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All Quiet on the Western Front

Erich Maria Remarque

Start date: October 1, 2022

Finish date: October 31, 2022

Why we're reading this: October 2022 Revisit the Shelf

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September 2015 New School Group Read
July 2018 Revisit the …more
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October 2022 Revisit the Shelf

Prior Group Reads
September 2015 New School Group Read
July 2018 Revisit the Shelf
October 2022 Revisit the Shelf

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What Members Thought

Oct 18, 2022 RJ - Slayer of Trolls rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-read, guardian-1000-read

We have so much to say, and we shall never say it.

The story of young men, sacrificing their innocence for misguided patriotism and misplaced trust, reverting at times to animalistic survival instincts, finding life and joy in the brotherhood with their fellow soldiers only to find grief and despair as their comrades are inevitably lost, staring into the eyes of a dying enemy only to recognize themselves, and going home only to find themselves lost and apart from everything and everyone they ...more

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Mar 03, 2008 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, fiction, read-2024, historical-fiction, german-literature, hf-world-war-i

This 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.

A re-read after a few decades since I first read this remarkable book. ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2015 Michele added it

It's hard to rate a book like this when the stars translate into levels of "like." I did not "like" this book at all (I read it unwillingly, as a school assignment, in seventh or eighth grade). In fact I hated it. But I hated it because it was so damn well written and brought the horrors or warfare brilliantly to life. I'd give it zero stars for "like" but probably four or five for quality and power. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2023 Maggie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: guardian-1000, classics, war, european, fiction, boxall-1001, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Set in World War I, the narrator is Paul Baumann, a young German soldier who, together with his classmates, enlisted in the war. When the novel starts, he is already disillusioned by war, but he keeps his emotions hidden deep within himself, making it a point never to probe them, and focusing only on superficialities and comradeship, for he fears being overwhelmed by his emotions. His fears come true when he is sent on break. At home, he discovers how different he has become from his young self, Set in World War I, the narrator is Paul Baumann, a young German soldier who, together with his classmates, enlisted in the war. When the novel starts, he is already disillusioned by war, but he keeps his emotions hidden deep within himself, making it a point never to probe them, and focusing only on superficialities and comradeship, for he fears being overwhelmed by his emotions. His fears come true when he is sent on break. At home, he discovers how different he has become from his young self, and from the people around him. His mother, the only one who understands that he does not want to talk about war, is dying of cancer. He then goes to a training camp where he sees Russian prisoners-of-war, and reflects on how peasants and common men are made enemies of each other by political leaders. When he returns to the battlefield, he is no longer the same soldier he was. He fears death more, and his fears slow down his reflexes and weaken his judgments. It is only his camaraderie with his comrades that keeps him going. He gets a wound, is hospitalised, and sees illness and death before returning to the frontline again. He eventually dies, after most of his comrades are already dead.

This is a book that could only have been written by someone who had fought in the war. Remarque wrote this book 10 years after WWI. A few years later, the Nazi regime burned his book. He refused to fight in WWII, escaping to Switzerland instead. The inner turmoil and trauma that Baumann experiences are clearly ones that Remarque himself experienced. The emotions are complex. How do you explain that reuniting with loved ones can be sad and distressing, that the veneer of superficiality is necessary to keep one alive, that the breaths of comrades can be as soothing as a mother's voice? These are things that cannot be imagined by one who has never experienced them. Remarque does an excellent job describing them and making them come alive for all the rest of us to understand the emotional damage that the German soldiers underwent. Several times, Baumann reflects that even if he were to survive the war, he would not know how to live in a civilian society, for all he knows is war. That Remarque could survive the war, return to writing, and put these experiences down in words that are so raw and captivating is extraordinary. ...more

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Aug 29, 2009 Melissa rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, history

The changes in diction are pretty startling. Maybe this would be different if read in the original language. Remarque seems to go from fairly earthy soldier-speak to using "Thy" and "Thee".

It was a perspective I'd never had on World War I. I liked reading from a German soldier's perspective, I've only read British, American or Canadian perspectives before.

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