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袙芯薪懈 锌芯胁械褉薪褍谢懈褋褟 蟹 胁褨泄薪懈. 袙芯薪懈 胁懈卸懈谢懈. 袉 褌械锌械褉 褌褉械斜邪 卸懈褌懈 写邪谢褨. 袟胁懈褔邪泄薪懈泄 褋芯谢写邪褌 薪褨屑械褑褜泻芯褩 邪褉屑褨褩 袝褉薪褋褌 袘褨褉泻谐芯谢褜褑 褌邪 泄芯谐芯 褌芯胁邪褉懈褕褨 屑邪褞褌褜 蟹胁懈泻邪褌懈 写芯 屑懈褉薪芯谐芯 褋胁褨褌褍. 袩芯泻邪谢褨褔械薪褨 胁褨泄薪芯褞, 蟹 邪屑锌褍褌芯胁邪薪懈屑懈 泻褨薪褑褨胁泻邪屑懈 褌邪 写械褎芯褉屑芯胁邪薪懈屑懈 写褍褕邪屑懈, 胁芯薪懈 褉芯蟹褍屑褨褞褌褜: 褍褋械, 褖芯 斜褍谢芯 胁邪卸谢懈胁懈屑 泻芯谢懈褋褜, 胁褌褉邪褌懈谢芯 蟹薪邪褔械薪薪褟. 袩芯锌褉懈 褋褌褉邪褏, 斜械蟹薪邪写褨褞, 褋邪屑芯褌薪褨褋褌褜 泻芯谢懈褕薪褨 褋芯谢写邪褌懈 薪邪屑邪谐邪褞褌褜褋褟 褕褍泻邪褌懈 薪芯胁懈泄 褋械薪褋 卸懈褌褌褟. 袗谢械 薪械 胁 泻芯卸薪芯谐芯 斜褍写械 褕邪薪褋 锌芯褔邪褌懈 胁褋械 褋锌芯褔邪褌泻褍. 孝邪泻, 胁芯薪懈 锌芯胁械褉薪褍谢懈褋褟 蟹 胁褨泄薪懈. 孝邪 褔懈 蟹邪泻褨薪褔懈谢邪褋褟 胁芯薪邪 写谢褟 薪懈褏 芯褋褌邪褌芯褔薪芯?..
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1931
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About the author
Erich Maria Remarque
222听books5,791听followersErich Maria Remarque was a German novelist best known for All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), a landmark anti-war novel based on his experiences in World War I. The book became an international bestseller, defining a new genre of veterans鈥� literature and inspiring multiple film adaptations. Its strong anti-war themes led to condemnation by the Nazi regime, which banned and burned his works.
Born Erich Paul Remark in 1898, he adopted the surname Remarque to honor his French ancestry. He served on the Western Front during World War I, where he was wounded, and later pursued various jobs, including teaching, editing, and technical writing. After the massive success of All Quiet on the Western Front, he wrote several other novels addressing war and exile, such as The Road Back, Three Comrades, and Arch of Triumph. His outspoken opposition to the Nazi regime forced him into exile in Switzerland and later the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1947.
Remarque鈥檚 personal life included high-profile relationships with actresses Marlene Dietrich and Paulette Goddard, the latter of whom he married in 1958. In 1943, his youngest sister, Elfriede, was executed by the Nazis for anti-regime remarks, an event that deeply affected him. He spent his later years in Switzerland, where he continued writing. His final completed novel, The Night in Lisbon (1962), was another bestseller.
He died in 1970 at the age of 72, leaving behind a literary legacy that continues to shape discussions on war and its consequences.
AKA:
协褉懈褏 袦邪褉懈褟 袪械屑邪褉泻 (Russian)
Born Erich Paul Remark in 1898, he adopted the surname Remarque to honor his French ancestry. He served on the Western Front during World War I, where he was wounded, and later pursued various jobs, including teaching, editing, and technical writing. After the massive success of All Quiet on the Western Front, he wrote several other novels addressing war and exile, such as The Road Back, Three Comrades, and Arch of Triumph. His outspoken opposition to the Nazi regime forced him into exile in Switzerland and later the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1947.
Remarque鈥檚 personal life included high-profile relationships with actresses Marlene Dietrich and Paulette Goddard, the latter of whom he married in 1958. In 1943, his youngest sister, Elfriede, was executed by the Nazis for anti-regime remarks, an event that deeply affected him. He spent his later years in Switzerland, where he continued writing. His final completed novel, The Night in Lisbon (1962), was another bestseller.
He died in 1970 at the age of 72, leaving behind a literary legacy that continues to shape discussions on war and its consequences.
AKA:
协褉懈褏 袦邪褉懈褟 袪械屑邪褉泻 (Russian)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 608 reviews
September 26, 2024
The last combats and skirmishes鈥� Peace is nearing鈥� However death still keeps doing its dire work鈥� And the dread doesn鈥檛 let go.
The war is over and the road back home lies ahead鈥� For those who have managed to deceive death and survive.
The war is over but its echo is long and sorrowful: horrendous memories, nightmares, madness, nervous breakdowns, psychological traumas, suicides, alienation鈥�
The gory wave of war retreats and on the shore of peace crippled bodies, crippled minds, crippled souls and ruined fates are left鈥� And generals are already readying new wars鈥�
鈥淕as shells!鈥� shouts Willy, springing up.
We are all awake now and listening intently.
Wessling points into the air. 鈥淭here they are! Wild geese!鈥�
Moving darkly against the drab grey of the clouds is a streak, a wedge, its point steering toward the moon. It cuts across its red disc. The black shadows are plainly visible, an angle of many wings, a column of squalling, strange, wild cries, that loses itself in the distance.
鈥淥ff they go,鈥� growls Willy. 鈥淒amn it all 鈥� if only we could pull out like that! Two wings and away.鈥�
The war is over and the road back home lies ahead鈥� For those who have managed to deceive death and survive.
The wide, grey square is much too big for us. Across it sweeps a bleak November wind smelling of decay and death. We are lined up between the canteen and the guard-room, more space we do not require. The wide, empty square about us wakes woeful memories. There, rank on rank, invisible, stand the dead.
The war is over but its echo is long and sorrowful: horrendous memories, nightmares, madness, nervous breakdowns, psychological traumas, suicides, alienation鈥�
The things here are stronger 鈥� the things that differentiate us from one another are too powerful. The common interest is no longer decisive. It has broken up already, and given place to the interest of the individual. Now and then something still will shine through from that other time when we all wore the same rig, but already it is diminished and dim. These others here are still our comrades, and yet our comrades no longer 鈥� that is what is so sad. All else went west in the war, but comradeship we did believe, in; now only to find that what death could not do, life is achieving 鈥� it is driving us asunder.
The gory wave of war retreats and on the shore of peace crippled bodies, crippled minds, crippled souls and ruined fates are left鈥� And generals are already readying new wars鈥�
August 14, 2024
Lost souls
馃嚛馃嚜Home from the war to a nation that doesn鈥檛 care about the sacrifices, the crippling wounds, the war shock the veterans deal with (what we now call PTSD) ... sound familiar?
Remarque writes eloquently and with a powerful rawness about the end of WW1 and the life (or rather lack of life) he and other German soldiers returned to. Occasionally, he gets preachy in his anger at how veterans were mistreated and ignored by the Fatherland, but overall the book is a strong swift read full of beauty and pain ... characters from All Quiet, like Paul Baumer, are mentioned in it ...
馃嚛馃嚜 Once again, here is a Remarque tragedy sprinkled with shards of light and hope for humanity. Once again, here is a Remarque war novel that rails against the brutality and wickedness of war from cover to cover in moving prose and with a vigorous storyline - if only more people and nations were listening.
