All Quiet on the Western Front
A Novel
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4.9 • 27 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The masterpiece of the German experience during World War I, considered by many the greatest war novel of all time—with an Oscar–winning film adaptation now streaming on Netflix.
“[Erich Maria Remarque] is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank.”—The New York Times Book Review
I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. . . .
This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.
Through years of vivid 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 . . . if only he can come out of the war alive.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Erich Maria Remarque’s classic 1929 novel is a powerful, heartfelt cry against the madness of armed conflict. World War I has broken out, and 20-year-old German student Paul Bäumer joins the army to fight for his homeland. But Paul’s romantic notions of military life are quickly shattered by the ugly realities of the battlefield. We were struck by Remarque’s arresting depictions of hunger, fatigue, and brutality, as young Paul sees his friends callously butchered. And no matter how hard Paul and his comrades fight, they never seem to gain much ground—emphasizing the tragic futility of their suffering. Nearly a century after it was published, All Quiet on the Western Front remains a painfully relevant study of the steep toll war takes on those who fight.
Customer Reviews
Melancholy, vivid, important read
It’s been since high school (a long time) that I read this book. It was one of the things I wanted to do during Covid lockdowns. It was time well spent. The relationships rendered demonstrate the lifeline for a soldier, not unlike perhaps for some during Covid when we need others so badly. The novel is timeless and could have been presented from most any army’s perspective. I doubt Ukraine would feel much different today.