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cruelspirit's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
After working my way through it for the last six months, I've finally finished The USA Trilogy. While a rigorous task it was a highly enjoyable one. Last year I read Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz, my favorite novel of last year, and I wanted to read another novel with a similar style. The USA Trilogy was a perfect fit, hitting that same desire.
The USA Trilogy is a book of many things and it's hard to easily describe. Within the first couple of hundred pages I came up with the elevator pitch, "If a leftist Ernest Hemingway wrote On The Road". While I still like this description this book is far more than just that. The USA Trilogy is a war novel, a romance novel, a travel novel, a political novel. It's a work of realism as well as surrealism. It is factual while also being poetic. While this is a series of three books, I've never read another book that takes on as much as The USA Trilogy does. John Dos Passos takes on a lot and accomplishes so much with these works, I'd be hard pressed to not say this is my pick for The Great American Novel.
The themes of The USA Trilogy aren't anything too relavatory by today's standards. America is a place of two worlds; those who have and those who don't. There are highs and lows and often you don't stick in one category too long; especially if you are willing to take risks. Fortunes can be made and lost overnight. There are many stories of characters losing it all to their own ego or jealousy and likewise these characters can recover, although not entirely, due mainly to who they are and who they know.
Like I said, these themes aren't anything new to a modern reader but it's about how Dos Passos tells this story. The USA Trilogy has a cast of about a dozen protagonists who we follow. They all come from different walks of life and sometimes their paths cross. We explore the lives of lobor workers, entrepreneurs, people born into wealth, and those skating by. We are introduced to these characters, given insight into their childhood and upbringing and led through their lives, sometimes until their demise. This is what makes this book so vast. If you are someone who likes well fleshed out characters there's no better book out there.
With a cast of characters like this you'd think it would be hard to keep everything straight. I found it to be pretty easy to understand. Sometimes you will return to a character after not hearing about them for a few hundred pages but their backstory would quickly come back to me. As someone who took multiple breaks while reading this I found this to be a great benefit of the book.
Beyond just the narrative of this book, there are many other elements Dos Passos offers to create this world of early 20th Century America. Outside of these characters there are also Newsreel and The Camera Eye segments. Newsreel segments are a montage of headlines that give you a brief understanding of what is going on at the time of this section of the book. The Camera Eye is a more abstract segment that is far more poetic than anything else in the book. These are often more direct entries from Dos Passos and don't fit in as much with the timeline of narrative. These segments are often only a few pages long and work as a great palate cleanser between character segments.
There are also biographies of real life historical figures featured throughout. These figures can be be anyone from well known figures such as presidents Theodore Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson, as well as figures like Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Ford, or the Wright Brothers to more obsure labor workers. These biographies are written with Dos Passos opinion of them in mind. While nowhere near impartial it is very entertaining, making for some of the more engaging sections of the book.
As a fan of history, especially 20th Century history. I found this book to be a great joy. While the character's we follow are works of fiction. They live in a very real world. We follow characters from the late 19th century into the 1920's. Every world and national event that happens during that time is discussed. WWI, The Spanish Flu Prohibition, the roaring 20s. It is great to see how everyday people lived through those times and how a lot of times it is similar to our world today. This book greatly benefits from being written in the 1930s by someone who lived through these times, reflecting back on them. If it was written in the moment it probably wouldn't have felt as timeless.
I was often surprised just how well Dos Passos captures these massive historical events through the lense of the everyday person. You can read history books about these events but it hits different to see them through the eyes of someone like yourself. Experiencing what it was like to be there the day America annouced it joined WWI or how people still went out for a night on the town during prohibition is something that a textbook will never be able to convey. One of these scenes I really found interesting to read was what the anti German and pro war sentament was like during the 1910s. There is a scene in which a character goes to a hofbrauhaus in New York. The house band is playing The Star Spangled Banner every other song and everyone, who is a "true patriot" is standing up and removing their hat. Our character doesn't do this leading to many dirty looks and a very hostile environment. This is something you can't capture outside of a novel like this.
While there are a lot of characters, from many different backgrounds, I will say the scope of The USA Trilogy doesn't go beyond a white perspective. This is not surprising for a book by a white author from the 1930s, I wasn't expecting anything different going into this but I should mention it. As much as I would praise the historical aspects of this book it isn't a full view of America, which is dissapointing for a book with such an all encompassing and socialist goal. If there are mentions of non white characters they are often very minor and in subservient roles. While not really going too far into the lives of those outside of a white perspecitve I do appreciate Dos Passos' choice to capture the discrimination that white ethnicities such as Jews, Italians, and Germans faced at this time.