[since this book and All Quiet were anti war they were considered degenerate by the Nazi regime and were both banned and burned 馃敟]
馃嚛馃嚜Home from the war to a nation that doesn鈥檛 care about the sacrifices, the crippling wounds, the war shock the veterans deal with (what we now call PTSD) ... sound familiar?
Remarque writes eloquently and with a powerful rawness about the end of WW1 and the life (or rather lack of life) he and other German soldiers returned to. Occasionally, he gets preachy in his anger at how veterans were mistreated and ignored by the Fatherland, but overall the book is a strong swift read full of beauty and pain ... characters from All Quiet, like Paul Baumer, are mentioned in it ...
馃嚛馃嚜 Once again, here is a Remarque tragedy sprinkled with shards of light and hope for humanity. Once again, here is a Remarque war novel that rails against the brutality and wickedness of war from cover to cover in moving prose and with a vigorous storyline - if only more people and nations were listening.
[since this book and All Quiet were anti war they were considered degenerate by the Nazi regime and were both banned and burned 馃敟]
March 12, 2023
I recently saw the new film version of All Quiet on the Western Front. I personally thought it a disappointing adaptation of the novel, but it did get me interested in reading this book, which is described as a follow-up. I first read AQotWF when I was a teenager and it made a vivid impression on me. There鈥檚 some text below I have marked as spoilers, but they are spoilers for AQotWF rather than for this novel. You can uncover the spoilers if you have already read AQotWF.
The novel opens in the last few days of the Great War, and then follows the group of soldiers as they march home, try to pick up their former lives, and reintegrate back into peacetime society. One of the most memorable sections of AQotWF was when Paul went on leave but struggled to relate to the people on the Home Front, and that鈥檚 very much the theme of this book. The soldiers have all been indelibly marked by their wartime experiences, which set them apart from others.
鈥淎n unbridgeable gulf has opened up between soldiers and those who were not soldiers.鈥�
The ex-soldiers tend to hang around with each other, but even then the close comradeship of frontline soldiers is disrupted by the return of peace. The men return to a Germany in political and economic chaos. Some become involved with the black market and become wealthy whilst others live in dire poverty. They also have to deal with the political divisions of the time.
鈥淵es, it was all so much easier at the front; just as long as you managed to stay alive, everything was all right.鈥�
For the first half of this book I thought it was heading for a five-star rating. I found the second half slightly less effective. Towards the end I thought some passages were a little overcooked. This was particularly true of a courtroom scene involving one of Ernst鈥檚 former comrades.
EMR convincingly conveys the alienation felt by war veterans returning home. Taken as a whole, another very impressive novel.
The novel opens in the last few days of the Great War, and then follows the group of soldiers as they march home, try to pick up their former lives, and reintegrate back into peacetime society. One of the most memorable sections of AQotWF was when Paul went on leave but struggled to relate to the people on the Home Front, and that鈥檚 very much the theme of this book. The soldiers have all been indelibly marked by their wartime experiences, which set them apart from others.
鈥淎n unbridgeable gulf has opened up between soldiers and those who were not soldiers.鈥�
The ex-soldiers tend to hang around with each other, but even then the close comradeship of frontline soldiers is disrupted by the return of peace. The men return to a Germany in political and economic chaos. Some become involved with the black market and become wealthy whilst others live in dire poverty. They also have to deal with the political divisions of the time.
鈥淵es, it was all so much easier at the front; just as long as you managed to stay alive, everything was all right.鈥�
For the first half of this book I thought it was heading for a five-star rating. I found the second half slightly less effective. Towards the end I thought some passages were a little overcooked. This was particularly true of a courtroom scene involving one of Ernst鈥檚 former comrades.
EMR convincingly conveys the alienation felt by war veterans returning home. Taken as a whole, another very impressive novel.
August 25, 2018
Of all the prose writers I have yet read, none can surpass Remarque. No writer I have encountered understands the human condition as deeply as he does. For Remarque's characters, life is a symbiosis; death and loss on the one hand, camaraderie and one's ability to enmesh oneself in the wonder of nature, with all its hopeful, healing potential, on the other.
A fitting yet unique follow up to its notorious predecessor, this novel is a scathing indictment of war and the betrayal of not just a generation or a single nation, but a snapshot into the brutalisation of an entire world - its people, its ecology. Ultimately though, it is an authentic tale of survival and a magnificent testament to human fragility, friendship and endurance.
A fitting yet unique follow up to its notorious predecessor, this novel is a scathing indictment of war and the betrayal of not just a generation or a single nation, but a snapshot into the brutalisation of an entire world - its people, its ecology. Ultimately though, it is an authentic tale of survival and a magnificent testament to human fragility, friendship and endurance.
April 24, 2020
WW1 has come to an end. German soldiers, young and less young, go back home and resume their former lives... supposedly.
1. THE STORY :
=> A neverending demobilization :
Back in Germany, it dawns on the soldiers that their relatives have carried on with their lives during the war, and aditionally, that they have done admirably without them. Those hoping for a warm welcome, help and support, or some token of gratefulness only meet with torpid indifference.
As a whole, the civilians can't care less about the horrors witnessed and performed by those enlisted. The soldiers' families put up with them, as long as they do not tell them about the last 4 years in the frontline. Germany craves nothing but forgetting a strenuous and thankless conflict. On the one hand, the heroes do not recognize their hometowns, one the other hand, their inhabitants do not recognize them.
=> Poverty and haggling :
Come peace, soldiers have to get used to bargaining again in poverty-ridden Germany. They get used to bartering their medals, pilfer food in the countryside. As life goes on, the fellows realize the mockery of the ideals and objectives they fought for. What with Kaiser Wilhelm's fleeing overseas, the newfangled German Republic, the ambiant logocracy...
- The Way Back - Erich Maria Remarque (transl.)
2. THE STRENGTHS
=> In this sequel to , it is striking to meet not that many characters from the prequel... You cannot help noticing how many of them are missing from the scenery, because they have never made it past the trenches.
=> The wide range of characters displayed by Remarque allows him to sketch several possible paths for soldiers surviving war :
- The hospital for severely burned or gassed patients,
- Venereal diseases caught in the brothel,
- Suicide,
- The mental institution,
- Familial ties frayed : adultery, new marriage, parents unable to recognize their child within the soldier, and the soldier within the child,
- Denial of the past war,
- Commitment with political parties, trade unions, and other forms of associations not to face the ever-increasing solitude of the survivors,
- Reenlistment.
=> The same as in , the hero-narrator stands out because of the almost naturalistic attention he bears to nature, to the here and now. Present time, fleeting instants conveyed by unadorned, limpid writing. Ultimately, this is the resource in which the narrator finds a manner of personal salvation of sorts and the former soldier, some semblance of peace.
Fond musical :
Symphonie triste - Jean Sibelius
----------
La premi猫re guerre mondiale est termin茅e. Des soldats allemands, jeunes ou moins jeunes, regagnent le pays et, pensent-ils, leur vie d'avant.
1. LE SUJET :
=> Une d茅mobilisation qui n'en finit pas :
脌 leur retour, les soldats r茅alisent pleinement que leurs connaissances ont continu茅 leur vie et que, pour la plupart d'entre eux, les civils se sont bien accommod茅s de leur absence. Ceux qui esp茅raient un accueil, une forme de reconnaissance, une entraide et un soutien se heurtent 脿 une indiff茅rence h茅b茅t茅e. Les civils pr茅tendent passer sous silence les abominations dont les soldats ont 茅t茅 t茅moins ou acteurs. Le retour 脿 la vie civile est 茅prouvant. Tr猫s peu esp猫rent se faire comprendre de ceux qui n'ont pas tutoy茅 la mort dans les tranch茅es. On est pr锚t 脿 les souffrir, aussi longtemps qu'ils passent sous silence leurs doutes et leurs horreurs et qu'ils barrent d'un trait quatre ann茅es d'une vie pour eux innommable. Dans une Allemagne qui a soif d'oubli, les soldats se sentent vite de trop. Portant l'habit militaire, encore pleins de leurs habitudes prises au front, ils ne reconnaissent pas leur village et n'en sont pas reconnus.
