Widely acclaimed as the greatest war novel of all time, this classic tale of a young German soldier's harrowing experiences in the trenches of World War I is the basis for an Academy Award-winning film. With an introduction by bestselling author Sebastian Faulks.
When twenty-year-old Paul Bäumer and his classmates enlist in the German army during World War I, they are full of youthful enthusiam. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught to believe in shatters under the first brutal bombardment in the trenches. Through the ensuing years of horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another.
Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel not only portrays in vivid detail the combatants' physical and mental trauma, but dramatizes as well the tragic detachment from civilian life felt by many upon returning home. Remarque's stated intention--"to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war"--remains as powerful and relevant as ever, a century after that conflict's end.
The most unapologetically raunchy thing I have ever read. And I LOVE it.
"The 2022 Netflix film adaptation? It only really did a good job with the scenes of battle and deviated heavily off of the book, pretty well going in its own path, with a more ""black and white"" perspective for Paul's experience. It's not a *bad* film, but it's too one-sided with its 'show, don't tell' rule, and although that works in most cases, throwing away all of the more casual (yet, equally important for character insight moments) in the book for the sake of compacting it to fit only the meager average length of a film. The 1930 film adaptation? That was a little more faithful. It retained the core factors and events of the book, yet still had to leave out parts due to, yet again, keeping the film's length concise. It does a good job if you want a quick summary of what could be read, yet simply just LACKS because of that. The book itself? YES! YES! THAT is something I am personally looking for. A book with both intense and subtle moments without making it feel like a bloated mess at all. Since it's a book that doesn't follow the rules of film, Remarque goes hog wild with the descriptions of people, events, places and concepts, both literary and corporeal. Nothing takes up too much space in the book with its presence because of Remarque's ability to sum things up fantastically without the need to leave aspects out. Even needing to describe the events of the death of a man has its contents danced around like poetry, but briefly. It's like cooking something to what is just a baked potato to the right degree, and dressed with all of the tastiest seasonings out there--it's so simple, yet ingenuitive. And that happens to be the main magic of the book. That is, in the sense to be reminded that in war, conditions are ever-changing. As Sun Tzû said in 'The Art of War,' ""Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows. The soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. "" It doesn't matter how solid of a foundation you wish to build while you are at war, it will not stand due to the ground (factors) is as something that is ever-changing. People die, beliefs die and new ones take their places, things get smashed and new things get built up. The only thing from this that Remarque followed to a consistent degree as he wrote this book was its continued importance. In the majority of novels, authors kill off characters all the time, but it mostly seems that there is a frequent wish to keep them around and have something built as if their death was scheduled. There's frequently a goal/quota that needs to be met with a character before the author can do that, like getting with a love interest, overcoming a problem or villain, etc. to really flesh out the character before the author finishes having their fun with them. This book doesn't do that at all. There isn't a set time for a character to be alive specifically to be there. There is no plot-armour to KEEP a character alive for no reason other than to push a plastic narrative. Just know that if a character lived in the book for a longer while than usual, count them very lucky. To not spoil anything, I'll give a rough idea. Remarque doesn't shy away from including character development and de-development, but he had no problem with shutting them right down, even if there were still goals a character wished to accomplish. He conveys that although there can be magic within the soldier, The Great War was far from a romantic stage play where characters could say what they needed to say, do what they needed to do. They're cogs in the machine that swaps its parts frequently, not having a care about which one individual's desires are. -->Almost<-- every man wished to go home, away from the war. But fate did not care. Their wishes were responded with shovels, dirt, and graves--clearing up more space for new recruits to have to same thing happen to them. And thus, I will conclude with a fair warning to the average reader: If you purchase this book, open it up and start reading, I hope to GOD you're not too comfortable with expecting the softened Hollywood experience that has been mis-portraying warfare for many years, because you aren't going to get that. This book will, in a figurative matter, have a boot shoot out from its pages and kick your face in with the force of a mule every chance it gets. Enjoy the little things this novel gives to you while they last, but don't get used to many of them. Before you know it, you're onto the next thing."