Overall I really liked this book. There are definitely some lulls in the narrative and it can feel very mundaine. That being said, this just adds to the character building and realism. No actual person's life is all excitement. These slow points actually help emphasise the highs. There are a few times we actually get to see how a character dies, sometimes in a very strange or abrupt manner. This can be very jarring and impactful. We've followed these character's since their childhood and all of the sudden they're dead. It really goes to show that we are all just one freak accident away from leaving this world forever.
I've only started to scratch the surface of what this book has to offer. As far as a narrative goes I think I preferred Berlin Alexanderplatz mainly because it followed just one character and one city but the reach of The USA Trilogy is far from unwieldy. It is a lot more comprehensible and accessable than it would lead on. The page count really is the only reason I see as a legitimate deterrent for people getting into it.
The USA Trilogy is a book of many things and it's hard to easily describe. Within the first couple of hundred pages I came up with the elevator pitch, "If a leftist Ernest Hemingway wrote On The Road". While I still like this description this book is far more than just that. The USA Trilogy is a war novel, a romance novel, a travel novel, a political novel. It's a work of realism as well as surrealism. It is factual while also being poetic. While this is a series of three books, I've never read another book that takes on as much as The USA Trilogy does. John Dos Passos takes on a lot and accomplishes so much with these works, I'd be hard pressed to not say this is my pick for The Great American Novel.
The themes of The USA Trilogy aren't anything too relavatory by today's standards. America is a place of two worlds; those who have and those who don't. There are highs and lows and often you don't stick in one category too long; especially if you are willing to take risks. Fortunes can be made and lost overnight. There are many stories of characters losing it all to their own ego or jealousy and likewise these characters can recover, although not entirely, due mainly to who they are and who they know.
Like I said, these themes aren't anything new to a modern reader but it's about how Dos Passos tells this story. The USA Trilogy has a cast of about a dozen protagonists who we follow. They all come from different walks of life and sometimes their paths cross. We explore the lives of lobor workers, entrepreneurs, people born into wealth, and those skating by. We are introduced to these characters, given insight into their childhood and upbringing and led through their lives, sometimes until their demise. This is what makes this book so vast. If you are someone who likes well fleshed out characters there's no better book out there.
With a cast of characters like this you'd think it would be hard to keep everything straight. I found it to be pretty easy to understand. Sometimes you will return to a character after not hearing about them for a few hundred pages but their backstory would quickly come back to me. As someone who took multiple breaks while reading this I found this to be a great benefit of the book.
Beyond just the narrative of this book, there are many other elements Dos Passos offers to create this world of early 20th Century America. Outside of these characters there are also Newsreel and The Camera Eye segments. Newsreel segments are a montage of headlines that give you a brief understanding of what is going on at the time of this section of the book. The Camera Eye is a more abstract segment that is far more poetic than anything else in the book. These are often more direct entries from Dos Passos and don't fit in as much with the timeline of narrative. These segments are often only a few pages long and work as a great palate cleanser between character segments.
There are also biographies of real life historical figures featured throughout. These figures can be be anyone from well known figures such as presidents Theodore Roosevelt or Woodrow Wilson, as well as figures like Frank Lloyd Wright, Henry Ford, or the Wright Brothers to more obsure labor workers. These biographies are written with Dos Passos opinion of them in mind. While nowhere near impartial it is very entertaining, making for some of the more engaging sections of the book.
As a fan of history, especially 20th Century history. I found this book to be a great joy. While the character's we follow are works of fiction. They live in a very real world. We follow characters from the late 19th century into the 1920's. Every world and national event that happens during that time is discussed. WWI, The Spanish Flu Prohibition, the roaring 20s. It is great to see how everyday people lived through those times and how a lot of times it is similar to our world today. This book greatly benefits from being written in the 1930s by someone who lived through these times, reflecting back on them. If it was written in the moment it probably wouldn't have felt as timeless.
I was often surprised just how well Dos Passos captures these massive historical events through the lense of the everyday person. You can read history books about these events but it hits different to see them through the eyes of someone like yourself. Experiencing what it was like to be there the day America annouced it joined WWI or how people still went out for a night on the town during prohibition is something that a textbook will never be able to convey. One of these scenes I really found interesting to read was what the anti German and pro war sentament was like during the 1910s. There is a scene in which a character goes to a hofbrauhaus in New York. The house band is playing The Star Spangled Banner every other song and everyone, who is a "true patriot" is standing up and removing their hat. Our character doesn't do this leading to many dirty looks and a very hostile environment. This is something you can't capture outside of a novel like this.