=> Mis猫re et marchandages :
Avec la paix, les soldats red茅couvrent les mille n茅gociations et trafics de la vie civile. Dans la mis猫re de l'Allemagne vaincue, on revend des m茅dailles, on se lance dans le trafic de provisions, on survit par la maraude et on ruse. Chemin faisant, les anciens camarades s'aper莽oivent de la d茅rision de tout ce pour quoi ils se sont battus. La fuite du Kaiser Wilhelm, et la logocratie ambiante leur ouvre vite les yeux.
- Apr猫s - Erich Maria Remarque trad. Raoul Maillard et Christian Sauerwein, p.297.
2. LES GRANDS POINTS FORTS
=> Dans ce r茅cit qui se place 脿 la suite d'脌 l'ouest rien de nouveau, on retrouve de loin en loin certains des ses personnages : Paul B盲umer, Stanislaus Katczinsky, Tjaden...
Le lecteur n'en mesure que mieux le nombre d'absents.
=> En choisissant de faire figurer une bande de camarades soldats, Remarque dresse un 茅ventail des destins d'anciens soldats revenus de la guerre :
- L'h么pital pour les grands br没l茅s, les gaz茅s
- La contraction de maladies v茅n茅riennes apr猫s la fr茅quentation de bordels de campagne
- Le suicide
- La maison de force
- Des relations de couple ou familiales qui se d茅litent : adult猫re, nouveau couple nou茅 pendant l'absence, parents incapables de reconna卯tre l'enfant dans le soldat et le soldat dans l'enfant,...
- Le d茅ni du pass茅 de la guerre chez certains soldats
- L'engagement dans les causes politiques, les syndicats ; toutes sortes d'affairement pour ne pas affronter la solitude du survivant.
- Le rengagement dans l'arm茅e
=> Comme dans , le h茅ros-narrateur se distingue par l'attention presque naturaliste qu'il porte 脿 la nature, au pr茅sent. Le moment biologique, l'impression instantan茅e s'茅l猫vent 脿 l'茅ternit茅, port茅s par une 茅criture simple et limpide. C'est dans cette ressource que l'homme trouve une forme de salut personnel, modeste, et l'ancien soldat, une forme de paix.
Fond musical :
Symphonie triste - Jean Sibelius
1. THE STORY :
=> A neverending demobilization :
Back in Germany, it dawns on the soldiers that their relatives have carried on with their lives during the war, and aditionally, that they have done admirably without them. Those hoping for a warm welcome, help and support, or some token of gratefulness only meet with torpid indifference.
As a whole, the civilians can't care less about the horrors witnessed and performed by those enlisted. The soldiers' families put up with them, as long as they do not tell them about the last 4 years in the frontline. Germany craves nothing but forgetting a strenuous and thankless conflict. On the one hand, the heroes do not recognize their hometowns, one the other hand, their inhabitants do not recognize them.
=> Poverty and haggling :
Come peace, soldiers have to get used to bargaining again in poverty-ridden Germany. They get used to bartering their medals, pilfer food in the countryside. As life goes on, the fellows realize the mockery of the ideals and objectives they fought for. What with Kaiser Wilhelm's fleeing overseas, the newfangled German Republic, the ambiant logocracy...
'Should I tell you that all learning, all culture, all science is nothing but hideous mockery, so long as mankind makes war in the name of God and humanity with gas, iron, explosive and fire?'
- The Way Back - Erich Maria Remarque (transl.)
2. THE STRENGTHS
=> In this sequel to , it is striking to meet not that many characters from the prequel... You cannot help noticing how many of them are missing from the scenery, because they have never made it past the trenches.
=> The wide range of characters displayed by Remarque allows him to sketch several possible paths for soldiers surviving war :
- The hospital for severely burned or gassed patients,
- Venereal diseases caught in the brothel,
- Suicide,
- The mental institution,
- Familial ties frayed : adultery, new marriage, parents unable to recognize their child within the soldier, and the soldier within the child,
- Denial of the past war,
- Commitment with political parties, trade unions, and other forms of associations not to face the ever-increasing solitude of the survivors,
- Reenlistment.
=> The same as in , the hero-narrator stands out because of the almost naturalistic attention he bears to nature, to the here and now. Present time, fleeting instants conveyed by unadorned, limpid writing. Ultimately, this is the resource in which the narrator finds a manner of personal salvation of sorts and the former soldier, some semblance of peace.
Fond musical :
Symphonie triste - Jean Sibelius
----------
La premi猫re guerre mondiale est termin茅e. Des soldats allemands, jeunes ou moins jeunes, regagnent le pays et, pensent-ils, leur vie d'avant.
1. LE SUJET :
=> Une d茅mobilisation qui n'en finit pas :
脌 leur retour, les soldats r茅alisent pleinement que leurs connaissances ont continu茅 leur vie et que, pour la plupart d'entre eux, les civils se sont bien accommod茅s de leur absence. Ceux qui esp茅raient un accueil, une forme de reconnaissance, une entraide et un soutien se heurtent 脿 une indiff茅rence h茅b茅t茅e. Les civils pr茅tendent passer sous silence les abominations dont les soldats ont 茅t茅 t茅moins ou acteurs. Le retour 脿 la vie civile est 茅prouvant. Tr猫s peu esp猫rent se faire comprendre de ceux qui n'ont pas tutoy茅 la mort dans les tranch茅es. On est pr锚t 脿 les souffrir, aussi longtemps qu'ils passent sous silence leurs doutes et leurs horreurs et qu'ils barrent d'un trait quatre ann茅es d'une vie pour eux innommable. Dans une Allemagne qui a soif d'oubli, les soldats se sentent vite de trop. Portant l'habit militaire, encore pleins de leurs habitudes prises au front, ils ne reconnaissent pas leur village et n'en sont pas reconnus.
=> Mis猫re et marchandages :
Avec la paix, les soldats red茅couvrent les mille n茅gociations et trafics de la vie civile. Dans la mis猫re de l'Allemagne vaincue, on revend des m茅dailles, on se lance dans le trafic de provisions, on survit par la maraude et on ruse. Chemin faisant, les anciens camarades s'aper莽oivent de la d茅rision de tout ce pour quoi ils se sont battus. La fuite du Kaiser Wilhelm, et la logocratie ambiante leur ouvre vite les yeux.
'Dois-je vous raconter que toute l'instruction, toute la civilisation, toute la science ne peuvent 锚tre qu'une effroyable d茅rision aussi longtemps que les hommes se feront la guerre avec les gaz, le fer, la poudre et le feu au nom de Dieu et de l'Humanit茅 ?'
- Apr猫s - Erich Maria Remarque trad. Raoul Maillard et Christian Sauerwein, p.297.
2. LES GRANDS POINTS FORTS
=> Dans ce r茅cit qui se place 脿 la suite d'脌 l'ouest rien de nouveau, on retrouve de loin en loin certains des ses personnages : Paul B盲umer, Stanislaus Katczinsky, Tjaden...
Le lecteur n'en mesure que mieux le nombre d'absents.
