All Quiet on the Western Front
By Erich Maria Remarque & Arthur Wesley Wheen
- Release Date: 1981-10-12
- Genre: Fiction & Literature
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.
Reviews
A true anti-war story
3By kcin88The English is a bit rough at times, but All Quiet on the Western Front is a true anti-war story. WW1, or any war for the matter, is such a waste of life.The ending was so sad
5By jumpingandpopping1228Best war novel everBest anti-war book ever.
5By archilnyGreat read.One of the Best
5By CamCoop88Amazing bookAll Quiet on the Western Front...
5By Haro BrothersBeautifulAlways Relevant
5By Sibill35All Quiet on the Western Front is an assault on the mind as it vividly describes the young men caught up in a senseless maelstrom of filth and carnage. There is no glory in war. Anyone who thinks there is has not read this story of the appalling conditions and relentless erosion of the human spirit that results. I cried at the conclusion because there could be no other path to peace for Paul Baumer. Though fiction, the characters are incredibly real and human. This is a masterful work and a must read for all.Amazing One-Liners
5By Cameron 🍌Quotable and memorable.It's boring
1By Urgirltswizzle2/10 would not read again (whip that rhymed)The book
5By HnfxDoes this have audio?For any student of any war
5By Chiricano 2001This is a "must read". We know the axiom "War is hell." But this journey takes us into that real world. I used to wonder why my dad never spoke of WWII or my brother of Viet Nam. This gives me a good idea, especially of the mental cost paid by those who serve. My heart breaks for our vets and their families who suffer right now, today.War stinks
5By FsmilesBook is good for every soldier to read before he enlists . War is not good. The little people pay for the ambitions of the big. Technology has made fighting to the death a very crazy thing. We need to figure how to resolve problems without violence. The only question book doesn't solve is what about a war against evil. How does one define evil? That is the question, a war against evil would be a good war. Like to save Kurds from getting gassed . Or the war against people who made gas chambers. Then the question is who pays the cost to. Fight evil? Sudam Hussien of Iraq was evil but was it worth a trillion dollars to stop him and what replace him? So conclusion is war is a tough job, don't start it unless you have a good reason!,,A must-read at the centennial of The Great War.
5By SavageVervetI never read this as a young adult, and in a way, I'm glad I didn't. There are things in here that require maturity and life experience to put into perspective. War is no video game. It is awful, ugly, bloody and painful, especially for the front line soldiers who have no control over anything except their commitment to following orders. I'm not someone who thinks all war is pointless, or that there is never a time when war is justified and necessary. However, anyone who would support a war in a given situation should consider the horrors that await, and this book lays them bare in unequivocal terms. G.J. Meyer's anti-American screed at the end contributed absolutely NOTHING to the eBook, so if you're someone who has never read "All Quiet" before, save yourself some time and skip the last 12 pages. Meyer, whomever he is, is no Erich Maria Remarque, and using the tail-end of one of history's finest novels of wartime as a platform to hurl thinly-veiled "blame America first" and "I hate BUSHITLER" epithets does a disservice to Remarque's great work.Awesome
5By M1K3 4D4M5I really enjoyed reading this book. I am not big on reading but this kept my interest. The story is very well told.Too Shocked To Cry
5By BryguysuzWARNING SPOILERS As Paul had said in the book you cannot think about these things then they become uncontrollable (I paraphrased there). I could not imagine what the author was thinking while writing this book after spending 6 months at war. It is already hard enough to comprehend the horrors of war told in this book.This book may require a second reading especially for younger people to fully understand it. After reading this after reading about all of Paul's friends die and then eventually himself I was unable to and I am unable to put into words how I felt. At that point the tragedies throughout the story were all amplified. Everything that the young men had went through had been for nothing. Paul's had been utterly destroyed by the war he even felt a calmness when he was dying because he could not bear what had happened. The ending was sadder than Where The Red Fern Grows and Old Yeller but I wasn't sad. The events were just too much. Someday though I will revisit this book when I am able to fully comprehend it.
