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Manhattan Transfer (Paperback)

by Passos John Dos (Author) "Three gulls wheel above the broken boxes, orangerinds, spoiled cabbage heads that heave between the splintered plank walls, the green waves spume under the round..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Clarion Books; 1st Mariner Books Ed edition (6 Feb 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0618381864
  • ISBN-13: 978-0618381869
  • Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 14 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 936,024 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #18 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Dos Passos, John

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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First Sentence
Three gulls wheel above the broken boxes, orangerinds, spoiled cabbage heads that heave between the splintered plank walls, the green waves spume under the round bow as the ferry, skidding on the tide, crashes, gulps the broken water, slides, settles slowly into the slip. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a sublime Jazz era novel, 19 Jan 2007
This review is from: Manhattan Transfer (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
One of the finest American authors I have read; as suggested, this novel uses a 'cut and paste' technique, where you don't follow every step of the major character. The novel follows the interwoven lives of several characters going through the 1920's New York scene. Dos Passos gets you inside the head of the main character, but moves you forward, occasionally leaving the action behind.

A superb novel to read, and then re-read.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard going but worth reading, 2 April 2009
By Alun Williams "mathematician manqué" (Peterborough,England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Manhattan Transfer (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Now we are post credit-crunch this is probably a very good time to read this unusual American novel. At times it was hard to believe that Manhattan Transfer is describing the New York of 80+ years ago, so contemporary did it sometimes feel to me. The blurb on the back implies it is a novel about early 20's N.Y., but this is rather inaccurate. My grasp of history is not good enough to be precise, but the story certainly spans a period of over twenty years, and only reaches the twenties in the third of the three sections into which it is divided.

The prose style is idiosyncratic to say the least: the author loves creating German-style compound words, and frequently employs very individual spelling and punctuation. Some people might want to employ the dread phrase "prose poem" to describe it. The novel flits from character to character every few pages, sometimes even more often, with many appearing only once (so that very often I found it necessary to rifle through the earlier pages to try to confirm whether a character had appeared previously, and to see what had happened to him or her before)

This novel will probably tax the patience of many readers, but though I found it difficult to read more than 10 or 20 pages in one sitting, I was determined to finish it. I enjoy meeting people in pubs, even if I never see them again, and so I felt very comfortable with this book, because much of it is set in bars or restaurants, and characters are presented very vividly whether or not they will reappear later, and with something of the same intensity that one drink too many sometimes brings about. Although the city of New York always dominates over the humans I found the characterisation very satisfying.

Dos Passos was more or less contemporary with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Manhattan Transfer is, like the Great Gatsby, a book about New York and the American Dream. I far preferred Manhattan Transfer - I don't "get" Gatsby, and it is a mystery to me why it is so highly thought of. Though Manhattan Transfer occasionally drags, and though I sometimes wished for the kind of notes present in "real" Penguin Classics, I am very glad to have been introduced to this book. If you know nothing more about it try the "Look Inside" facility, as this gives a good impression of what you are in for if you decide to read this fascinating novel.

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13 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Worth persevering with..., 28 Feb 2002
This review is from: Manhattan Transfer (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
Don Passos uses techniques borrowed from the cinema to examine the lives of many different people living in New York. His aim is clear - this novel is intended to provide a portrait of 1920's New York society as a whole rather than portray the life of individuals. This he does well, but maybe I wasn't paying enough attention when I started to read this book - I quickly became confused with the characters - how they related to each other, and their own stories within the novel.

As a big fan of Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe), and a Human Geographer, I am keen to read anything relating to New York society. But I found this 'hard-going.' I am glad I persevered, as things did become clearer towards the end. Perhaps next time I'll read it more carefully from the beginning!

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