=> En choisissant de faire figurer une bande de camarades soldats, Remarque dresse un 茅ventail des destins d'anciens soldats revenus de la guerre :
- L'h么pital pour les grands br没l茅s, les gaz茅s
- La contraction de maladies v茅n茅riennes apr猫s la fr茅quentation de bordels de campagne
- Le suicide
- La maison de force
- Des relations de couple ou familiales qui se d茅litent : adult猫re, nouveau couple nou茅 pendant l'absence, parents incapables de reconna卯tre l'enfant dans le soldat et le soldat dans l'enfant,...
- Le d茅ni du pass茅 de la guerre chez certains soldats
- L'engagement dans les causes politiques, les syndicats ; toutes sortes d'affairement pour ne pas affronter la solitude du survivant.
- Le rengagement dans l'arm茅e
=> Comme dans , le h茅ros-narrateur se distingue par l'attention presque naturaliste qu'il porte 脿 la nature, au pr茅sent. Le moment biologique, l'impression instantan茅e s'茅l猫vent 脿 l'茅ternit茅, port茅s par une 茅criture simple et limpide. C'est dans cette ressource que l'homme trouve une forme de salut personnel, modeste, et l'ancien soldat, une forme de paix.
Fond musical :
Symphonie triste - Jean Sibelius
September 5, 2020
How near they come together, yesterday and today, death and life!
*
A vague, threatening something seems to be sneaking upon me; it retreats when I try to grapple with it, it disperses when I advance upon it, and then it gathers again behind me and watches.
*
I see now that it has all been in vain鈥擨 have been running about and about, I have knocked again at all the doors of my youth and desired to enter in there; I thought, surely it must admit me again, for I am still young and have wished so much to forget鈥攂ut it fled always before me like a will-o'-the-wisp, it fell away without sound, it crumbled like tinder at my lightest touch. And I could not understand鈥擲urely here at least something of it must remain? I attempted it again and again, and as a result made myself merely ridiculous and wretched. But now I know, I know now that a still, silent war has ravaged this country of my memories also; I know now it would be useless for me to look farther. Time lies between like a great gulf; I cannot get back. There is nothing for it; I must go forward, march onward, anywhere, it matters nothing, I have no goal.
*
Was there no flash of lightning then that tore me away? Did no country suddenly founder and go down about me, leaving me only surviving, all else this moment perished and lost to me for ever?
*
Unconsciously I begin to walk faster, breathe deeper. I will have it again鈥擨 must have it again. It shall come again, else what reason is there to live?
*
Ach, love鈥攊t is a torch falling into an abyss, revealing nothing but only how deep it is!
*
[...] but where man is unhappy, what help is there then in such fickle, ambiguous things as words? They can only make matters worse.
*
The noiseless streams of the earth ebb and flow, and my blood flows with them; it is borne along with them and has part in them all. Through the warm dark of the earth it is flowing with the meaning of crystals and quartzes, it is in the secret sound of the weight with which drops sink down among the roots and assemble to thin runnels in search of the springs. With them it breaks out again from under the ground, it is in brooks and in rivers, in the glistening banks, in the breadth of the sea and in the. moist silver vapour the sun draws up again to the clouds鈥攊t circles and circles, it takes ever more and more of me with听it and empties it into the earth and underground streams; the chest sinks and collapses, the arms fall away, slowly and without pain the body disappears; it is gone; now only the fabric, only the husks remain. The body has become the trickling of subterranean springs, the talk of the grasses, moving wind, rustling leaf, and silent, resounding sky. The meadow comes nearer, flowers grow through it, blossoms sway over it; I have sunk down, forgotten, poured away under poppies and yellow marsh marigolds, over which butterflies and dragon-flies hover.
*
A vague, threatening something seems to be sneaking upon me; it retreats when I try to grapple with it, it disperses when I advance upon it, and then it gathers again behind me and watches.
*
I see now that it has all been in vain鈥擨 have been running about and about, I have knocked again at all the doors of my youth and desired to enter in there; I thought, surely it must admit me again, for I am still young and have wished so much to forget鈥攂ut it fled always before me like a will-o'-the-wisp, it fell away without sound, it crumbled like tinder at my lightest touch. And I could not understand鈥擲urely here at least something of it must remain? I attempted it again and again, and as a result made myself merely ridiculous and wretched. But now I know, I know now that a still, silent war has ravaged this country of my memories also; I know now it would be useless for me to look farther. Time lies between like a great gulf; I cannot get back. There is nothing for it; I must go forward, march onward, anywhere, it matters nothing, I have no goal.
*
Was there no flash of lightning then that tore me away? Did no country suddenly founder and go down about me, leaving me only surviving, all else this moment perished and lost to me for ever?
*
Unconsciously I begin to walk faster, breathe deeper. I will have it again鈥擨 must have it again. It shall come again, else what reason is there to live?
*
Ach, love鈥攊t is a torch falling into an abyss, revealing nothing but only how deep it is!
*
[...] but where man is unhappy, what help is there then in such fickle, ambiguous things as words? They can only make matters worse.
*
The noiseless streams of the earth ebb and flow, and my blood flows with them; it is borne along with them and has part in them all. Through the warm dark of the earth it is flowing with the meaning of crystals and quartzes, it is in the secret sound of the weight with which drops sink down among the roots and assemble to thin runnels in search of the springs. With them it breaks out again from under the ground, it is in brooks and in rivers, in the glistening banks, in the breadth of the sea and in the. moist silver vapour the sun draws up again to the clouds鈥攊t circles and circles, it takes ever more and more of me with听it and empties it into the earth and underground streams; the chest sinks and collapses, the arms fall away, slowly and without pain the body disappears; it is gone; now only the fabric, only the husks remain. The body has become the trickling of subterranean springs, the talk of the grasses, moving wind, rustling leaf, and silent, resounding sky. The meadow comes nearer, flowers grow through it, blossoms sway over it; I have sunk down, forgotten, poured away under poppies and yellow marsh marigolds, over which butterflies and dragon-flies hover.
March 20, 2020
This book perfectly describes the aimlessness after a war and the state in which people are left. The scars for life and why we have had so many grandparents who can only talk about the war - they never got over it. The lack of care and understanding cuts to the bone.
November 14, 2014
The Road back, although less well known than All Quiet on the Western Front, is just as thought-provoking and, in subtle ways, even more heart breaking.
The story begins during the last few days of WWI. As battle rages around them, a group of young German soldiers contemplate what peace will be like and dream of returning home with both fear and longing. They grieve for lost comrades who won't be returning with them but anticipate the joy of being back with friends and family, of returning, finally, to their old lives.
When peace finally does arrive, they head home anticipating a hero's welcome; instead, they are met with indifference and lack of understanding. The people who had remained behind while they were off fighting for the Fatherland, have continued their lives without them and, for these people, peace is not much different from war - everything is pretty much the same. But these young men have changed. When they marched away to war, they were just boys, hardly more than children, with all the hopes and innocent dreams of youth; they have returned as men, old before their time, damaged physically and psychically and they no longer fit into this civilized world.
Nothing is the same for them and they feel lost and betrayed. Wives have taken lovers, jobs, once promised, are now occupied by others who hadn't left, they are too old and too restless to return easily to their studies, and they no longer respect those who once held authority over them - parents, teachers, police. They are scorned by the profiteers who became rich off the war and they have been forgotten by the girls they left behind. They suffer from shell-shock and depression and can't shake habits they developed for survival in the trenches. They steal to eat even though food is available, they have flash backs and jump at every loud noise, and their nights are plagued with nightmares.
One reenlists, hoping to regain the companionship they had shared during the war only to discover it doesn't exist in a peacetime army. One seeks to change the world through revolution only to be shot and killed by soldiers whom he once fought alongside. For some, the only solution is suicide and, for a very few, including Ernst, the narrator of the story, true peace is finally found in nature.
