John Dos Passos Three Soldiers

Annotation

A grim portrait of World War I army life that set the standard for Hemingway, Mailer, and other acclaimed chroniclers of warfare. They come to the army from different Americas: Fuselli, a San Francisco store clerk bucking for promotion; Chrisfield, a laid-back Indiana farm boy; and Andrews, a Harvard graduate and promising New York City musician. In basic training, they are told it doesn't matter where a man is born or what he wants to be. The best soldiers are automatons. To be a perfect cog within a vast military machine is all his country asks of him. In the muddy fields and trenches of France, they learn the terrible meaning of their sacrifice: Once lost, a soldier's humanity can never be regained. Based on John Dos Passos's firsthand knowledge of the Great War, Three Soldiers is a grim and utterly realistic portrait of army life. A modernist masterpiece and a brave statement of fact in a time of sentiment, it set a standard that Hemingway, Jones, Mailer, O'Brien, and every other chronicler of the American war experience has since tried to match. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.