Adventures of a Young Man

District of Columbia #1

by John Dos Passos

In a novel that closely parallels author John Dos Passos's own ideological struggles during the Spanish Civil War, protagonist Glenn Spotswood, an American, travels to Spain to fight on the Republican side. There, Spotswood joins the Communist Party to help establish a more just society, but his idealism quickly degrades under the stress of party orthodoxy and hypocrisy.

Genres: Fiction, Spanish Civil War

322 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

John Dos Passos was a prominent American novelist, artist, and political thinker best known for his U.S.A. trilogy—The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money—a groundbreaking work of modernist fiction that employed experimental narrative techniques to depict the complexities of early 20th-century American life. Born in Chicago in 1896, he was educated at Harvard and served as an ambulance driver during World War I, experiences that deeply influenced his early literary themes. His first novel, One Man’s Initiation: 1917, and the antiwar Three Soldiers drew on his wartime observations and marked him as a major voice among the Lost Generation.
Dos Passos’s 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer brought him widespread recognition and introduced stylistic innovations that would define his later work. His U.S.A. trilogy fused fiction, biography, newsreel-style reportage, and autobiographical “Camera Eye” sections to explore the impact of capitalism, war, and political disillusionment on the American psyche. Once aligned with leftist politics, Dos Passos grew increasingly disillusioned with Communism, especially after the murder of his friend José Robles during the Spanish Civil War—a turning point that led to a break with Ernest Hemingway and a sharp turn toward conservatism.
Throughout his career, Dos Passos remained politically engaged, writing essays, journalism, and historical studies while also campaigning for right-leaning figures like Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon in the 1960s. He contributed to publications such as American Heritage, National Review, and The Freeman, and published over forty books including biographies and historical reflections. Despite political shifts, his commitment to liberty and skepticism of authoritarianism remained central themes.
Also a visual artist, Dos Passos created cover art and illustrations for many of his own books, exhibiting a style influenced by modernist European art. Though less acclaimed for his painting, he remained artistically active throughout his life. His multidisciplinary approach and innovations in narrative structure influenced numerous writers and filmmakers, from Jean-Paul Sartre to Norman Mailer and Adam Curtis.
Later recognized with the Antonio Feltrinelli Prize for literature in 1967, Dos Passos’s legacy endures through his literary innovations and sharp commentary on American identity. He died in 1970, leaving behind a vast and diverse body of work that continues to shape the landscape of American fiction.

Reviews

[Makis Dionis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Οι συγκρούσεις της ατομικής ελευθερίας στα πλαίσια της κρατικής/κομματικής κυριαρχίας. Ο εμφύλιος της Ισπανίας είναι πάντα ένα πολύ καλό κάδρο των ιδεολογικοπολιτικων συγκρούσεων, πλήρως απογυμνωμενων από τα επιπλαστα φτιασιδια εκδημοκρατισμού

[Φώτης Καραμπεσίνης · Rating 3 out of 5]

Σίγουρα υποδεέστερο από την πρώτη τριλογία USA, αλλά και από το Μανχάταν τρανσφερ, τα οποία ξεχωρίζουν για το ιδιαίτερο ύφος τους, την τεχνική κολάζ που ο ίδιος αποκαλούσε χρονικογραφία, δηλαδή συνυφανση ειδησεογραφίας και βιογραφίας.

