Scheherazade
08-24-2007, 02:06 PM
All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
I had read this book for the first time about 25 years ago after watching a black and white movie based on it on TV. Even though I had really liked the movie, the book was a little boring and too philosophical to my pre-teen self. As it often happens, now that I feel "older" and "wiser", I decided to read it again to see how I would feel about it.
All Quiet On The Western Front is the story of a group of young men/boys who join the German army during the First World War. Even though they are very proud and willing initially, as the war progresses, they witness the horrors of the war (and human nature) and begin to question their place in the war (and the war's place in their lives). Their number dwindles rapidly along with their faith in their cause. The narrator of the book, Paul Bäumer, relates the events he witnesses with great sincerity and naivety, which is very touching.
All Quiet On The Western Front might be one of the first literary works which show the evils of the war and question its justification. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they burned the copies of Eric Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front because 'it was a betrayal of the German front-line soldier.' Patriotism and heroism itself did not seem enough in itself anymore, somehow... Probably because a great deal would be required to justify the loss of so many young lives. A quote from the book:
Summer of 1918--Never was life in the line more bitter and more full of horror than in the hours of the bombardment, when he blanched faces lie in the dirt, and the hands clutch at the one thought: No! No! Not now! Not now at the last moment!
Summer of 1918--Breath of hope that sweeps over the scorched fields, raging fever of impatience, of disappointment, of the most agonizing terror of death, insensate question: Why? Why do they not make an end? And why do these rumours of an end fly about?
This is a sad story, told beautifully and quietly, without any forced attempts to make it even more tragic and heart-wrenching. I think Remarque knew that Paul Bäumer's story (and of thousands of young men like him) did not need his further assistance to make it grimmer than it already is.
9/10 KitKats!
I had read this book for the first time about 25 years ago after watching a black and white movie based on it on TV. Even though I had really liked the movie, the book was a little boring and too philosophical to my pre-teen self. As it often happens, now that I feel "older" and "wiser", I decided to read it again to see how I would feel about it.
All Quiet On The Western Front is the story of a group of young men/boys who join the German army during the First World War. Even though they are very proud and willing initially, as the war progresses, they witness the horrors of the war (and human nature) and begin to question their place in the war (and the war's place in their lives). Their number dwindles rapidly along with their faith in their cause. The narrator of the book, Paul Bäumer, relates the events he witnesses with great sincerity and naivety, which is very touching.
All Quiet On The Western Front might be one of the first literary works which show the evils of the war and question its justification. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they burned the copies of Eric Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front because 'it was a betrayal of the German front-line soldier.' Patriotism and heroism itself did not seem enough in itself anymore, somehow... Probably because a great deal would be required to justify the loss of so many young lives. A quote from the book:
Summer of 1918--Never was life in the line more bitter and more full of horror than in the hours of the bombardment, when he blanched faces lie in the dirt, and the hands clutch at the one thought: No! No! Not now! Not now at the last moment!
Summer of 1918--Breath of hope that sweeps over the scorched fields, raging fever of impatience, of disappointment, of the most agonizing terror of death, insensate question: Why? Why do they not make an end? And why do these rumours of an end fly about?
This is a sad story, told beautifully and quietly, without any forced attempts to make it even more tragic and heart-wrenching. I think Remarque knew that Paul Bäumer's story (and of thousands of young men like him) did not need his further assistance to make it grimmer than it already is.
9/10 KitKats!