While there are a lot of characters, from many different backgrounds, I will say the scope of The USA Trilogy doesn't go beyond a white perspective. This is not surprising for a book by a white author from the 1930s, I wasn't expecting anything different going into this but I should mention it. As much as I would praise the historical aspects of this book it isn't a full view of America, which is dissapointing for a book with such an all encompassing and socialist goal. If there are mentions of non white characters they are often very minor and in subservient roles. While not really going too far into the lives of those outside of a white perspecitve I do appreciate Dos Passos' choice to capture the discrimination that white ethnicities such as Jews, Italians, and Germans faced at this time.
Overall I really liked this book. There are definitely some lulls in the narrative and it can feel very mundaine. That being said, this just adds to the character building and realism. No actual person's life is all excitement. These slow points actually help emphasise the highs. There are a few times we actually get to see how a character dies, sometimes in a very strange or abrupt manner. This can be very jarring and impactful. We've followed these character's since their childhood and all of the sudden they're dead. It really goes to show that we are all just one freak accident away from leaving this world forever.
I've only started to scratch the surface of what this book has to offer. As far as a narrative goes I think I preferred Berlin Alexanderplatz mainly because it followed just one character and one city but the reach of The USA Trilogy is far from unwieldy. It is a lot more comprehensible and accessable than it would lead on. The page count really is the only reason I see as a legitimate deterrent for people getting into it.
alismcg's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
eralon's review
2.0
Historically interesting, but otherwise I didn't think it was particularly worth reading these three large volumes.
smcleish's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog here in May and June 2000.
The 42nd Parallel
The first novel of the famous USA trilogy presents a picture of that country from the beginning of the century until 1917, when the US declared war on Germany. (The trilogy as a whole continues until the early 1930s.) In these novels, dos Passos created a new literary style, frequently admired if rarely imitated, in which documentary style clips are used to create background, to relate the characters to political and economic events and to make the novel seem to be a panoramic picture of the state of the nation.
Each section of the novel is divided into recurring pieces. The longest piece of each section forms the main story, and is basically a narrative about one of the main characters. Then there are newsreel sections, which contain headlines and clips from newspapers, often fragments of sentences as though what you read is an impression gained from flicking through a paper very quickly. There are also pieces summarising the lives of men and women who had a formative influence on their times, such as Thomas Edison. The most interesting pieces, though most difficult to take in, are the 'Camera Eye' narratives, which are also fragmented, and are basically stream of consciousness style snippets of description grouped together more or less randomly.
The end product of reading this novel is a feeling of atmosphere. The plot is not important (and, indeed, practically non-existent); characters may be well drawn, but their purpose is to illustrate the times in which they live. The way that the novel is put together is so clever that it can achieve this without using reams of description. The major problem is in the newsreel sections, because the material selected there presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of American politics in the first few years of the century. Headlines are not helpful in creating an atmosphere if you have never heard of any of the people mentioned.
Of the imitators of this trilogy, both the most successful and the one who has followed dos Passos most slavishly is [a:John Brunner|23113|John Brunner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1336955014p2/23113.jpg], in his series of dystopias. He has actually used what he has taken from the USA trilogy in a more fundamental way. Because he was writing science fiction, the whole background had to be invented, and Brunner used the documentary portions to establish parts of that background (such as slang expressions, bits and pieces of future mass media) picked up on in the later narrative portions.
The 42nd Parallel is more an extremely extended description than a novel in any traditional sense; its sections do not lead anywhere in particular, and the lack of plot means that the various characters are not integrated for any purpose (some of them meet, but that is all).
Nineteen Nineteen
The second part of the USA trilogy is about the involvement of that country in the First World War, from the declaration of war with Germany in 1917 to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It is a continuation of The 42nd Parallel, in the same semi-documentary style with two differences. The characters from whose points of view the fictional sections are told are now, though several are already known to the reader of the earlier book (the brother of one character, the best friend of another); and these sections are far longer in relation to the others.
This second change is the main reason why Nineteen Nineteen is less successful than its predecessor. The longer sections reveal dos Passos' weaknesses as a writer, particularly in the portrayal of character, and the reader loses interest. His concentration on the relationship between labour and capital becomes almost an obsession. (It is an important theme in the period of American history covered by the trilogy, which effectively saw the destruction of the far left as a political force.)
Much of the action takes place in France, and the main idea communicated is something of the effect that being soldiers in Europe - both on the front line itself, though this is skated over, and in the different culture behind it - had on the Americans who returned.
