All Quiet on the Western Front

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Theme
Review: I am a high school teacher. I (every couple of years or so) assign this book to be read by my high school history classes. They for the most part like it.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while reading the book:

1. It starts out a little slow. The last several chapters (Chapter 11 especially) are beautifully written with excellent word choices and allusions. I often have students read Chapter 11 aloud in class. It reinforces the concept of the "Lost Generation."

2. The writer, Remarque, was a newspaper reporter. If you are expecting flowery language, you won't find it here. It is very "matter of fact."

3. The themes are timeless. There is a strong anti-education theme in it as well, although a bit subtle. A good debate to have is whether or not this is an anti-war book or more of an anti-authority book.

While this genre of book may not be a personal favorite, I feel that it is one that a well-read, culturally literate person should read at some point in his education.

Rating:
Summary: A review long overdue.
Review: Remarque's masterpiece is beautiful and timeless, perhaps the first modern war novel. Long gone are the days of the heroic charge with bayonettes of pre-industrial age warfare when a former college professor in a glorious moment of bravery could turn back the enemy with a firm resolve and unflinching courage. Remarque sharply snaps the reader into the reality of the 20th century battlefield and reviles it as an ignoble stage of endless and faceless mayhem. He depicts World War I's legacy of prolonged battle which kept soldiers in the filthy trenches for months, eating rats and picking lice out of their hair, not daring to venture out of their holes for fear of being torn apart by mounted machine gun fire and explosives showers... these and more in all of their grisly, bloody, physically and mentally tortuous reality. The experience changes Paul, the protagonist, and he is unable to reconnect with his family and community back home. Absent is the celebrated feeling of being a prestigious war hero one would expect for a local boy turned veteran. The trench becomes all that is real to Paul, his comrades the only source of understanding for his battle-hardened world view. War, Remarque seems to imply, destroys the winners as well.

I was reminded often of this book when watching Samuel Fuller's "The Big Red One" more recently. That film's final line seemed most fitting to Remarque's moral: the only virtue in war is surviving.

The book's writing style is simple and unadorned. The narrative flows so smoothly because moments of most dire peril and those of carefree levity are given equally detailed treatment in disturbingly dispassionate tone. It is at first offensive to conventional morality concerning the urgency and emotional impact of life and death, but it quickly becomes a powerful medium of conveying to us Paul's personal sense of priority and meaning without requiring him to openly comment upon it.

A beautiful tale.

Rating:
Summary: John McCance
Review: All Quiet on the Western Front should not only be recognizied as the greatest war novels, but also as one of the greatest novels. While reading, I found myself connecting with the book on so many different levels. First, Remarque's writing is amazing. I found myself stopping during the novel just to realize how great of a book I was reading. Additionally, in the age we live in now, I found that this book changed my entire perspective on war. In the novel Kantorek really illustrates how society glorifies war, something that they have never experienced before. Additionally, I realized how the war torn Paul and his friends' lives apart; they were at the age of twenty, an age where the decisions you make will dictate the life you will live. By going to war, Paul lost the person who he was, and realized that the only stablity in his life was the war. This message is so powerful, and I can't begin to emphasize how moving it really was. I've read some pretty good books in my life, but none have impacted me the way this book did. It showed me how horrible war really is, and how it is near impossible to rationalize taking part in such an event. I hope I can convince the people that have not read All Quiet on the Western Front to read it. Even though I'm not a fan of war novels, I the images Remarque painted still linger in my mind. It is truly one of the most powerful and greatest novels that you can read.


Rating:
Summary: Best War Novel of All Time
Review: This novel kept me interested throughout the course of the plot. War novels do not usually attract me, however this fascinated me in a way that no other has done before. Erich Maria Remarque paints a realistic painting of WWI and the struggles that very young men overcame in this time of death. It is a compelling story of a late teenager who thought joining the army would be a great idea, and along with others whom he has known throughout grade school, discovers he was terribly mistaken. It's horrific, uplifting, and even humorous, and has a breath-taking conclusion. I highly suggest you read this.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: The book takes place during World War I in Germany. The army is defending against the French. Paul Baumer and his high school classmates enlist under the direction of their teacher. Little did they know the hardships they would soon face. Gas warfare, trench warfare, and dodging bullets aren't Paul's only troubles, their is always the threat of starving to death and going crazy on count of little sleep. Paul still fights for survival. It's kill or be killed and Paul doesn't want to be the latter. Will Paul come out alive?
I would recommend this book to anyone, especially people that are interested in war or different types of warfare.

Rating:
Summary: This will stay with you a long time...
Review: I had to read this book for class and at first I was reluctant. Once I got into it I found it to be an amazing story or war. Don't buy the cliff notes, read the book!