All Quiet on the Western Front

I never suspected that when I began reading All Quiet for my 10th grade History class, it would completely revolutionize my perspective on war. This novel flawlessly captures the confusion, bitterness, futility, and hopeless loss of human life on the battlefield. At the same time Remarque eliminates the false perception that war is glorious and honorable. The way in which the author accomplishes this is, in my opinion, without a single flaw. Written through the narrative of a young German soldier, Paul Baumer, this book succeeds in revealing an entirely new perspective to the reader. To an American reader, Baumer is "the enemy" since he is a German soldier in WWI. But through the expression of Baumer's thoughts and emotions, one quickly realizes the harsh commonality between soldiers of both sides, and the inevitable futility of war, with scores of men dying for a few inches of dirt. The images are intense and painful- choking in poison gas, trembling with fear of being shelled, and the eternal loss of faith in life itself once one has been forced to kill and be killed namelessly, facelessly, and heartlessly. The impact it has on the reader is beyond words- one has to read this book to understand the reasons why war is not all what we have been led to believe. I have never been a fan of war novels, but this book goes beyond being just another war novel. Besides offering a revolutionary new perspective on the grim truth about war, it taught me much about the sanctity of saftey, peace, freedom, and life. Although I could never truly feel what soldiers undergo physically and emotionally in war, this book is as close as one can get. All Quiet on the Western Front is a truly phenomenal novel, and I feel that everyone should read this book. It will change the way you think.

I am often disappointed when I return to a novel that I read and admired in my youth--but when I recently finished re-reading ALL QUITE ON THE WESTERN FRONT I found myself as moved and impressed I was some twenty years ago when I first encountered it. If ever there was "the great war novel of the 20th century," this is it, and I do not use that description lightly.

The novel is flawless. Told from the point of view of a young solider named Paul, ALL QUIET presents the story of German youths who enlist during World War I under the influence of a professor, who assures them that their service will make a vital difference to the cause and bring them honor and glory. Once inside the military machine, however, they endure training that consists largely of attention to petty detail and abuse of authority before being fed into the hell of the war's infamous trench warfare--in which thousands die pointlessly as they take, lose, and re-take the same few yards of land over and over again.

Remarque's style here is remarkable, for he keeps his prose simple and direct and easy to read without allowing it to become commonplace. Great horrors are presented casually, for they are the stuff of every day life; at the same time, the occasional moment of beauty--be it the blue sky on a clear day, the solace of friendship, or the satisfaction of enough to eat--stand out in high relief against the hell of battle. And as the novel progresses and the characters change, harden, and sometimes warp and break under the stress of battle, we find ourselves repeatedly confronted with both the nobility and tragedy of the ordinary man at war.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT still speaks in ringing tones, and it will not doubt continue to do so as long as war itself continues. Not just strongly recommended; it is required reading for all those who call themselves human.

I was supposed to read this novel around 25 years ago, for a high school English class, and decided to skip it and just read the back cover and take notes in class. Turns out the joke was on me. I finally got around to reading this classic book, and let's just say that it's all the good things you've heard about and will read about below. The story is told simply but powerfully. One memorable scene follows another, and the battle scenes are particularly strong and at times even overpowering. But somehow the strongest scenes describe our protagonist--Paul's--thoughts when he realizes, during quieter moments, such as when on leave, that the war has changed him and made him no longer able to fit into society. And the scene where Paul shares a shellhole with a dying French soldier, and contemplates on the brotherhood of man, and on our universal commonality, and of the utter uselessness of war, is so memorable that...well, if you don't get a lump in your throat while reading this scene, you're better than me! Me recommending this book to you is like someone saying "Citizen Kane" is a good movie or that the Beatles were a swell group. Let's just say that if you deprive yourself of this emotionally moving reading experience, as I did for so many years, you'll really be missing out. 'Nuff said.

All Quiet on the Western Front, by German writer Eriq Maria Remarque, explores the horrors of World War I through the eyes of a German solider named Paul. Remarque transforms this tale of a young recruit who is thrown head first into a raging war into a lesson about life. Remarque attempts to teach the reader to understand the horror of war, the value of friendship and the absurdity of traditional values.

Remarque includes discussions among Paul's group, and Paul's own thoughts while he observes Russian prisoners of war to show that no ordinary people benefit from a war. No matter what side a man is on, he is killing other men just like himself, people with whom he might even be friends at another time. But Remarque doesn't just tell us war is horrible: he vividly supports his point by assaulting all of the reader's senses. Remarque uses the sight of newly dead soldiers, unearthly screaming of the wounded horses, the smell of three layers of bodies to hammer home the atrocity of war. The crying of the horses is especially terrible. Horses are innocent bystanders, their bodies shining beautifully before being cut down by shellfire. To Paul, their dying cries represent all of nature accusing Man, the great destroyer.

Another message that Remarque attempts to convey to the reader is the value of enduring friendship. The theme of comradeship occurs often and gives the novel both lighthearted and sad moments. Away from battle, the soldiers formed deep bonds, showing not only the importance, but also the strength of the camaraderie between the men. Friendship emerges as an even more important theme at the front. Throughout the book, the reader sees men helping wounded comrades at great personal risk, often with tragic results. The reader can understand how hearing the voices of friends when one is lost or even just hearing their breathing during the night can keep a soldier going. The reader grieves with Paul and almost puts down the book when his dearest friend dies. Friendship was often the last thing keeping a soldier from giving up, and, when it was lost, life seemed to lose its meaning.

Remarque also preaches a rejection of traditional values. In his introductory note, Remarque said that his novel was "not an accusation". Rather, it is a rejection of traditional militaristic values of Western civilization. This denunciation is impressed on the reader through the young soldiers. Represented by Paul and his friends, these soldiers see military attitudes as stupid and accuse their elders of betraying them. Often the spit and polish mind-sets of their superiors put the front-liners in danger. The betrayal by elders can be seen in many instances, including during the Kaiser's visit to the front. This scene hints at some of Remarque's personal grievances with his country's government.

Like All Quiet On The Western Front, most of Remarque's other books were written with the intent of censuring war. This book does an especially good job of this, relying on the wonderful prose of the author to brand its ideas into the reader's mind. It also impresses upon the reader the author's belief in the merit of friendship and the triviality of traditional values. In the end, this book serves its purpose well: it makes the reader wonder why we still tolerate and advocate the atrocity that is war.

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.