Σε αυτό το βιβλίο κυριαρχεί ο ρεαλισμός και ο νατουραλισμός σε σημεία, με σκοπό να αναδειχθούν οι πολιτικές και ιδεολογικές συγκρούσεις, καθώς και η σταδιακή αλλαγή απόψεων του νεαρού συγγραφέα. Στοιχεία αυτοβιογραφικά, συνδυάζονται με μυθοπλασία. Σε νεότερη ηλικία θα το έβρισκα πιο ενδιαφέρον.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read most of Dos Passos’ early work, I thought I’d turn my attention to his mid-period after the Spanish Civil War, when he began to reject his earlier communist leanings and to embrace Trotskyism, before gradually turning to conservatism in the '50s and '60s. During this time his reputation as a writer also shifted along with this political evolution, as his work from the District of Columbia trilogy onward was viewed as increasingly less relevant compared to his modernist U.S.A. trilogy, Manhattan Transfer, etc.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I read this novel, the first of the D.C. trilogy, and discovered an engaging, sensitive work with strengths that reminded me of contemporary ‘30s novelists such as James T. Farrell, Ernest Poole, or even Upton Sinclair (in tone, if not in political ideology). Dos Passos’ novel is the portrait of Glenn, a young protagonist who works to organize labor unions and fight for worker solidarity, and who is ousted from a Communist Party that he sees as too power-hungry for true socialist reform. When Glenn enters the Spanish Civil War, the novel draws on Dos Passos’ personal experiences -- much like his earlier Great War fiction, One Man's Initiation: 1917 and Three Soldiers -- but also seems strongly inspired by the events surrounding the execution of his friend José Robles. In terms of formal structure, gone are the modernist experimentation with fragmented narrative, temporal shifts, and simultaneity of perspective, but what remains is the passion, the knack for storytelling, and the desire to empathize through fiction that has defined all of Dos Passos’ work I have read up to this point.

The most fascinating character for me was Glenn’s father, a former Ivy League professor who lost his job due to his anti-war views (at a time when American universities were practically the opposite in ideology of today!), who pops up throughout the novel as a type of chorus, guiding Glenn to slowly understand that the violence of revolutionary communism is perhaps not the best way to achieve a peaceful, egalitarian society.

This novel is clearly a defense of Trotskyism, and seems like it must have derived from Dos Passos’ participation in the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky and the Dewey Commission, although I would have to dig deeper into his biographical details to confirm that. In any case, it’s quite a solid novel, and one that is unfairly under-appreciated in favor of Dos Passos’ earlier U.S.A. novels. Although there are moments of heavy-handed symbolism (Glenn being forced to play Benedict Arnold in the schoolyard, or his embrace of communism symbolized by waking up after a sexual experience illuminated in the bright red glow of the sun), I recommended it for anyone interested in 1930s American literature, labor literature, or the rift among factions on the left during the period between the Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War.

[William Childers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the novel Dos Passos finished after returning from Spain, where he became disillusioned with the Left over the assassination of José Robles. In terms of its contribution to literary history, it is not on the level of the "U.S.A." trilogy, but I still found it to be a great read. It tells the story of Glenn Spotswood, the young man of the title, from his earliest memories through to his participation in the Spanish Civil War as a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades. In style it is very much as if Dos Passos had taken one novelist strand from "U.S.A." and developed it into a full-fledged novel. In that sense, although he later incorporated it into a new trilogy based on the Spotswoods, I think it may be best read as a coda to "U.S.A." (which after all remains one of the pinnacles of 20th-century English-language fiction, pretentious as that may sound). "Adventures of a Young Man" follows Glenn's political evolution from his earliest glimmerings of sympathy with the Bolsheviks when the Russian Revolution was taking place during his adolescence, through his experience as a farmworker, his student days, and his eventual involvement with the labor movement and membership in the Party. In Glenn, I felt Dos Passos struck a pretty good balance between the sense in which he is tossed around by circumstances and pulled toward something he does not fully understand, and the sense in which he is driven by his own sense of justice and grasp of power. A lot of what happens to Glenn is a result of accidental and fortuitous events and haphazard meetings, but these are of course selected by Dos Passos to be typical of the period (roughly 1915-1935). Glenn is an alienated young man growing up in a time of political turmoil. His story is not Dos Passos's, but his eventual disillusionment with the Communist Party clearly reflects the position the author had reached by 1938. As is well known, after WW II Dos Passos veered to the right and defended free enterprise and personal liberty. This shift is seen by some as an organic development of what was basically an individualistic anarchism all along. Yet "Adventures of a Young Man" definitely marks a turning point in Dos Passos's own politics, and is thus at one and the same time a compelling novel in its own right and a revealing testament to one of the most prominent conversions from Left to Right in 20th-century American politics.

