Chapter 17 of Three Soldiers is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Three Soldiers is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Oh, Paris is the best yet. First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches. Second absurdity: spies. Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.” He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
Chapter 17 of Three Soldiers is here in full — 415 sentences across 83 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/83 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a message whose content is at variance with reason
From this reading “First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.”
like or containing small sticky lumps
From this reading “He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.”
a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda)
From this reading “First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.”
following the third position; number four in a countable series
From this reading “Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.””
uttered with a trill
From this reading “He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.”
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading “Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.””
plural of “spy” — (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors
From this reading “Second absurdity: spies.”
bound by or as if by an oath
From this reading “Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.””
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
a message whose content is at variance with reason
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
anew
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
a native or inhabitant of the United States
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
the entire physical structure of an organism (an animal, plant, or human being)
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
lacking funds
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
like or containing small sticky lumps
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information or discussion (especially one with a formal agenda)
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
following the third position; number four in a countable series
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
ten 10s
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
showing or feeling mirth or pleasure or happiness
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
being one less than one hundred and nine more than ninety
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
plural of “officer” — any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
the capital and largest city of France; and international center of culture and commerce
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
the state prevailing during the absence of war
From this reading First absurdity: the Peace Conference and its nine hundred and ninety-nine branches.
uttered with a trill
From this reading He broke out laughing again, his chunky body rolling about on the chair.
1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites
From this reading Second absurdity: spies.
the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
plural of “sister” — a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
plural of “spy” — (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors
From this reading Second absurdity: spies.
bound by or as if by an oath
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
one of three equal parts of a divisible whole
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading Third: American officers A.W.O.L. Fourth: The seven sisters sworn to slay.”
but in spite of that
From this reading “Oh, Paris is the best yet.
Chapter 17 of Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos holds 415 sentences, grouped into 83 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 17 holds 415 sentences of Three Soldiers, unabridged, divided into 83 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 415 sentences, grouped into 83 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 83 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 83 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 10744 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6362 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6362, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2149 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Three Soldiers section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of Three Soldiers to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Three Soldiers, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