The Road back is possibly the hardest, most gut-wrenching book I have ever read. Remarque's characters are so vividly drawn that they seem to live in the pages and it is impossible not to feel every lost hope, every disappointment, every pain, every betrayal that they feel. This book is a must read for anyone whether pro- or anti-war, who wants to understand what it is to be a soldier during wartime.
The story begins during the last few days of WWI. As battle rages around them, a group of young German soldiers contemplate what peace will be like and dream of returning home with both fear and longing. They grieve for lost comrades who won't be returning with them but anticipate the joy of being back with friends and family, of returning, finally, to their old lives.
When peace finally does arrive, they head home anticipating a hero's welcome; instead, they are met with indifference and lack of understanding. The people who had remained behind while they were off fighting for the Fatherland, have continued their lives without them and, for these people, peace is not much different from war - everything is pretty much the same. But these young men have changed. When they marched away to war, they were just boys, hardly more than children, with all the hopes and innocent dreams of youth; they have returned as men, old before their time, damaged physically and psychically and they no longer fit into this civilized world.
Nothing is the same for them and they feel lost and betrayed. Wives have taken lovers, jobs, once promised, are now occupied by others who hadn't left, they are too old and too restless to return easily to their studies, and they no longer respect those who once held authority over them - parents, teachers, police. They are scorned by the profiteers who became rich off the war and they have been forgotten by the girls they left behind. They suffer from shell-shock and depression and can't shake habits they developed for survival in the trenches. They steal to eat even though food is available, they have flash backs and jump at every loud noise, and their nights are plagued with nightmares.
One reenlists, hoping to regain the companionship they had shared during the war only to discover it doesn't exist in a peacetime army. One seeks to change the world through revolution only to be shot and killed by soldiers whom he once fought alongside. For some, the only solution is suicide and, for a very few, including Ernst, the narrator of the story, true peace is finally found in nature.
The Road back is possibly the hardest, most gut-wrenching book I have ever read. Remarque's characters are so vividly drawn that they seem to live in the pages and it is impossible not to feel every lost hope, every disappointment, every pain, every betrayal that they feel. This book is a must read for anyone whether pro- or anti-war, who wants to understand what it is to be a soldier during wartime.
January 24, 2019
On completion of this book one feels wiped out. A book about war and its aftermath should leave you upset.
is the second in a series of two, the first being . The first is a tremendous book, a book EVERYONE should read. This second should also be read, but it does not reach up to the caliber of the first. The first takes place in the trenches of France during the First World War. The second takes place in Germany after the war. What makes both books particularly noteworthy is that rather than focusing on the victorious, we look at the war鈥檚 losers, the German soldiers who fought and lost. The characters in the second book are for the most part not those in the first. One does presume though that the characters in the second are from the same company as those in the first since they are spoken of. The second book focuses on what faced the German men on their return to their homeland. Both of course are about the horror and the futility of war.
The book depicts the poverty, the lack of food, the rampant profiteering and prostitution that arose, the unstable political situation, the lack of jobs and the German authorities disregard for the returned soldiers鈥� problems and needs. As a book of historical fiction depicting the situation of Germany after the war, it is exemplary. The mental and physical suffering of the maimed men, those who were lucky enough to return alive, comes to the fore.
The book has a large cast of characters. Some are referred to both by their first and last name. I am fully aware of the need to draw them as a company of men rather than separate individuals; their sense of being part of a group, comrades that through thick and thin they could depend on, is what got them through the war. Nevertheless, one feels less attachment to the separate individuals, there are just too many for that and keeping straight what has happened to each is extremely difficult. In my view, this weakens the book. While the book excellently draws the situation in Germany, it failed to make me feel deep empathy for the characters. This is something I am looking for in a book of historical fiction.
One might complain about the book鈥檚 ending. One finds out what happens to each of the many characters but for the central character, he who narrates the story, we find out whether he surmounts his personal difficulties but not how..
The audiobook narration by Graham Halstead is fine. Neither bad nor extraordinarily well read either. I have given the narration three stars. The tempo is fine, and the words are clearly pronounced.
I do recommend this book, despite the fact that to get the most out of it you really need to take notes. Jotting down the characters鈥� names and what exactly happens to each is helpful.
5 stars
4 stars
4 stars
TBR
is the second in a series of two, the first being . The first is a tremendous book, a book EVERYONE should read. This second should also be read, but it does not reach up to the caliber of the first. The first takes place in the trenches of France during the First World War. The second takes place in Germany after the war. What makes both books particularly noteworthy is that rather than focusing on the victorious, we look at the war鈥檚 losers, the German soldiers who fought and lost. The characters in the second book are for the most part not those in the first. One does presume though that the characters in the second are from the same company as those in the first since they are spoken of. The second book focuses on what faced the German men on their return to their homeland. Both of course are about the horror and the futility of war.
The book depicts the poverty, the lack of food, the rampant profiteering and prostitution that arose, the unstable political situation, the lack of jobs and the German authorities disregard for the returned soldiers鈥� problems and needs. As a book of historical fiction depicting the situation of Germany after the war, it is exemplary. The mental and physical suffering of the maimed men, those who were lucky enough to return alive, comes to the fore.
The book has a large cast of characters. Some are referred to both by their first and last name. I am fully aware of the need to draw them as a company of men rather than separate individuals; their sense of being part of a group, comrades that through thick and thin they could depend on, is what got them through the war. Nevertheless, one feels less attachment to the separate individuals, there are just too many for that and keeping straight what has happened to each is extremely difficult. In my view, this weakens the book. While the book excellently draws the situation in Germany, it failed to make me feel deep empathy for the characters. This is something I am looking for in a book of historical fiction.
One might complain about the book鈥檚 ending. One finds out what happens to each of the many characters but for the central character, he who narrates the story, we find out whether he surmounts his personal difficulties but not how..
The audiobook narration by Graham Halstead is fine. Neither bad nor extraordinarily well read either. I have given the narration three stars. The tempo is fine, and the words are clearly pronounced.
I do recommend this book, despite the fact that to get the most out of it you really need to take notes. Jotting down the characters鈥� names and what exactly happens to each is helpful.
5 stars
4 stars
4 stars
TBR
May 27, 2021
The Road Back is a remarkable novel by one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century. It has the authenticity and often brutal insight of a man who had personally endured and survived the mechanised slaughter of the First World War. The novel describes the adjustments, frustrations and struggles the veterans of that war experienced as they attempted to reintegrate themselves into post-war German society. There is a strong sense of comradeship amongst the men he writes about. A thread throughout the novels is that although the soldiers can understand civilian life, the civilian population cannot comprehend what the survivors and slain had suffered in the trenches, and are ungrateful and indifferent towards them. There is an element of resentment that the sacrifices made had been in vain and that, after the war had ended, the soldiers who had fought it had been abandoned. Remarque includes a variety of characters, each with their own priorities and burdens. For instance, one soldier prioritises the luxury of food and courts a butcher's daughter, another still regards the men he has killed as trophies that he still maintains a proud tally of, still unable to see the enemies he has shot as men like himself, whilst one of the officers seeks out an old battlefield and despairingly communes with the phantoms whose brief lives ended senselessly in the trenches. There are many very poignant moments and Remarque gives the reader a very vivid impression of the many ways the First World War ruined a generation, both during the conflict and in the years that followed it.
December 30, 2024
袨褌褉械卸褮褍褬褍褯械.
