John Roderigo Dos Passos (1896-1970) was an American writer and novelist who also excelled in the profession of journalism. He was part of the intellectuals who made up the "Lost Generation", that is, those who moved to Europe between 1918 and 1929 for political and social reasons..
The work of this writer belonged to the modernist current, in addition it had as outstanding features the sobriety and the social theme. Some of the most representative works of Dos Passos were Three soldiers (1922), Manhattan transfer (1925), The first catastrophe (1919-1932), the trilogy USES (1930-1936) and Midcentury (1961).
John Dos Passos served for a long time as a war journalist and translator. He also traveled to various countries in the world to come into contact with the socialist movement. For his literary performance he obtained several recognitions, including the Feltrinelli Prize.
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John Roderigo Dos Passos was born on August 14, 1896 in the city of Chicago, Illinois, into a middle-class family of Portuguese descent. His parents were John R. Dos Passos, lawyer and politician, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison.
John Dos Passos studied at important schools in his native Chicago, such as the Choate Rossemary Hall. Inclined since his teenage years by letters and culture, he decided to study arts at Harvard University and graduated in 1916.
The many trips he made with his parents to various nations also contributed important experiences to his training and knowledge. He related to the culture, art, traditions and literature of countries such as: Belgium, Spain, Portugal and England.
Two years before completing his university studies, he joined Richard Norton's group of collaborators, coinciding with the outbreak of the First World War. Some time later, he went to Italy as a volunteer member of the international Red Cross movement..
Attracted by literature and writing, Dos Passos undertook a project together with some friends to develop a novel, but they did not achieve the goal. He did not give up and in 1919, when he was only twenty-three years old, he published: The initiation of a man, a novel related to personal experiences.
After two years, the writer continued writing and released a second work entitled Three soldiers, a novel with warlike features. In 1923 he had a stay in Spain, being the country where he conceived Rocinante is back on the road. It was with these first three novels that he made his way into the world of letters.
John Dos Passos had a special taste for travel, which is why he spent a large part of his life getting to know new territories. In 1924 he went to Paris with the aim of soaking up all the artistic, cultural and literary movements that were on the rise..
After a while he returned to his country and settled in New York. Although he wanted to dedicate himself to the theater, the writer had to return promptly to the Old Continent.
In 1921 he went to Persia, then to Damascus and then to Baghdad, some places where he lived enriching and unique experiences since he was a man who was always in search of knowledge..
The growing writer was slowly making his way to success, which came with his fourth publication. In 1925 Manhattan transfer saw the light and turned out to be the novel with which Dos Passos achieved the most recognition. In that work he dealt with the fruitful economy of the United States called "crazy twenties.".
On an ideological level, the writer was close to socialism, although he knew how to remain firm in his independent political thought. It did not take long to show his rejection when the Italian activists and immigrants Bartolomeo Banzatti and Nicola Sacco were assassinated for their anarchist political philosophy..
In 1928 he traveled to the now extinct Soviet Union with the intention of learning more about the government system, Helsinki and Leningrad being part of his route. At the time he arrived in Moscow and joined the theatrical activities, where he related to the renowned filmmakers Sergéi Eisenstein and Vsévolod Pudovkin.
Dos Passos spent time in Russia and that is how he joined an expeditionary trip through the city of Daghestan, a mission of then Minister Anatoly Lunacharski. After experiencing several situations that put his life at risk, he finally managed to return to North America.
Dos Passos and Smith constantly traveled to North American soil without the difficult economic situation worldwide - the well-known "Great Depression" - affecting them. In the early thirties the writer began to develop his famous trilogy: USES.
Spain became a frequent destination for the intellectual and his wife. They visited the country in 1932, in times of the Second Republic, that is, the democratic system that supplanted the reign of Alfonso XIII. Dos Passos was an observer of the situation, and in that year he wrote: 1919.
John Dos Passos spent the last years of his life, like many of his colleagues, between writings, publications, travel and recognition. His latest works included Midcentury (1961) and Years unforgettable (1966). The writer passed away on September 28, 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland..
The literary style of Jonh Dos Passos was characterized by being framed within the modernist movement. His works stood out for the use of a simple, clear and precise language, with the presence of critics, questions and reflections on political and social circumstances that he had to live and that he could appreciate..
The main theme of the works of this American writer were around issues about the society of that time, war conflicts and cultural and artistic aspects. He also developed autobiographical and life texts for well-known figures such as Ernest Hemingway and E. E. Cummings..
In chronological order:
- Three soldiers (1922).
- Rocinante is back on the road (1923).
- Manhattan transfer (1925).
- The first catastrophe (1919-1932).
- USES. Trilogy composed of: The 42nd parallel (1930), 1919 (1932) and Big money (1936).
- Adventures of a young man (1939).
- Number one (1943).
- The great destiny (1949).
- D.C. (1952).
- Midcentury (1961).
In chronological order:
- Garbage man (1926).
- Airway Inc. (1928).
- Unforgettable years (1966).
It was one of the best known Dos Passos novels. Its title was related to a station in New York City. The author handled space-time as a plane of interaction between people. The work was an analogy of the ways of relating.
“The first thing they heard was the tremulous whistle of a small wagon smoking on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the ferry entrance. A boy left the group of emigrants who wandered by the pier and ran the wagon.
-It's like a steam engine and it's full of nuts and bolts, 'he yelled as he turned..
-Padriac, come back here.
... There were only three people left on the pier, an old woman with a blue headscarf, and a young woman with a magenta shawl ... And an old man with a greenish goatee and a face all scratched and twisted like the root of a dead oak tree ... ".
It was a trilogy of the writer composed by: The 42nd parallel (1930), 1919 (1932) and Big money (1936). The three novels came out together in a 1938 edition with the name by which they are known worldwide: USES. The writer told the stories through four different storytelling forms.
Dos Passos was in charge of counting people's daily lives before, during and after the First World War. The advantages and disadvantages to achieve quality of life were exposed. This work has been included in the 100 best novels in English of the 20th century for various literary magazines or press portals.
“He had only one friend, Alice Dick, a short, dark girl with glasses, who was his classmate at school. On Saturday afternoons they put on their best clothes and went shopping at the stores on F Street ...
Alice Dick liked the Williamses and the family liked the girl. He said that spending a few hours with open-minded people made him freer. His was a family of very closed Southern Methodists ... ".
“Summers they all went to Maine with Miss Mathilda in a saloon car. George and Eveline slept on the top bunk and Adelaide and Margaret on the bottom one; Miss Mathilda got dizzy and did not close her eyes all night lying on the opposite sofa ... ".
“… Instead of the dock, the fog, the little greenish-gray waves crashing against the side of the ladder… He put on his underwear and denim pants and soaped up his face to shave. The shave made him sad. What I need is a ... He rang the bell to call the waiter ... ".
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