Una grandísima novela con cinco historias independientes que se van cruzando. Narra la vida de esas personas en los EEUU de principios del siglo XX, en los labores de la I Guerra Mundial.
Fantastica

Aguardou 12 anos na estante. Foi apenas o começo. Uma mistura de jornalismo com digressão "à la James Joyce" ao coração do homem moderno. Original. Por vezes demasiado eufórico. Por vezes demasiado lento. Mas vale cada página.

I'm not sure that the essences of each individual novel are worth anything, but rather, the "novel" as a whole, by that I mean, as a trilogy. My review of the trilogy is here.

This novel is such a distinct achievement that I haven't written a review before now, and even though this is my third time through the novel, this isn't really a review either. What I can say is that this novel in spite of its setting in the early 20th century is nevertheless written in such a contemporary and innovative way that it makes me realize there is no such thing as progress in the arts, or even evolution, but rather that we have extraordinary masterful artists that come along now and then who write in completely new and exhilarating ways...and we will always have that to look forward to in the future, as long as their are storytellers and people who want to hear their stories.

Bu kitapta yazar alışık olduğumuz tarzın tamamen dışında bir tarzla yazmış. Haber-film adında dönemin gazete haberlerini paylaştığı ve Sine-göz adında birilerinin iç sesi olduğunu varsaydığım bölümlere yer vermiş. Ben bu iki bölümü de açıkçası sevemedim, konudan bağımsız çağrışımları dağınık yazılar gibi geldi bana. Onun dışında romanda 7-8 karakterin hayat öyküsü anlatılıyor ve bunlardan bazıları kitabın sonuna doğru karşılaşıyorlar da ama bu karakterlerin anlatımını da sevemedim çünkü cümleler hep şu şekilde; yedi, içti, oturdu, kalktı, uyudu, uyandı vb. Ne yazık ki romanda herhangi bir derinlik bulamadım. Kitabın tanıtımında bahsedilen ağır savaş ve kapitalizm eleştirisini de göremedim ne yazık ki, bu konulardan hep yumuşak bir şekilde bahsedilmiş.
İkinci yıldızı vermemin sebebi 1900lerin başındaki Amerika’yı gözlemleme fırsatı vermiş olması, yoksa gerçekten 1 yıldızlık bence bu kitap. Elimde bu triolojinin ikinci kitabı olan 1919 da var ve bu yüzden onu da okuyacağım ama serinin üçüncü kitabını alıp okumayı düşünmüyorum.

écrivain emblématique de la « génération perdue » (artistes et écrivains américains expatriés à paris après la 1ere GM, qui s’attachent notamment à décrire leur experience de la guerre, les mutations sociales en cours aux EU (censures, puritanisme etc)
42e parallele est le premier volume d’USA (fresque des États Unis entre 1900 et 1930) qu’on surnomme la « comédie inhumaine »

Début très bien mais plus les personnages évoluent et plus ça s’essouffle, on perd l’attachement qu’on avait commencé à construire pr eux

Pas assez d’épaisseur….

Pour contextualiser l’Amérique de l’époque (car on survole de nombreuses années) il y a des « News reels » (coupures de journaux etc) mais j’ai pas du tout aimé le principe ca coupe le récit et je trouve ça un peu tricher de nous faire parvenir le contexte historique (par ex la guerre) à travers des extraits de journaux et non pas en nous le faisant sentir à travers le texte

I have been packing this book with me across four countries for ten years, avoiding it because it looked so boring. I bought it because it was on the Modern Library list, but was intimidated by it. I shouldn't have been. The nearly 100 year old writing is perfectly suitable for today's ADD reader. It's interesting, fun, and I'm not sure all editions include the sketches but I wish all adult books did. I was lucky to have read this shortly after reading Dead Wake, which tied together some nice history about the era. Great read, and I'll try to make it to the others in the trilogy.

ABD'deyiz. 2. Dünya Savaşı patlamak üzere. Avrupa çoktan birbirine girmiş durumda. ABD savaşa girecek mi girmeyecek mi tartışmaları arasında bir kaç karakterle tanışıyoruz.
Tabi ABD fırsatlar ülkesi. Kafasını kullanan yolunu alıyor. Bizim karakterlerimiz de böyle.
Farklı farklı zamanlarda farklı farklı yerlerde başlıyorlar maceralarına. 4-5 kişi bunlar.
Türlü maceralar yaşıyorlar. Açlıktan sefaletten sürünüyorlar.
Ortak özellikleri çok çalışkan olmaları. Zekadan daha önemli bu.
Tabi zekilerde, o ayrı.
En sonunda hepsinin yolu aynı yerde kesişiyor. Yazar bigün hepsini bir araya getiriyor.

I couldn't get past the structure of this book, although I know that is what has brought the book praise. There is no plot, but just a series of unrelated vignettes interspersed with biographies, news stories, bits of songs and stream of consciousness passages (The Camera Eye). Women just exist in relation to their men, who always seemed to be with them reluctantly. "You can't get gelded just to be true to your wife." I found it unbearable and gave up.

If I had read this at 20, it’d be my favorite book. I’m too old for this shit. I like the historical vignettes. I couldn’t tell you why I read about any other character except that the American dream didn’t work out for them the way it did for Edison or William Jennings Bryan. The newsreels were cool. Fun to think about a time in America when socialism could have actually taken root. If anyone can explain what the hell the Camera Eye sections are doing in this novel, I’ll buy you a new iPhone.

I love the writing of John Dos Passos, but had never read his epic "USA" trilogy so having read the unofficial prequel, "Manhattan Transfer" I bought the Mariner books 3 volume set. The 42nd Parallel is set in the years before World War I. It really has no plot, but is a set of stories about several characters. While each character is unique, overall they are pretty average people and in the end, none of them accomplishes anything great. But I found the character tales to be well-written and engaging, and several times I kept reading late, or snatched up the book at a time I normally devote to serious non-fiction reading, surely the sign of a good book. The characters are ones everyone can relate to even today and are not dated as a book authored almost a century ago might be.

The character sketches are inter-spaced with a unique series of interludes-- "Newsreels" that capture some of the real news of the day, sharp short biographies of noted individuals of the time, and personal reflections of the writer called "Camera Eye." Despite the fact this book was written in the 1920s these interludes are very modern and while they take a bit of getting used to, they do add much to the text. However, given that the book is nearly 100 years old and everyone of the World War I era is now dead, many modern readers may have a hard time understanding the "Newsreels." As a student of World War I, I fully understood the Newsreels, but I can see how someone not historically inclined may not understand the Newsreeels at all. The "Camera Eye" interludes can also be tough reading, but once you understand what they are, they do add to the novel.

Overall I very much enjoyed The 42nd Parallel, found it an engaging novel, and I am now eagerly starting the next book in the series, entitled 1919.

Modernist collage. American lives. Early 20th century.