All Quiet On The Western Front
(ERIQUE MARIA REMARQUE)
A searing first-person account of the First World War, All
Quiet on the Western Front describes one German soldier''s experiences and
the fate of the school companions who joined up with him. There is no belaboring
of the horrors of war, just a simple and understated narrative. In the opening
scene, for example, everyone is happy because they''ve been relieved from the
front and there''s plenty of food ? and it is several paragraphs before we
discover the reason there''s no shortage of food: only eighty out of one hundred
and fifty men have come back...
We follow soldiers scavenging for food, defying petty authority, and on an
amorous excursion ? as well as facing artillery barrages, enduring the screams
of wounded men and horses, and lost in no-man''s-land. Episodes of joy and
happiness and intervals of relaxation are combined with periods of numb
endurance and sudden outbreaks of violence. There is the occasional lyrical
passage or philosophical rumination, but Remarque''s approach is mostly
straightforward.
Though only one political discussion among the soldiers is described, a
broader perspective is present throughout All Quiet on the Western Front.
Patriotism and nationalism are attacked through the figure of the bombastic
schoolmaster who encouraged the narrator and his friends to join up, who cuts a
sorry figure when drafted himself. When the narrator is on leave he remains
totally disconnected from civilian life, having gone straight from school to
the trenches without a chance to establish ties. And there are ruminations on
the broader effects of the war, perhaps marked by hindsight:
Had we returned home in 1916, out of the suffering and the
strength of our experiences we might have unleashed a storm. Now if we go back
we will be weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope. We will not be
able to find our way any more.
But while All Quiet on the Western Front may help
us understand the effects of the Great War on Germany, it is as an account of trench
warfare and a simple story of human endurance in extremity that it really
shines. It is understandably one of the most famous of war novels.
Resumos Relacionados
- All Quiet On The Western Front
- All Quiet On The Western Front
- All Quiet On The Western Front
- Man Made Hell
- Book Review: All Quiet On The Western Front
|
|