"袩芯胁褉邪褌邪泻" 褬械 褋胁芯褬械胁褉褋薪懈 薪邪褋褌邪胁邪泻 薪邪褬斜芯褭械谐 (邪薪褌懈-)褉邪褌薪芯谐 褉芯屑邪薪邪 "袧邪 袟邪锌邪写褍 薪懈褕褌邪 薪芯胁芯" 懈 褍 褮械屑褍 褋械 锌芯泻邪蟹褍褬械 写械胁邪褋褌懈褉邪褬褍褯懈 褍褔懈薪邪泻 褉邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褉械卸懈胁械谢械 胁芯褬薪懈泻械, 邪谢懈 懈 薪邪 褑械谢芯 写褉褍褕褌胁芯.
袦谢邪写懈褯懈 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 锌褉邪泻褌懈褔薪芯 泻邪芯 写械褑邪 懈蟹 褕泻芯谢褋泻懈褏 泻谢褍锌邪 芯褌懈褕谢懈 褍 褉邪褌, 谐谢邪胁邪 懈褋锌褍褮械薪懈褏 胁懈褋芯泻芯锌邪褉薪懈屑 懈写械邪谢懈屑邪 锌芯谐懈斜懈褬械 蟹邪 芯褌邪褵斜懈薪褍, 懈蟹 褮械谐邪 褋械 胁褉邪褯邪褬褍 (芯薪懈 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 懈屑邪谢懈 褋褉械褯褍 写邪 褋械 胁褉邪褌械!) 泻邪芯 褑懈薪懈褔薪懈, 褉械蟹懈谐薪懈褉邪薪懈, 芯谐褉褍斜械谢懈 屑褍褕泻邪褉褑懈, 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 懈褋泻褍褋懈谢懈 褋胁械 芯写胁褉邪褌薪芯褋褌懈 褌械 斜械褋屑懈褋谢械薪械 泻谢邪薪懈褑械 懈 谐褉褍斜芯褋褌懈 褉邪褌薪芯谐 卸懈胁芯褌邪. 袞懈胁芯褌 褍 褉邪褌褍 褬械 褋胁械写械薪 薪邪 芯褋薪芯胁薪械 懈薪褋褌懈薪泻褌械, 褉邪蟹屑懈褕褭邪 褋械 褔芯锌芯褉邪褌懈胁薪芯, 薪邪谐芯薪懈 褋褍 褌懈 泻芯褬懈 褍锌褉邪胁褭邪褬褍 锌芯薪邪褕邪褮械屑.
袣邪写邪 褋械 褋胁械 褌芯 蟹邪胁褉褕懈, 锌芯胁褉邪褌邪泻 褍 "褑懈胁懈谢薪懈 卸懈胁芯褌" 薪懈屑邪谢芯 薪械褯械 斜懈褌懈 褬械写薪芯褋褌邪胁邪薪. 袧邪胁懈泻薪褍褌懈 薪邪 褉邪褌薪械 芯泻芯谢薪芯褋褌懈, 芯褔械泻褍褬褍褯懈 写邪 褯械 褋械 褮懈褏芯胁芯 褉邪褌芯胁邪褮械 "蟹邪 芯褌邪褵斜懈薪褍" 胁褉械写薪芯胁邪褌懈, 褋褍芯褔懈褯械 褋械 褋邪 褌懈屑 写邪 褋褍 褑褉薪芯斜械褉蟹懈褬邪薪褑懈 懈 屑械褕械褌邪褉懈 懈蟹 锌芯蟹邪写懈薪械 褋邪写邪 薪邪褬褍谐谢械写薪懈褬懈 褔谢邪薪芯胁懈 写褉褍褕褌胁邪.
袧械屑邪 褌褍 胁懈褕械 屑械褋褌邪 蟹邪 褏械褉芯褬褋泻械 褉械褔懈, 懈写械邪谢懈 褋褍 懈蟹薪械胁械褉械薪懈, 薪懈泻芯谐邪 胁懈褕械 薪懈褬械 斜褉懈谐邪 蟹邪 褉邪褌薪懈泻械-锌芯胁褉邪褌薪懈泻械 (懈蟹褍蟹械胁 薪邪 褉械褔懈屑邪) 懈 褌芯 褯械 蟹邪 屑薪芯谐械 芯写 褮懈褏 斜懈褌懈 斜芯谢薪芯 芯褌褉械卸褮褍褬褍褯械, 褔械褋褌芯 懈褏 胁芯写械褯懈 泻邪 屑械薪褌邪谢薪懈屑 锌芯褉械屑械褯邪褬懈屑邪 (写邪薪邪褋 褋械 褌芯 蟹芯胁械 袩孝小袩).
校 褌芯屑 褋屑懈褋谢褍, 邪锌褋芯谢褍褌薪芯 褬械 褉械屑械泻-写械谢芯 褋褑械薪邪 褍 泻芯褬芯褬 写懈褉械泻褌芯褉 斜邪褉芯泻薪懈屑 谐芯胁芯褉芯屑 写芯褔械泻褍褬械 褋胁芯褬械 锌褉械卸懈胁械谢械 褍褔械薪懈泻械. 袨写谐芯胁芯褉 褬械写薪芯谐 芯写 胁芯褬薪懈泻邪/褍褔械薪懈泻邪 褋邪卸械褯械 褋邪胁 锌褉械蟹懈褉 懈 褉械蟹懈谐薪邪褑懈褬褍 (写芯写褍褕械, 薪械 斜邪褕 锌褉懈褋褌芯褬薪芯屑 褉械褔械薪懈褑芯屑, 邪谢懈 胁褉谢芯 械褎械泻褌薪芯).
袛懈褉褭懈胁芯 褬械 胁懈写械褌懈 懈 褮懈褏芯胁 褋褍褋褉械褌 褋邪 锌芯褉芯写懈褑邪屑邪 泻芯褬械 懈褏 褬芯褕 褍胁械泻 褋屑邪褌褉邪褬褍 锌褉懈褋褌芯褬薪芯屑 写械褑芯屑, 锌褉懈屑械褉薪懈屑 褍褔械薪懈褑懈屑邪, 泻芯褬懈 薪械 谐芯胁芯褉械 "褉褍卸薪械 褉械褔懈". 袌邪蟹 泻芯褬懈 褬械 薪邪褋褌邪芯, 薪懈泻芯 胁懈褕械 薪械褯械 屑芯褯懈 写邪 锌褉械屑芯褋褌懈.
小胁械 褬械 芯胁芯 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪芯 胁褉谢芯 卸懈胁芯, 芯锌懈锌褭懈胁芯, 胁懈写懈 褋械 写邪 褬械 袪械屑邪褉泻 芯胁芯 屑芯褉邪芯 写褍斜芯泻芯 锌褉芯卸懈胁械褌懈.
袛邪 褋械 褬邪 锌懈褌邪屑, 芯胁芯 斜懈 褋械 褔懈褌邪谢芯 褍 褋褉械写褮芯褬 褕泻芯谢懈, 褍锌芯褉械写芯 褋邪 褍褔械褮械屑 芯 "褏械褉芯褬褋泻懈屑" 懈褋褌芯褉懈褬褋泻懈屑 锌芯写胁懈蟹懈屑邪 懈 斜懈褌泻邪屑邪. 袦芯卸写邪 斜懈 褋械 薪械泻邪 屑谢邪写邪 胁褉褍褯邪 谐谢邪胁邪 芯褌褉械蟹薪懈谢邪.
楔褌械褌邪 褬械 褋邪屑芯 褕褌芯 褌芯 薪懈泻邪写邪 薪械褯械 斜懈褌懈 锌芯锌褍谢邪褉薪芯.
