Three Soldiers (Giant Thrifts) - Softcover

Dos Passos, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486434672 ISBN 13: 9780486434674

Publisher: Dover Pubns, 2004

Synopsis

This grimly realistic depiction of army life follows a trio of idealists as they contend with the regimentation, violence, and boredom of military service. Fuselli, a San Francisco store clerk, embraces conformity in the hopes of a promotion. Chrisfield, an Indiana farm boy, and Andrews, a gifted musician, are repelled by the army's mind-numbing routines and battlefield horrors. Incited past the point of endurance, the soldiers respond with rancor and murderous rage. This powerful exploration of warfare's dehumanizing effects remains chillingly contemporary. Unabridged republication of the classic 1921 edition.

About this title

Review:

I regard Dos Passos as the greatest writer of our time. Jean-Paul Sartre"

"I regard Dos Passos as the greatest writer of our time." --Jean-Paul Sartre

From the Back Cover:

John Dos Passos had just returned from studying architecture in Spain when America entered World War I and - driven by the idealism that infected many young Americans (including Hemingway and e.e. cummings) - he joined up as a driver for the Ambulance Corps. His rapid and profound disillusionment forms the core of Three Soldiers, a fierce denunciation of the military and of the far-reaching social implications of its exploitation of young men. The novel focuses on three main characters: Andrews, a young composer who finally revolts against the war's deadening regimentation; Chrisfield, an Indiana farm boy who chants the words "make the world safe for democracy" to himself in a futile attempt to block out the noises and terrors of battle; and Fuselli, a clerk who clings to the dream of becoming a corporal despite the mockery of his fellow soldiers. Required to renounce their individuality and to conform with unquestioning obedience, each one, in different ways, is ineradicably scarred by the dehumanizing effects of war.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Pubns
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0486434672
• ISBN 13: 9780486434674
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 309