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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable first bite into a slice of Americans lives during the turn of the great war.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Each character in the novel actively participates in--yet is incapable of fully comprehending or controlling--the complex world in which they live. This sense is heightened by the "Newsreels," with headlines that are often not even relevant to the plots of individual characters' stories, and the "camera eye" sequences that present narrowly focused sensory experiences.
Over the course of the book a couple of patterns emerge. Firstly, all of the characters migrate (many to New York). This gives a sense of needing to find one's place in the world as well as of the increasing opportunities offered by the modern metropolis. Secondly, and this relates to the first pattern, each character in turn seeks to establish meaningful relationships. Those who succeed nevertheless have difficulty maintaining their original fondness. The final impression seems to be that sex and romance are commonplace, but that lasting and committed love is nothing short of a miracle in the midst of the chaos that is modern life.
Over the course of the book a couple of patterns emerge. Firstly, all of the characters migrate (many to New York). This gives a sense of needing to find one's place in the world as well as of the increasing opportunities offered by the modern metropolis. Secondly, and this relates to the first pattern, each character in turn seeks to establish meaningful relationships. Those who succeed nevertheless have difficulty maintaining their original fondness. The final impression seems to be that sex and romance are commonplace, but that lasting and committed love is nothing short of a miracle in the midst of the chaos that is modern life.
Incredible Bildungsroman of early 20th century American life.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well, there it is. I read this book. For what it's worth, I didn't seek out this book. I found it in an impressive geocache in the mountains that had many books to choose from. And I was excited because it had all these quotes saying how this fits itself into the literary canon... And I guess I see it? And maybe I just don't understand it.
First off, important to get out of the way that this was written in 1930. And I really can't tell if Dos Passes is racist or if he was commenting on the racism of his time, but there was some... gratuitous use of racial slurs in this book. Definitely when he uses a slur to refer to a Chinese restaurant it was unnecessary. Alas...
My biggest complaint is that the plot lines of the book try to come together - and they do - but not in any meaningful way. You follow these characters whose stories are told as a collage against one another along with some fascinating (if not perplexing) snippets of news headlines, stories, biographies, and "camera eyes" depicting a scene. I honestly didn't fully grasp if there was more meaning to this than just to draw a picture of pre-WWI America. And if that was the goal, it was very effective. But the fact that Dos Passos tried to intersect the larger character stories toward the end makes me feel that I should've seen more meaning in the news clippings and scenes he showed.
Then the last story of the book is some random guy who briefly hears about the other characters' lives.... Why?
Like I said, Dos Passos drew a very visceral portrait of America at this time. You could bum along job to job and survive without a job for a few months with the money you earned from the last one? Dang, America, what happened to you? And the political dialog of the time is fascinating as well.
Also, to Dos Passos' credit, his writing style takes a lot of skill. He had a way of writing blatant run-on sentences and still make them pretty easily intelligible. Which made for a compelling narrator. I just wish I felt like I had read something by the time I was done.
First off, important to get out of the way that this was written in 1930. And I really can't tell if Dos Passes is racist or if he was commenting on the racism of his time, but there was some... gratuitous use of racial slurs in this book. Definitely when he uses a slur to refer to a Chinese restaurant it was unnecessary. Alas...
My biggest complaint is that the plot lines of the book try to come together - and they do - but not in any meaningful way. You follow these characters whose stories are told as a collage against one another along with some fascinating (if not perplexing) snippets of news headlines, stories, biographies, and "camera eyes" depicting a scene. I honestly didn't fully grasp if there was more meaning to this than just to draw a picture of pre-WWI America. And if that was the goal, it was very effective. But the fact that Dos Passos tried to intersect the larger character stories toward the end makes me feel that I should've seen more meaning in the news clippings and scenes he showed.
Then the last story of the book is some random guy who briefly hears about the other characters' lives.... Why?
Like I said, Dos Passos drew a very visceral portrait of America at this time. You could bum along job to job and survive without a job for a few months with the money you earned from the last one? Dang, America, what happened to you? And the political dialog of the time is fascinating as well.
Also, to Dos Passos' credit, his writing style takes a lot of skill. He had a way of writing blatant run-on sentences and still make them pretty easily intelligible. Which made for a compelling narrator. I just wish I felt like I had read something by the time I was done.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Exactly what historical fiction should be. The characters illustrate the conditions so many faced. I'm looking forward to reading the other 2 books in the trilogy.
A sprawling and loose story of various lives from the turn of the century to the US's entry in WW1, telling stories of labor struggles, revolutions, and picaresques of bums on the roads and rails. Interspersed with free verse autobiographical sections and prose poems about important leftist figures of the time (which contain some of the best writing in the book) - experimental, audacious, large. Enjoyed a lot, will read the next one.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No