All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque
personal copy, paperback 175 pages
genre: historical war fiction
published: 1929

This book sat on my "should read" shelf for a long, long time. I wanted a quick fiction read since I've got a lot of non-fiction on my reading shelf right now. Wow.

This book was intriguing and made me do some searching right away. Set during WWI, I was a bit confused about its origins. I'll just grab info from Wikipedia:

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit. 'In the West Nothing New') is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.
The novel was first published in November and December 1928 in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung and in book form in late January 1929. The book and its sequel, The Road Back (1930), were among the books banned and burned in Nazi Germany. All Quiet on the Western Front sold 2.5 million copies in 22 languages in its first 18 months in print.^[1]


Translated into many different languages and universal with its raw human emotion, I see why it's referred to as "the classic war novel of all time." It is horrible and amazing. I wonder what modern day soldiers think of it (or if they even read it). How interesting that it was banned and burned in Nazi Germany. I may need to read more about him . . . the little I already saw fascinates me. He left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s, remarried his ex-wife so she wouldn't have to return to Germany, went to America and became a naturalized citizen, and didn't find out that his sister was tried and decapitated for "unpatriotism" until after WWII was over. Whew!

Back to the book. I found it very readable and horrible (as war is). I only marked three places, but could definitely see re-reading it!

Page 100 - when he is home on leave and his mother wants to hear about his experiences, he simply cannot relate to any civilian about the reality of war.

"Was it very bad out there, Paul?"
Mother, what should I answer to that! You would not understand, and never realize it. And you never should realize it. Was it bad, you ask. - You, Mother, - I shake my head and say: "No, Mother, not so very. There are always a lot of us together so it isn't so bad."

This is in such direct conflict with what he has just left. The reality of pain, fear, hunger, death . . . but he simply cannot explain it and does not want her to have to understand it.

Page 104 - While in the midst of conflict, the men often dreamed of their "other" life and its pleasures. But on leave, Paul is continually brought up short. He even misses his comrades.

I imagined leave would be different from this. Indeed, it was different a year ago. It is I of course that have changed in the interval. There lies a gulf between that time and to-day."

Page 154 - the only part of the book that made me laugh out loud!

When they are laying in the hospital ward, recovering, and Paul throws a bottle at the praying nuns who are keeping the soldiers from sleeping, a different man takes responsibility for the action. Later, he explains that he has a "shooting license."

"I got a crack in the head and they presented me with a certificate to say that I was periodically not responsible for my actions. Ever since then I've had a grand time. No ones dares to annoy me. And nobody does anything to me. I reported myself because the shot amused me. If they open the door again to-morrow we will pitch another."

This little bit of humor helped lighten a very heavy, but worthwhile book about the horrors of war.

One last thing I'd like to know - who did the translation to English and did Remarque agree with it? I may need to get a book about him and his life . . . after I finish all the other non-fiction I've got!