The Big Money
The final volume of dos Passos' USA trilogy deals with the book of the mid twenties, ending with the stock market crash. The theme is making money, big money, through industries that took off in that decade (aircraft manufacture, film), set against the usual background of labour relations.
The stricture of The Big Money is like that of The 42nd Parallel and Nineteen Nineteen, with the alternation of contrasting documentary and narrative sections. The weaknesses are also alike, particularly in plot and characterisation, and since dos Passos has further expanded the fictional sections, these weaknesses are yet more apparent.
All in all, I expected far more from this trilogy than it actually delivered, because I really liked novels which imitate it, like [b:Stand on Zanzibar|41069|Stand on Zanzibar|John Brunner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169578945s/41069.jpg|2184253]. It rather bored me, and towards the end I kept going mainly by thinking "just 150 pages to go". The idea is good, but the execution deeply flawed.
The 42nd Parallel
The first novel of the famous USA trilogy presents a picture of that country from the beginning of the century until 1917, when the US declared war on Germany. (The trilogy as a whole continues until the early 1930s.) In these novels, dos Passos created a new literary style, frequently admired if rarely imitated, in which documentary style clips are used to create background, to relate the characters to political and economic events and to make the novel seem to be a panoramic picture of the state of the nation.
Each section of the novel is divided into recurring pieces. The longest piece of each section forms the main story, and is basically a narrative about one of the main characters. Then there are newsreel sections, which contain headlines and clips from newspapers, often fragments of sentences as though what you read is an impression gained from flicking through a paper very quickly. There are also pieces summarising the lives of men and women who had a formative influence on their times, such as Thomas Edison. The most interesting pieces, though most difficult to take in, are the 'Camera Eye' narratives, which are also fragmented, and are basically stream of consciousness style snippets of description grouped together more or less randomly.
The end product of reading this novel is a feeling of atmosphere. The plot is not important (and, indeed, practically non-existent); characters may be well drawn, but their purpose is to illustrate the times in which they live. The way that the novel is put together is so clever that it can achieve this without using reams of description. The major problem is in the newsreel sections, because the material selected there presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of American politics in the first few years of the century. Headlines are not helpful in creating an atmosphere if you have never heard of any of the people mentioned.
Of the imitators of this trilogy, both the most successful and the one who has followed dos Passos most slavishly is [a:John Brunner|23113|John Brunner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1336955014p2/23113.jpg], in his series of dystopias. He has actually used what he has taken from the USA trilogy in a more fundamental way. Because he was writing science fiction, the whole background had to be invented, and Brunner used the documentary portions to establish parts of that background (such as slang expressions, bits and pieces of future mass media) picked up on in the later narrative portions.
The 42nd Parallel is more an extremely extended description than a novel in any traditional sense; its sections do not lead anywhere in particular, and the lack of plot means that the various characters are not integrated for any purpose (some of them meet, but that is all).
Nineteen Nineteen
The second part of the USA trilogy is about the involvement of that country in the First World War, from the declaration of war with Germany in 1917 to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It is a continuation of The 42nd Parallel, in the same semi-documentary style with two differences. The characters from whose points of view the fictional sections are told are now, though several are already known to the reader of the earlier book (the brother of one character, the best friend of another); and these sections are far longer in relation to the others.
This second change is the main reason why Nineteen Nineteen is less successful than its predecessor. The longer sections reveal dos Passos' weaknesses as a writer, particularly in the portrayal of character, and the reader loses interest. His concentration on the relationship between labour and capital becomes almost an obsession. (It is an important theme in the period of American history covered by the trilogy, which effectively saw the destruction of the far left as a political force.)
Much of the action takes place in France, and the main idea communicated is something of the effect that being soldiers in Europe - both on the front line itself, though this is skated over, and in the different culture behind it - had on the Americans who returned.
The Big Money
The final volume of dos Passos' USA trilogy deals with the book of the mid twenties, ending with the stock market crash. The theme is making money, big money, through industries that took off in that decade (aircraft manufacture, film), set against the usual background of labour relations.
The stricture of The Big Money is like that of The 42nd Parallel and Nineteen Nineteen, with the alternation of contrasting documentary and narrative sections. The weaknesses are also alike, particularly in plot and characterisation, and since dos Passos has further expanded the fictional sections, these weaknesses are yet more apparent.
