Nineteen nineteen On my journey to finish the almost…
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Nineteen nineteen
On my journey to finish the almost forgotten USA trilogy, I finally made it to the second volume, Nineteen nineteen.
Despite being classified as a slice of the American continent, 70 to 80 percent of the story is set in Europe, between Paris and Rome.
I was expecting to find the characters we left so suddenly in the previous installment, and on this point my expectations were fulfilled. Moreover, the text is dotted with snippets of French, giving the reader full immersion in the Parisian streets, whether they understand it or not, giving a feeling of disorientation in the second case. Despite these premises, it left me with a very poor impression, because a good chunk of the European arc is packed with women getting tricked, cheated and pregnant by volunteers, begging the question as to why such a large chunk of the American continent is dedicated to this topic alone. I'm not an expert on the subject, I can only tell that free love has been brought up several times throughout the novel, one time at least openly portraying homosexuality, and, based on this fact, I can only assume Dos Passos wanted to represent the growing sexual awareness in the USA (and abroad). More appreciated were the last 30 ish pages, from the tale of Ben Compton, a Jew who self-identified only as an American and his struggle to become an internationalist, a socialist and a social agitator. The last chapter remains my favorite of all : "the body of an American". A poem dedicated to the futility of war, the millions of John Does that died in the conflict and a veiled critique that there may be foreign soldiers resting in Arlington.
Conclusions :
If you are interested in America's role in WW1, loved "a farewell to arms, or simply enjoyed the first volume, you may find this novel enjoyable. Personally, I would tell you that this aged like milk, and does not offer a lot to the modern reader. I won't be reading this one a second time. If you want to tackle Dos Passos, the 42° parallel is a much stronger and colorful book, though with it's own flaws.
Here https://teaching.lfhanley.net/english528sp18/texts/john-dos-passos/ you can find "The body of an American". Another memorable quote has to be, "the real war is not fought in the trenches, but in Wall Street".
#entertainment
source
On my journey to finish the almost forgotten USA trilogy, I finally made it to the second volume, Nineteen nineteen.
Despite being classified as a slice of the American continent, 70 to 80 percent of the story is set in Europe, between Paris and Rome.
I was expecting to find the characters we left so suddenly in the previous installment, and on this point my expectations were fulfilled. Moreover, the text is dotted with snippets of French, giving the reader full immersion in the Parisian streets, whether they understand it or not, giving a feeling of disorientation in the second case. Despite these premises, it left me with a very poor impression, because a good chunk of the European arc is packed with women getting tricked, cheated and pregnant by volunteers, begging the question as to why such a large chunk of the American continent is dedicated to this topic alone. I'm not an expert on the subject, I can only tell that free love has been brought up several times throughout the novel, one time at least openly portraying homosexuality, and, based on this fact, I can only assume Dos Passos wanted to represent the growing sexual awareness in the USA (and abroad). More appreciated were the last 30 ish pages, from the tale of Ben Compton, a Jew who self-identified only as an American and his struggle to become an internationalist, a socialist and a social agitator. The last chapter remains my favorite of all : "the body of an American". A poem dedicated to the futility of war, the millions of John Does that died in the conflict and a veiled critique that there may be foreign soldiers resting in Arlington.
Conclusions :
If you are interested in America's role in WW1, loved "a farewell to arms, or simply enjoyed the first volume, you may find this novel enjoyable. Personally, I would tell you that this aged like milk, and does not offer a lot to the modern reader. I won't be reading this one a second time. If you want to tackle Dos Passos, the 42° parallel is a much stronger and colorful book, though with it's own flaws.
Here https://teaching.lfhanley.net/english528sp18/texts/john-dos-passos/ you can find "The body of an American". Another memorable quote has to be, "the real war is not fought in the trenches, but in Wall Street".
#entertainment
source
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