"袩芯胁褉邪褌邪泻" 褬械 褋胁芯褬械胁褉褋薪懈 薪邪褋褌邪胁邪泻 薪邪褬斜芯褭械谐 (邪薪褌懈-)褉邪褌薪芯谐 褉芯屑邪薪邪 "袧邪 袟邪锌邪写褍 薪懈褕褌邪 薪芯胁芯" 懈 褍 褮械屑褍 褋械 锌芯泻邪蟹褍褬械 写械胁邪褋褌懈褉邪褬褍褯懈 褍褔懈薪邪泻 褉邪褌邪 薪邪 锌褉械卸懈胁械谢械 胁芯褬薪懈泻械, 邪谢懈 懈 薪邪 褑械谢芯 写褉褍褕褌胁芯.
袦谢邪写懈褯懈 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 锌褉邪泻褌懈褔薪芯 泻邪芯 写械褑邪 懈蟹 褕泻芯谢褋泻懈褏 泻谢褍锌邪 芯褌懈褕谢懈 褍 褉邪褌, 谐谢邪胁邪 懈褋锌褍褮械薪懈褏 胁懈褋芯泻芯锌邪褉薪懈屑 懈写械邪谢懈屑邪 锌芯谐懈斜懈褬械 蟹邪 芯褌邪褵斜懈薪褍, 懈蟹 褮械谐邪 褋械 胁褉邪褯邪褬褍 (芯薪懈 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 懈屑邪谢懈 褋褉械褯褍 写邪 褋械 胁褉邪褌械!) 泻邪芯 褑懈薪懈褔薪懈, 褉械蟹懈谐薪懈褉邪薪懈, 芯谐褉褍斜械谢懈 屑褍褕泻邪褉褑懈, 泻芯褬懈 褋褍 懈褋泻褍褋懈谢懈 褋胁械 芯写胁褉邪褌薪芯褋褌懈 褌械 斜械褋屑懈褋谢械薪械 泻谢邪薪懈褑械 懈 谐褉褍斜芯褋褌懈 褉邪褌薪芯谐 卸懈胁芯褌邪. 袞懈胁芯褌 褍 褉邪褌褍 褬械 褋胁械写械薪 薪邪 芯褋薪芯胁薪械 懈薪褋褌懈薪泻褌械, 褉邪蟹屑懈褕褭邪 褋械 褔芯锌芯褉邪褌懈胁薪芯, 薪邪谐芯薪懈 褋褍 褌懈 泻芯褬懈 褍锌褉邪胁褭邪褬褍 锌芯薪邪褕邪褮械屑.
袣邪写邪 褋械 褋胁械 褌芯 蟹邪胁褉褕懈, 锌芯胁褉邪褌邪泻 褍 "褑懈胁懈谢薪懈 卸懈胁芯褌" 薪懈屑邪谢芯 薪械褯械 斜懈褌懈 褬械写薪芯褋褌邪胁邪薪. 袧邪胁懈泻薪褍褌懈 薪邪 褉邪褌薪械 芯泻芯谢薪芯褋褌懈, 芯褔械泻褍褬褍褯懈 写邪 褯械 褋械 褮懈褏芯胁芯 褉邪褌芯胁邪褮械 "蟹邪 芯褌邪褵斜懈薪褍" 胁褉械写薪芯胁邪褌懈, 褋褍芯褔懈褯械 褋械 褋邪 褌懈屑 写邪 褋褍 褑褉薪芯斜械褉蟹懈褬邪薪褑懈 懈 屑械褕械褌邪褉懈 懈蟹 锌芯蟹邪写懈薪械 褋邪写邪 薪邪褬褍谐谢械写薪懈褬懈 褔谢邪薪芯胁懈 写褉褍褕褌胁邪.
袧械屑邪 褌褍 胁懈褕械 屑械褋褌邪 蟹邪 褏械褉芯褬褋泻械 褉械褔懈, 懈写械邪谢懈 褋褍 懈蟹薪械胁械褉械薪懈, 薪懈泻芯谐邪 胁懈褕械 薪懈褬械 斜褉懈谐邪 蟹邪 褉邪褌薪懈泻械-锌芯胁褉邪褌薪懈泻械 (懈蟹褍蟹械胁 薪邪 褉械褔懈屑邪) 懈 褌芯 褯械 蟹邪 屑薪芯谐械 芯写 褮懈褏 斜懈褌懈 斜芯谢薪芯 芯褌褉械卸褮褍褬褍褯械, 褔械褋褌芯 懈褏 胁芯写械褯懈 泻邪 屑械薪褌邪谢薪懈屑 锌芯褉械屑械褯邪褬懈屑邪 (写邪薪邪褋 褋械 褌芯 蟹芯胁械 袩孝小袩).
校 褌芯屑 褋屑懈褋谢褍, 邪锌褋芯谢褍褌薪芯 褬械 褉械屑械泻-写械谢芯 褋褑械薪邪 褍 泻芯褬芯褬 写懈褉械泻褌芯褉 斜邪褉芯泻薪懈屑 谐芯胁芯褉芯屑 写芯褔械泻褍褬械 褋胁芯褬械 锌褉械卸懈胁械谢械 褍褔械薪懈泻械. 袨写谐芯胁芯褉 褬械写薪芯谐 芯写 胁芯褬薪懈泻邪/褍褔械薪懈泻邪 褋邪卸械褯械 褋邪胁 锌褉械蟹懈褉 懈 褉械蟹懈谐薪邪褑懈褬褍 (写芯写褍褕械, 薪械 斜邪褕 锌褉懈褋褌芯褬薪芯屑 褉械褔械薪懈褑芯屑, 邪谢懈 胁褉谢芯 械褎械泻褌薪芯).
袛懈褉褭懈胁芯 褬械 胁懈写械褌懈 懈 褮懈褏芯胁 褋褍褋褉械褌 褋邪 锌芯褉芯写懈褑邪屑邪 泻芯褬械 懈褏 褬芯褕 褍胁械泻 褋屑邪褌褉邪褬褍 锌褉懈褋褌芯褬薪芯屑 写械褑芯屑, 锌褉懈屑械褉薪懈屑 褍褔械薪懈褑懈屑邪, 泻芯褬懈 薪械 谐芯胁芯褉械 "褉褍卸薪械 褉械褔懈". 袌邪蟹 泻芯褬懈 褬械 薪邪褋褌邪芯, 薪懈泻芯 胁懈褕械 薪械褯械 屑芯褯懈 写邪 锌褉械屑芯褋褌懈.
小胁械 褬械 芯胁芯 薪邪锌懈褋邪薪芯 胁褉谢芯 卸懈胁芯, 芯锌懈锌褭懈胁芯, 胁懈写懈 褋械 写邪 褬械 袪械屑邪褉泻 芯胁芯 屑芯褉邪芯 写褍斜芯泻芯 锌褉芯卸懈胁械褌懈.
袛邪 褋械 褬邪 锌懈褌邪屑, 芯胁芯 斜懈 褋械 褔懈褌邪谢芯 褍 褋褉械写褮芯褬 褕泻芯谢懈, 褍锌芯褉械写芯 褋邪 褍褔械褮械屑 芯 "褏械褉芯褬褋泻懈屑" 懈褋褌芯褉懈褬褋泻懈屑 锌芯写胁懈蟹懈屑邪 懈 斜懈褌泻邪屑邪. 袦芯卸写邪 斜懈 褋械 薪械泻邪 屑谢邪写邪 胁褉褍褯邪 谐谢邪胁邪 芯褌褉械蟹薪懈谢邪.
楔褌械褌邪 褬械 褋邪屑芯 褕褌芯 褌芯 薪懈泻邪写邪 薪械褯械 斜懈褌懈 锌芯锌褍谢邪褉薪芯.
