John Dos Passos

Describes the formation, geography, ecology, and inhabitants of the isolated Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Mademoiselle, S'il vous plait, qui est Darius Milhaud? Les jeunes gens se sont rencontrés en juin 1919 à un concert Koubitzky salle Gaveau. L'armistice conclu, Dos Passos est à Paris en attendant sa démobilisation. Il a vingt-trois ans et profite de l'euphorie artistique qui règne dans la capitale au lendemain de la guerre. Passionnée de musique comme lui, excellente pianiste, Germaine Lucas-Championnière est une jeune femme de vingt-quatre ans issue d'une vieille famille de la noblesse vendéenne. Elle vit en dilettante, fréquentant des artistes et cultivant la mondanité. Le lendemain du concert, Dos Passos est invité à prendre le thé chez elle. Ils parlent musique, Germaine se met au piano, et une question anodine sur Darius Milhaud amorce une correspondance de 160 lettres, échangées pour la plupart entre 1919 et 1929. Le ton est donné. Au cours de cette décennie, Dos Passos est sur la route : Espagne, Portugal, Iran, Irak, Syrie, Algérie, Maroc, Mexique, Russie… ; à chaque halte, il envoie un mot, un dessin, une carte postale ou une longue lettre. Attaché à la légèreté qu'ils entretiennent à deux, il écrit là où on ne l'attend pas : avec beaucoup de fraîcheur, il décrit et raconte, témoignant d'une grande attention aux paysages, aux décors, aux ambiances, au pittoresque et à la drôlerie de certaines situations. Sans inhibitions, il croque dans la langue française comme dans la musique et dans les paysages. Il impose son style et nous charme.

These novels record the emergence of John Dos Passos as a chronicler of the upheavals of the early 20th century. "In One Man's Initiation:" 1917 an idealistic young American serving as a volunteer ambulance driver in France learns of the fear, uncertainty, and camaraderie of war. "Three Soldiers" engages in a deeper exploration of the impact of World War I upon an increasingly fractured civilization. The novel depicts the experiences of three Americans as they fight in the final battles of the war and then confront a world in which peace offers little respite from the dehumanizing servility and regimentation of militarized life. "Manhattan Transfer" is a kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in the first two decades of the 20th century that follows the changing fortunes of more than a dozen characters as they strive to make sense out of the chaos of modern urban existence.

"John Dos Passos traveled widely in Europe, the Middle East, Mexico, and the United States, witnessing many of the tumultuous political, social, and cultural events of the early 20th century and recording his changing response to them. This volume collects the vibrant and insightful travel books and essays he wrote at the same time he was publishing his fictional masterpieces Three Soldiers, Manhattan Transfer, and U.S.A." "Rosinante to the Road Again (1922) is a vivid collection of essays on Spanish life, literature, and art that demonstrates Dos Passos' enduring fascination with a country he would repeatedly visit and write about. Orient Express (1927) records his 1921-22 journey through the Middle East, and contains provocative and haunting descriptions of the effects of the Greek-Turkish War; the Caucasus in the aftermath of Soviet conquest; Persia during the rise of Reza Khan; the creation of Iraq by the British; and a winter trip by camel caravan across the desert from Baghdad to Damascus. In All Countries (1934) collects pieces on Russia in the late 1920s, Mexico in the aftermath of Zapata, the troubled Spanish Republic, and strikes and protests in the United States, while articles that appeared in Journeys Between Wars (1938) examine the Popular Front in France and the Spanish Civil War." "Also included are A Pushcart at the Curb (1922), a cycle of poems inspired by his travels; nine political and literary essays written between 1916 and 1941, including his denunciation of the execution of his friend Jose Robles by Spanish Communists; and a selection of letters and diary entries from 1916 to 1920 that record his wartime service as an ambulance driver in France and Italy."--Jacket.

xviii, 277 p. : 29 cm

This is the first novel of Dos Passos's trilogy, U.S.A., which covers the years between 1900 to 1914. "The individual episodes and the characterization, the setting and the commentaries, are in themselves less important than the effectiveness of the entire book and the trilogy. Dos Passos employs with skill the modernist techniques that were coming into fashion during the first decades of the century. There is no definite plot; the book flows in a stream of time and is designed to portray the United States rather than to narrate the lives of the various - almost innumerable - individuals who figure in it. The method of narration was a bold innovation. Dos Passos uses systematically the 'News-Reel,' describing the social background; 'Biographies,' profiles of prominent personalities; 'Novels,' which deal with the more ordinary characters of the time; 'the Camera Eye,' by means of which the author himself can supply an impressionistic personal commentary on what is happening. The result is sometimes confusing more often a powerful presentation of a vast panorama of human nature and of history."