All Quiet on the Western Front (original 1929; edition 1996)

A classic that tells the tale of the truth of World War I from a front-line soldier's perspective. It is riveting and enticing. I wish that the beginning was more condensed and the ending more detailed. ( )

One of the most important books I ever read. It has a simple and true language and gives you a true impression of the horror of war. ( )

Eines der besten und wichtigsten Bücher, die ich je gelesen habe.
Was mich daran am meisten beeindruckt hat, ist die Schlichtheit und die klare Sprache. Dieses Buch hat mich sehr berührt.

( )

I'm really glad I read it, and would recommend it highly, with the caveat that it's not a feel-good book.

But, I think it's an important book and there's a quiet desperateness about it that really struck me. What was most interesting to me is that there were times that I couldn't remember which side the main character was on; I think it really brought home the idea - on a pretty gut level way - that it's not pleasant for anyone and that many solider experienced the same thing during World War I. ( )

In Austria, this is the typical reading in grammar/high school. I bought the book back then, but finally took the group reading as an opportunity to cross it off my list.

First-person narrator Paul Bäumer, 19 years old, and his school mates are called up into the army, because they have to fight in World War I. Pauls describes every face of war: its cruelty and terror, its absurdity and futility, and finally its effects on every single soldier in the form of death, desperation, madness, or solidarity with comrades. The few lighter and sometimes even funny moments Paul describes make the darkness of war and fight even darker and more gruesome.

Paul and his comrades don’t only represent the German side of World War I, but the situation of every single soldier who ever had to fight. They make an ending to every kind of glorification of war heroes and charge the governments for their crimes.

Marginal note: If you read Im Westen nichts Neues you might even be able to find the seed for what will happen 20 years later. The destroyed generation of 1918 will be the parent generation in 1938…

***

Remarque is a fantastic writer and some parts of his novel are very poetic – despite the described cruelty. There were lines that could stand alone as poems. Im Westen nichts Neues is a very touching book and I think that it’s totally justified that this one is on the 1001-list. It’s one of the rare books everybody should read once in his lifetime. ( )