All in all, I expected far more from this trilogy than it actually delivered, because I really liked novels which imitate it, like [b:Stand on Zanzibar|41069|Stand on Zanzibar|John Brunner|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169578945s/41069.jpg|2184253]. It rather bored me, and towards the end I kept going mainly by thinking "just 150 pages to go". The idea is good, but the execution deeply flawed.
rbiddy's review
4.0
I didn't finish this book, had to return it to the library before I got through it, but I'd like to - I really liked the way it was written from dozens of different people's perspectives.
agmunth's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolute monster of a book
I had mixed feelings about it at times and it was definitely a slog to get through in parts, but now that it's over I can't help but love USA. It's unlike any other book I've read and paints a really comprehensive picture of an America that I've never really learnt about before - a much more socialist America (and an even more heavy drinking America) than I'd ever known.
It's got its flaws though. I love the use of four different narrative modes in the book, it makes the portrait of America feel much more textured than if it were just a traditionally told story, I just wish the mode you spend the bulk of the time reading was as interesting to read as the other three! The stream of consciousness in the Camera Eye sections is obtuse as balls, but it all adds up to an incredibly visceral political coming of age story; the Newsreel sections where Dos Passos makes collages out of news articles, headlines, songs and ads from the era are hard to make sense of when you have as little historical background as me, but they're so cool and make the scope of the book feel so much broader; the biographies of notable Americans are maybe the best of the bunch and they show that Dos Passos can tell a coherent account of someone's life in a stylistically interesting and understandable way (the biographies of unnamed citizens that close out Nineteen Nineteen and The Big Money are probably the best sections of the book). But then you spend 90% of the time reading perfectly well written accounts of fictional characters lives that just feel so much more dull in comparison. And these stories aren't particularly satisfying in the traditional sense, major events happen with very little build up and they are populated with so many characters that are often given so little space to develop its hard to keep track of them (especially all the men in Nineteen Nineteen). This structure makes sense looking at the book from a distance - the grounded realism and rapid shifts in the narratives are there because that's what the book's trying to show you a reality where Americans lead unstable lives with little or no control. The book probably wouldn't work without it, it's just a shame it can be a bit of a slog to get through.
I don't want to seem like I secretly hate this book and am just giving it 5 stars on prestige alone. It was a difficult read and I didn't always enjoy it, but USA deserves its reputation. Over its three volumes it builds up the strongest, clearest and most powerful message of anger at America and capitalism I've seen in any book (and maybe any thing?), all while highlighting members of American society I've never read about before. It may not be the most fun book whilst reading, but I'll be thinking about and dipping back into USA for a long time.
btw The Big Money is the best volume
I had mixed feelings about it at times and it was definitely a slog to get through in parts, but now that it's over I can't help but love USA. It's unlike any other book I've read and paints a really comprehensive picture of an America that I've never really learnt about before - a much more socialist America (and an even more heavy drinking America) than I'd ever known.
It's got its flaws though. I love the use of four different narrative modes in the book, it makes the portrait of America feel much more textured than if it were just a traditionally told story, I just wish the mode you spend the bulk of the time reading was as interesting to read as the other three! The stream of consciousness in the Camera Eye sections is obtuse as balls, but it all adds up to an incredibly visceral political coming of age story; the Newsreel sections where Dos Passos makes collages out of news articles, headlines, songs and ads from the era are hard to make sense of when you have as little historical background as me, but they're so cool and make the scope of the book feel so much broader; the biographies of notable Americans are maybe the best of the bunch and they show that Dos Passos can tell a coherent account of someone's life in a stylistically interesting and understandable way (the biographies of unnamed citizens that close out Nineteen Nineteen and The Big Money are probably the best sections of the book). But then you spend 90% of the time reading perfectly well written accounts of fictional characters lives that just feel so much more dull in comparison. And these stories aren't particularly satisfying in the traditional sense, major events happen with very little build up and they are populated with so many characters that are often given so little space to develop its hard to keep track of them (especially all the men in Nineteen Nineteen). This structure makes sense looking at the book from a distance - the grounded realism and rapid shifts in the narratives are there because that's what the book's trying to show you a reality where Americans lead unstable lives with little or no control. The book probably wouldn't work without it, it's just a shame it can be a bit of a slog to get through.
I don't want to seem like I secretly hate this book and am just giving it 5 stars on prestige alone. It was a difficult read and I didn't always enjoy it, but USA deserves its reputation. Over its three volumes it builds up the strongest, clearest and most powerful message of anger at America and capitalism I've seen in any book (and maybe any thing?), all while highlighting members of American society I've never read about before. It may not be the most fun book whilst reading, but I'll be thinking about and dipping back into USA for a long time.
btw The Big Money is the best volume
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