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πέρυσι τον Αύγουστο ήρθα για πρώτη φορά σε επαφή με το έργο του Τζον Ντος Πάσος, διαβάζοντας το καταπληκτικό "Manhattan Transfer", που μου άφησε τις καλύτερες εντυπώσεις όσον αφορά τη γραφή, τη δομή της αφήγησης, την ίδια την ιστορία και την όλη ατμόσφαιρα. Ε, το ίδιο μπορώ να πω ότι συνέβη και με τούτο το βιβλίο, το οποίο κυκλοφόρησε φέτος για πρώτη φορά στα ελληνικά, από τις εκδόσεις Ηριδανός. Υποτίθεται ότι τα περισσότερα ή πολλά απ' όσα περιγράφονται και διαδραματίζονται στο βιβλίο αυτό, αποτελούν προσωπικές εμπειρίες του Τζον Ντος Πάσος τόσο στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες όσο και στον Ισπανικό Εμφύλιο, όντας ένας έντονα πολιτικοποιημένος Αριστερός (αν και μετά απ' όσα είδε και έζησε, το άλλαξε και έγινε πιο συντηρητικός). Είναι ένα αρκετά πολιτικοποιημένο μυθιστόρημα που όμως καταφέρνει να είναι ισορροπημένο στην κριτική του και την απομυθοποίηση ορισμένων εννοιών και αξιών πολιτικής χροιάς, με πολύ καλή σκιαγράφηση του βασικού χαρακτήρα, ιδιαίτερο ρεαλισμό στις περιγραφές, τους διαλόγους και τις σκέψεις των χαρακτήρων, και με τέλεια ατμόσφαιρα. Ο συγγραφέας με την υπέροχη γραφή του κατάφερε να με μεταφέρει στην εποχή του βιβλίου, να με φέρει σε επαφή με την κοινωνική, οικονομική και πολιτική πραγματικότητα εκείνων των ταραγμένων χρόνων (δεκαετία του '30) και να αναδείξει τα διλήμματα, τους αγώνες, τα αδιέξοδα και όλα αυτά που αντιμετώπιζαν οι άνθρωποι που ήταν "μέσα στα πράγματα", που είχαν διάφορες ανησυχίες ιδεολογικής φύσεως. Επίσης, αφηγηματικά είναι πιο στρωτό και πιο απλό σε σχέση με το "Manhattan Transfer", όπου ο συγγραφέας χρησιμοποιούσε ένα κολάζ αφηγήσεων πηγαίνοντας μπρος-πίσω στον χρόνο και από τον έναν χαρακτήρα στον άλλο. Γενικά, είναι ένα βιβλίο που μου άρεσε πολύ, που με κράτησε δέσμιό του, και που σε διάφορα σημεία κατάφερε να με καθηλώσει κιόλας. Ίσως και να μην είναι για όλα τα γούστα ή για όλες τις ώρες, εμένα όμως με κέρδισε.

[John Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overlooked work by JDP that really should get more press. Not as stylistically nuanced as The USA Trilogy, but still shows that whatever the author put his mind to he could turn into a moving and insightful story.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as his other major works, but still enjoyable and his empathy for the characters always shines through. I feel like the description of this book is misleading. The main character is only in Spain for the last 10% of the book. Most of it takes place in America.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh well. Who needs something else to be angry about?

John Dos Passos deserves to be recognized as one of our great writers of fiction. Yet, he is now virtually unknown. AOYM covers much the same ground as Steinbeck's, "In Dubious Battle," but leaves the Nobel Prize winner in the dust with its superior insight, mastery of dialogue, and breadth of exploration. Just as he did in "Manhattan Transfer," Dos Passos is able to create an atmosphere that is truly palpable with virtually no description of the physical environment. Instead, it is the actions of the characters and the dialogue that give one a sense time and place.

[Joe Loyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like For Whom the Bell Tolls, this book is about an American volunteer fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

John dos Passos is a phenomenal writer. This is the story of a young man who swallows the ideas of the communist party and agitates for them to the point that the communist party throws him out.

[Dewayne Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The time line covers the end of WW1 to the Spanish Civil War. Passos was mentioned in my two previous reading about the Spanish Civil War.

[Lapetitesteph]

J'adore.