All Quiet on the Western Front

Rating:
Summary: Anti-war classic
Review: Remarque is a bit German-centric to my taste. When he writes about WWI, it's a tragedy of german people. When he writes about emigration, that's the tough life of German Jews. Sometimes it even feels like there was no countries except Germany (and America in his emigration cycle), and no Jews except living in Germany (and emigrated to America during WWII) That's probably the biggest problem I have with his prose. He almost denies existence of everything outside of his little microcosm.

But if you can get above that and see your country (yeah, it's hard in America), your people, and your microcosm in that place, then reading his books is a really terrifying experience. Steven King writes fairy tales compared to the horrors, Remarque writes about. And in contrast, he writes about horrors, which were in a real life of many people in many countries.

Rating:
Summary: stunning
Review: this remains the best book i have ever read. as depressing as it is, it completely takes away any glory that is affiliated with war. while many people looka t war the way they look at a football game, "hope my team wins", this gives you a totally different perspective.

Rating:
Summary: What is it good for?
Review: I feel this book captured the essence of war. It does not attempt to descrbe why we are at war. It actually begs the question, "Why are we at war?". An important theme of the book is propaganda and the way a particular nation views itself. At HOME, flags may fly high and everyone loves "their boys" in the field. However, in the field, the reader is treated to the horrors of trench warfare. Trench warfare may not be as relevent today as it was during World War I. This makes no difference, however, because war breeds decay no matter what it's face may look like.

The heart of the book occurs when Paul lays in the shell-hole with the dying French-man. It is the first man that he has slain. Pangs of guilt cloud Paul's head as the man lay dying in his arms. Emotions run very high on Paul's part as he searches through the man's belongings. However, when Paul is rescued by his unit, the Frenchman lays dead and forgotten. Powerful.

...

Rating:
Summary: A Very Intimate and Realistic War Novel
Review: All Quiet on the Western Front is a war novel that can technically be read my most people; however, it takes a really focused and analytical reader to understand the true meanings and features behind the book. The average reader would probably not find a "climax" in the novel. In order to comprehend the book, it is almost critical and significant that one must know its background information. The setting is on the western front(specifically Germany) during the time of WWI. The narrator and main character, Paul Baumer matures throughout the book. One of the themes, other than that of war, is the coming of age which is illustrated in the novel. Paul learns about life, love, grief, happiness, death, and the concept of moving on. The brutal lessons and events that occured in the book well depicted the life of those back then. Remarque got into the minds of those men and truly expressed realistic, intellectual, and sentimental perspectives of all soldiers.

Rating:
Summary: Still incredibly relevant.
Review: I had started this book more than once, and finally this weekend I forced myself to sit and finish it. For being a book that describes horrible events, it's a very fast, and very powerful read.

It would seem that a description of World War I in all it's full horror, as well as the generation it wrecked wouldn't be particularly relevant to today's society. But the whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking about this upcoming war with Iraq we seem to be tossing ourself into, how lots of people on both sides will be dying senseless deaths, how gas and chemical warfare is very much a possibility, and how SO MUCH of the book, written so many years ago, still applies.

In addition to enlighting the reader on the gritty details of trench warfare, the book delves into a lot of other themes as well--the cameraderie that war induces, the effect of the war on life outside of the war (and by extension, a soldier's interactions with his family, with doctors, with civilains), and confrontations with the idea of killing (the act of humanizing or dehumanizing the enemy).

The writing is straightfoward and easy. The characters are well developed, and the storyline is fascinating as well as multifaceted. The message is clear, and the book is very, very much worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: great writing style
Review: The author has a simple, economical style that nonetheless effectively conveys deep insights. The writing is evocative and vivid and realistic. This is an occasionally sentimental work, but the subject matter requires it.

This is just an extremely good writer and its a pleasure to read such quality. Of course the material is poignant and powerful too. It would trivialize the novel to call it entertainment.

This is the highest form of fiction writing.

Rating:
Summary: War Stinks
Review: Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) served in World War I, where he received wounds five times in battle. The searing images of trench warfare left indelible scars on Remarque, who then attempted to exorcize his demons through the writing of literature. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is Remarque's most memorable book, although he wrote nine others dealing with the miseries of war.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" is the story of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier serving in the trenches in France. Baumer's story is not a pleasant one; he volunteered for the war when his instructor in school, Kantorek, urged the class to join up for the glory of Germany. After a rigorous period of military training (where Paul and his buddies meet the hated drill instructor Himmelstoss, a recurring character throughout the book), Baumer and his friends go to the front as infantrymen. Filled with glorious ideas about war by authority figures back home, Baumer quickly discovers that the blood-drenched trenches of the Western Front are a quagmire of misery and violent death. As soon as the first shells explode in the mud Paul and his friends realize everyone back home is a liar, that war is not the glorious transformation of boys into men but rather the systematic destruction of all that is decent and healthy. As Paul's friends slip away one by one through death, desertion, and injury, Paul begins to wonder about his own life and whether he will survive not only the war but also a world without war.

Remarque's book exposes all of the insanities of war. The incongruities of violent battle versus long periods of boredom repeatedly appear throughout the book. On one day, Paul and his friends sit around discussing mundane topics; the next day they are bashing French skulls during an offensive. It is these extremes that caused so many problems with the psychological disposition of the men. In one chapter of the book, Paul and several new recruits, hunkered down in a dugout, withstand hour upon hour of continuous shellfire until one of the green recruits snaps and tries to make a run for freedom. Where else but in a war could one walk through a sea of corpses while enjoying the sunshine and the gentle cadences of the birds in the trees? That such an unnatural activity as mass murder takes place surrounded by the natural beauty of the world is a theme found in many World War I authors and poets. Remarque's book is noteworthy because he does a better job of showing this strange duality than other writers.

