Spring in Paris and John Dos Passos

In A Movable Feast by Hemingway, he starts off the chapter entitled 'People of the Seine' by speaking about his first thoughts of the appearance of the neighboring areas around the Seine. Specifically the beginning of Boulevard Saint Germain. 

"This was not like any other Paris market but was a sort of bonded warehouse where wine was stored against the payment of taxes and was as cheerless from the outside as a military depot or a prison camp."

This style of descriptive writing is undoubtedly Hemingway's signature. However, the writer John Dos Passos employs a similar technique in the excerpt from his novel, Three Soldiers. The very paragraph of this excerpt begins with he sentence " Henslowe poured wine from a brown earthen crock into the glasses, where it shimmered a bright thin red, the color of currants." 

The most notable difference between these two authors is their heavy-handed or lack there of use of adjectives. Passos uses these phrases: brown earthen crock, shimmered a bright thin red, and the color of currents, whereas Hemingway uses such phrases as cheerless from the outside as a military depot or prison camp." In the same amount of time require to comprehend a P.P. or Passos passage, you are able to blaze through scenes of Hemingway's novel. Whether or not this is a positive attribute of Hemingway's writing, it does allow for a much quicker comprehension. It may even be said that Hemingway's sparing use of adjectives is due to his uncanny ability to understand how to relay information in the least cumbersome manner. 

Andrews:

In the excerpt of The Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos, Andrews is presented as a man whom is displeased with his life at home. Currently stationed overseas in Paris, Andrews meets a young couple at a restaurant. The boy is a craftsman who creates 'animals for Naoh's Ark' and after Andrews hears of this and leaves the restaurant he laments and speaks words of longing. 

"What a wonderful life that would be to live up here in a small room that would overlook the great rosy grey expanse of the city, to have some absurd work like that to live on, and to spend all your spare time working and going to concerts.... A quiet mellow existence...." Andrews later mentions the brutality of his home, New York City and how he wished to live in such a place as Paris. 

Later on in the except as Andrews is walking around Paris, it becomes clear that not only is he oddly obsessed with the frail boy and bareheaded girl, but he is also dragging his feet while he makes his way to the station. 

"He wandered aimlessly for a while about the silent village hoping to find a cafe where he could sit for a few minutes to take a last look at himself before plunging again into the grovelling promiscuity of the army." 

His memories from childhood remind of him of a time when he was getting ready to head off to school. Savoring his last bits of freedom, he would take the longest road to get to school. Here in Paris, Andrews speaks about staying in one place. It appears that all Andrews longs for is the opportunity to get used to a single place where solitude exists. However, his friend Henslowe holds a different attitude towards life and longs to travel as frequently as possible. 

As Andrews heads back to the office, he catches wind of news that the Y.M.C.A. is supposedly helping to send soldiers to French universities in order to start or complete their education. Andrews later speaks with his new found acquaintance to whom he may be related. Andrews speaks of wanting to attend Sorbonne and finishing his education. It is difficult for me to surmise how Andrews drive to continue his education reflects on the American's point of view on the war, but it seems that rather than focus on winning the war, Andrews is more concerned with using his time, which he sees as prison, to continue his studies. One would hope that a soldiers mission aligned with the country they are fighting for, but it is quite clear that Andrews does not favor the countries involvement in thew war.