes which unfortunately are included at the back of the book instead of at the bottom of each page. It makes for continual flipping back and forth and a most irritating reading experience.
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Title: Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Vera Brittain ISBN: 0140188444 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque ISBN: 0449213943 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The 42nd Parallel: Volume One of the U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos ISBN: 0618056815 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 25 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell ISBN: 0195133323 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: 1919: Volume Two of the U.S.A. Trilogy by John Dos Passos ISBN: 0618056823 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 25 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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