Although there are undeniable moments of brilliance Dos Passos's first novel, there are also serious and tedious issues with it. What he did well was some truly remarkable thinking about the implications of the basic training-indoctrination process on individual and mass psychology. Much of what he writes, especially early in the novel where he compares the soldiers produced for World War I in America to mass-produced, assembly line commodities, anticipates the thinking of some of the Frankfurt school theorists 15 years after he published this book. It's quite clear that Dos Passos was doing a lot of reading in philosophy, economics, and perhaps sociology while he was working on this novel. He also does some very wonderful things with prose registers; different characters think and speak in different linguistic registers, which reminded me of James Joyce's work in _Portrait of the Artist_ and _Ulysses_. The problem, though, can be summed up with the fact that the title is entirely inappropriate: Dos Passos did indeed write about three soldiers, but two of them drop away fairly quickly in the course of the novel. Over half of the book focuses on John Andrews and, unfortunately, he is not a strong or compelling enough character to support the textual weight Dos Passos places on his shoulders. Certainly Andrews, an aspiring composer who hates the life of of order and discipline he is forced to endure in the army during the war, is the character that Dos Passos would probably have been most familiar with (in terms of life experience and class situation). But Andrews is such a lazy, whiny, indecisive and, ultimately, weak-willed character that it was a relief to reach the end of the book regardless of what happens to him. Either Dos Passos intended the book to be a strong critique of Andrews's (in some ways default) philosophy of anarchism, or the author could not control his characters and plot enough to clearly let the reader know how to take Andrews's futile attempts to break out of "the mould" of his training. The text is so cluttered and unclear that it's a little difficult to know how to take it. The book is worth reading, but not something I'd keep around to reread (unlike, for example, Dos Passos's brilliant _Manhattan Transfer_ or the grand and ambitious scope of the _USA_ trilogy).

Dos Passos does an excellent job of capturing the seemingly endless routine of tedium, discipline, and terror a soldier faces while serving in wartime. Yet he goes further to show how bureaucracy and discipline, though necessary to military order, may also strip an individual of his sense of self. Some can take it, some will be crushed, and some will rebel, but all are changed dramatically by the experience.

Though my Barnes & Noble Books edition contained an egregious number of typos, I found it easy to read and, at times, quite beautiful. The experience of reading the novel, for me, was very similar to watching a classic black and white movie.

I read this novel, based on the author's experiences as a volunteer ambulance driver in WWI, at grandmother's cottage in SW Michigan because I had been mightily impressed by his USA trilogy. Sadly, I was disappointed, but then it was only his second novel.

Great story. I think Dos Passos deserves to be on the same shelf as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. If anything his novels seem to have more lasting appeal. I reread Hemingway and Fitzgerald a few years ago (I was in my early 60s then) and was really struck by what "young men's" stories they were. This story seems to have as much appeal now as it did when I first read Dos Passos in my late teens.

The story, about the stifling of the human spirit by the regimentation of the military and coming Soviet Communism, is just as relevant the stifling of the human spirit by international global corporatism.

Great read, not recommended for a relaxing beach vacation.

کتابی ضدجنگ در مورد سه‌سرباز با سه نیروی محرکه متفاوت که برده‌ی ارابه‌ی بی‌منطق و ظالم جنگ جهانی اولند. به اسم دموکراسی، از آمریکا به اروپا، به نام آزادی اما بردگی.

Most of the great American modernist books are forgotten, passed over for Faulkner (eh) and Hemingway (double eh). But Three Soldiers is doubly neglected, because to the (very limited) extent that people still rad Dos Passos, it's pretty much Manhattan Crossing and the U.S.A trilogy. The trilogy is wonderful, but I prefer Three Soldiers -- the sociological observation is still leavened by a romantic sensibility. And WWI is the best possible illustration of the transformation of American society from human-scale small towns to mass industrialism that was Dos Passos' great subject.

Hemmingway totally rips this off for A Farewell to Arms which isn't half as good as this one. A classic modern novel of WWI.

Among the earliest post-WW I novels written by a veteran. The main character is a self-centered, whining loser, although he is treated sympathetically by the author (it's a self-portrait). But it's very well written -- a great description of the landscape. Although no time is pinpointed, it's obviously set late in the war.

I bought this at the same time as Dos Passo's "USA" trilogy, which I intend to read, but read "Three Soldiers" first because he wrote it before the others.

I only made it part-way through this book. I liked the characters enough, however there were so many that I had a hard time keeping track of them. I'd find myself trying to associate names with profiles/histories and it detracted from the flow of the story, which on another note, seemed to go nowhere. It gave a sense of both the fear and ardor of the "men" pre-war, however the atmosphere seemed dull, it hopped too much from one character to another for my liking, and totally lacked any type of plot, so far as I could tell. This might well be a classic, and I'm not usually averse to putting up with some dullness or difficult prose to experience a great piece of literature, however I just couldn't hack it, quite frankly.

This was an interesting a good book about some of the horrors of war and how it can break down the spirit of a person. The characters a sort of cross section of classes and role and education, developed well though it was really, for the most part, focused around one soldier and his struggles.
It addressed how the system could tell on a man and certainly what is today called PTSD is very very present.
I will try to read more by Dos Passos. I have had this book on my kindle for a long time (on of the "free" kindle books) and a suggestion from my Goodreads friend Dimitri that I read "The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos and a Friendship Made and Lost in War" - spurred to read this to get some Dos Passos background (I have already read a bit of Hemingway - long time fan) and since this Dos Passos book predates the era of the recommended book I thought it would be a good choice.
It is a good read - if you have the time and the subject interests you give it a try.

Dos Passos hadn't found his voice yet, and "Three Soldiers" drags a bit, but it's a worthwhile sampling of an author whose best was yet to come. It's a classic only in the sense that his U.S.A. trilogy would be one, and all of Dos Passos' work would therefore become lumped into the "classics" pile.

Three Soldiers more like Three Pretentious Assholes. I realize that Dos Passos was giving his perspective of the war and his distaste for the military. The writing style was nicely portrayed but the characters were disappointing. I'm pretty sure that the only trees that Dos Passos is aware of are poplars. If there is ever a mention of the scenery, (and there are quite a few) he always mentions poplars. There could be a drinking game made out of it.

*Spoiler*

The book starts with the Italian kid from San Francisco, but I quickly realized that his only motive is to aspire to higher ranks. Who cares? As is expected, he gets passed over for his promotion and lives a dissatisfied career.

The second soldier is a son of a bitch. He's a murderer. He kills one of his own sergeants with a grenade as he's alone on the battlefield. He was my least favorite.

The third was the prissy coward who thought himself a slave. He was too good for doing physical work and being commanded. I'm glad he got his come-up-ins in the ends. He was so jaded and so much of the book dedicated to him that he was the main reason I didn't like the book.

All together, it was an uninteresting waste of time.