Also of interest is that this book views the war from the German side. From what I read recently, the Germans had a tough time throughout the war with rations, troop rotations away from the front, and supplies. This is apparent in Remarque's treatment of the German war effort, especially toward the end of the book when Germany begins to retreat in the face of overwhelming American military power. Paul's remarks about the evil presence of tanks are an interesting insight into the effect those iron behemoths had on the ill-equipped and exhausted Germans.

The cover of this edition trumpets this as "the greatest war novel of all time." And so it is, but not in the way some people might think. This is the greatest war novel ever because Remarque's book is anti-war. Those that read "All Quiet on the Western Front" will see warfare stripped of its flag waving, parades, and John Wayne glory. War is death, with the glory going to the few who survive. Remarque makes a brilliant contribution to world literature with this riveting novel.

Rating:
Summary: Good novel
Review: This is a good novel about WWI. It is very introspective and so those looking for an action packed war novel need to look elsewhere. Required reading for high school students. But I am not sure it is the great novel everyone seems to think it is. Its main recommendation may be that it is the best anti-war novel to come from the WWI writer collection. That in itself may be the saddest thing of all as it was very definitely the lost generation for the Germans and French as well as the British. In some ways its limitations serve as a reminder of what that generation of writers might have accomplished if so many had not been killed in the war.

Rating:
Summary: All is quiet on the western front because im sleeping
Review: This is a great book, the author uses the english language to cast a grim view of war and what it is like to be a soldier.the authors only problem with the book is that certain parts go on and on and they seem very vague. he also is not telling a story at most parts of the book but is constantly reflecting on everything, and this book has no action at all and is very boaring in that spectrum.also it is horrificly gorey and its like jumping into a cold bathtub.the contrast betweeen my life is so large it is pathetic and it really makes me happy that im not living in a place that is in wartime. The main character Paul is a really captivating character in his authenticity. he is very realistic and combined with the authors style of writing i found myself captivated reading this book all in one day. too bad at some parts it was going by like goo and slowling dripping by in its boaringness

Rating:
Summary: Of Tainted Hope and Glory: part five
Review: As Paul lives out his existence in the war that he has helped make for himself, he falls, perhaps willingly, into a pit of hellish insanity that has resulted from a loss of friends, innocence, and optimism. Because he is no longer living in a world that functions based on structure, logic, and intelligence, he becomes a drone; a machine that must relentlessly destroy, without a sense of doubt, regret, or morality. And so begins the final account of Paul’s disillusionment…
It is implied that Paul has possibly never explored the whole of his country, and that his life once existed solely around his home, community, and homeland. Since the war is being fought to claim places he has never even seen, Paul begins to observe less relevance in his own participation. Certainly he has no quarrel over land. As Kat, one of Paul’s close friends (and also his last) so aptly describes, “All of us are simple folk…why would a French blacksmith or a French shoemaker want to attack us? It is merely the rulers. [The French soldiers] weren’t asked about it any more than we were” (205). In many ways, Paul never questioned or was questioned about his involvement. He simply believed he was defending his homeland. Would he have felt the same way if he had known his country was being operated by ravenous corporate dictators, concerned only with their own prosperity and unmoved by its populations suffering? Paul’s misapprehension is that he is defending a noble and dignified homeland against a rival group of thieves whose purpose is to raid his land and steal all that he loves. His reality is that he is the thief; he is the one trying to rob land from those who love their country as much as he loves his. Paul’s is everything that he has been trained to hate, and to fear, and to destroy. This is his disillusionment.
Throughout Paul’s journey into the unknown, it seems he always describes his present as if he is constantly thinking of his future. But does Paul truly believe he has a tangible opportunity in life after the war? He alleges how his “Knowledge of life is limited to death”, and then asks, “What will happen afterwards? And what shall become of [my generation]” (264). Paul comes to accept that his future is just as bleak as the lifeless wasteland he inhabits. At a time when he should be living his own existence, he survives in the shadow of the war. Surrounded by hate, and exiled from bliss or even contentment, the simple joys Paul could once have are but distant memories. He does not understand his life or meaning, so he can only look on to his death, wherein he has no significance. The First World War was never “won”. Instead, it simply “collapsed”. Similarly, Paul did not emerge from the war; his life was fought for and lost on the battlefield. And yet at last, after having endured the horrors of his reality for so long, Paul was finally fulfilled--his life, of which he had no will to continue, was lost, and Paul, the soldier of glory, the iron youth of his generation, was at peace. But what keeps Paul alive for so long? What stops him from jumping off the ledge into an ocean of delirium and despair? Other than his strength and courage, Paul lives under the illusion that he will be remembered as a hero even if he does not feel he is one. That his efforts were not in vein, and that he is benefiting humanity be fighting is Paul’s incentive, but not his reality, as Paul is perfectly aware. He admits, “Men will not understand us…the war will be forgotten…the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin” (294), symbolizing Paul’s worthlessness not only to himself, but also to the future of humanity. Perhaps no war is justified, but many are necessary, fought so that hopefully the future maintains peace. Paul’s war is fought over trivial ideals, a result of the abuse of supreme control. Acton, an esteemed Victorian lord and historical thinker, once said, “absolute power corrupts absolutely”, and indeed, in the case of Paul’s government, this is especially true. Its greed has destroyed Paul’s life, and ended his future. Paul’s dream is that someday, he will be worth something to humanity. But he misunderstands, and his efforts will eventually be forgotten. Paul’s only value is to himself, and even that importance eventually fades. This is his disillusionment.