August 27, 2023
I was ready for an utterly sad closing of this amazing novel. It's strange but I am glad. I have read the last 3 pages couple of times, of course because of its therapeutic purpose. There is a tremendous shout in favour of life, of hope and belief, of will and strength, but mostly ability to go on, wherever that path will lead. Maybe, just maybe, things will turn better in the future if more human beings will have the chance to read such wonderful books from early youth. Maybe, just maybe, to replace some sheer idealism with some of the life's true and hard lessons. It's a matter of chance, of luck, of stars and planets, maybe or maybe not.
January 21, 2023
O continuare care merit膬 s膬 se afle pe acela葯i piedestal cu primul roman. De data asta protagonistul este Ernst, din c芒te se pare un coleg de 葯coal膬 al lui Paul, personajul principal 葯i naratorul din Nimic nou pe frontul de vest, 葯i coleg de companie cu acesta. Povestea spus膬 de Ernst 卯ncepe 卯n ultimele zile ale r膬zboiului 葯i a avut efectul de a m膬 introduce imediat 卯n atmosfer膬, mai ales c膬 impresia celor citite 卯n primul roman 卯nc膬 era (este) proasp膬t膬. Totu葯i, Ernst 葯i cei c芒葲iva tineri r膬ma葯i 卯n via葲膬 au 鈥瀗orocul鈥� s膬 aud膬 cuv芒ntul pace, care nu mai e o himer膬, ci ceva real. R膬zboiul se 卯ncheie, iar ei trebuie s膬 se 卯ntoarc膬 acas膬. Drumul 卯napoi acas膬 葯i, ulterior, spre readaptare este nea葯teptat de greu. Dup膬 patru ani 卯n care din ni葯te adolescen葲i naivi, cu veleit膬葲i literare, cu visuri 葯i speran葲e, au fost transforma葲i 卯n ma葯in膬rii de ucis, lipsite de fric膬 葯i remu葯c膬ri, descoper膬 c膬 nu mai 葯tiu cine sunt 葯i unde le este locul. Sufer膬 to葲i de tulbur膬ri, un fel de PTSD nedefinit 卯nc膬, 葯i nimeni nu-i ajut膬 s膬 se adapteze noii/vechii vie葲i.
Acas膬 dau de repro葯uri, prejudec膬葲i, infidelit膬葲i, s膬r膬cie, foame, a葯tept膬ri, schimb膬ri pe care nu le 卯n葲eleg 葯i la care nu au luat parte, dezam膬giri sentimentale etc. Cei dragi pur 葯i simplu nu-i mai 卯n葲eleg. Nu 卯n葲eleg de ce vorbesc porcos, de ce fur膬 m芒ncare, de ce m膬n芒nc膬 f膬r膬 tac芒muri, de ce caut膬 compania fo葯tilor camarazi, de ce au co葯maruri 葯i de ce nu pot dormi. Sunt 卯ndruma葲i s膬-葯i continue studiile, dar cum ar putea s-o fac膬, dup膬 ce au cunoscut r膬zboiul, al膬turi de ni葯te copii care nu au f膬cut-o? Chiar dac膬 se 葲in cu din葲ii de vechile rela葲ii de pe front, din tran葯ee, de camaraderie, descoper膬 c膬 rolurile s-au schimbat. Cei mai buni solda葲i de pe front au revenit la vechea ordine social膬. Acum ei trebuie s膬 tac膬, 卯n timp ce fo葯tii pap膬-lapte din r膬zboi au revenit la statutul 葯i averea dinainte. Nu se mai tutuiesc, ci trec la dumneavoastr膬. Iubitele 葯i fetele pentru care au tr膬it arz膬toare pasiuni au uitat de ei, dar nici ei nu ar mai 葯ti cum s膬 iubeasc膬. Totul pare inutil, pueril, nesemnificativ. Continu膬 s膬 caute un sens pentru r膬zboi, de葯i 卯n jur v膬d doar simulacre de revolu葲ii 葯i schimb膬ri. Unii osta葯i, care au descoperit c膬 nu mai 葯tiu s膬 fac膬 nimic altceva dec芒t s膬 trag膬 葯i s膬 omoare, au 卯ntors armele 卯mpotriva fo葯tilor camarazi. Cei mai slabi 葯i mai dezn膬d膬jdui葲i se sinucid. Al葲ii se pierd din varii motive. R膬zboiul s-a 卯ncheiat demult, dar ei tot cad, pe fronturi invizibile.
Ernst p膬streaz膬 acela葯i aer de resemnare ca 葯i Paul. O triste葲e calm膬, 卯n fa葲a unor fapte 卯mplinite, pe care nu are puterea s膬 le schimbe. Spre deosebire de restul personajelor, Ernst pare totu葯i c膬 reu葯e葯te s膬 p膬streze o doz膬 de optimism, 卯n ciuda a toate pe care le vede, le tr膬ie葯te 葯i a tuturor colegilor pe care 卯i pierde.
E un roman despre inutilitatea r膬zboiului. Despre cum nimeni nu c芒葯tig膬 din asemenea barbarii. Despre pr膬p膬stiile care se ivesc 卯ntre cei de pe front 葯i cei de acas膬 de葯i, teoretic, au luptat to葲i, 卯n diferite moduri, pentru acela葯i 葲el. Este, de asemenea, despre cum un r膬zboi continu膬 mult dup膬 semnarea p膬cii, despre cum 卯ncetarea focului nu 卯nseamn膬 卯ncetarea suferin葲ei ci, din contr膬, agravarea acesteia. Dac膬 pe front ea era ascuns膬 bine, acum are ocazia s膬 ias膬 la suprafa葲膬 葯i s膬-i macine pe cei care au supravie葲uit. Este despre oameni care caut膬 o m芒n膬 de ajutor, o vorb膬 bun膬, un gram de 卯n葲elegere 葯i despre cum nimeni nu vrea s膬 le ofere. 脦n 300 de pagini, naratorul reu葯e葯te s膬 ne treac膬 prin (b膬nuiesc) toate greut膬葲ile 葯i problemele vie葲ii de fost combatant. Iar printre experien葲ele de acas膬, reu葯e葯te s膬 strecoare 葯i amintiri, co葯maruri de pe front.
Dac膬 mai-marii lumii, cei care printr-un ordin pot ucide milioane 葯i distruge societ膬葲i 卯ntregi, ar avea asemenea c膬r葲i pe lista de lectur膬, poate c膬 am vedea mai pu葲ine r膬zboaie. Dar cei 卯mb膬ta葲i de putere nu citesc c膬r葲i, ci vor c膬r葲i scrise despre ei 鈥� mari conduc膬tori de o葯ti f膬r膬 s膬 p膬葯easc膬 vreodat膬 pe un c芒mp de lupt膬.
5/5
Acas膬 dau de repro葯uri, prejudec膬葲i, infidelit膬葲i, s膬r膬cie, foame, a葯tept膬ri, schimb膬ri pe care nu le 卯n葲eleg 葯i la care nu au luat parte, dezam膬giri sentimentale etc. Cei dragi pur 葯i simplu nu-i mai 卯n葲eleg. Nu 卯n葲eleg de ce vorbesc porcos, de ce fur膬 m芒ncare, de ce m膬n芒nc膬 f膬r膬 tac芒muri, de ce caut膬 compania fo葯tilor camarazi, de ce au co葯maruri 葯i de ce nu pot dormi. Sunt 卯ndruma葲i s膬-葯i continue studiile, dar cum ar putea s-o fac膬, dup膬 ce au cunoscut r膬zboiul, al膬turi de ni葯te copii care nu au f膬cut-o? Chiar dac膬 se 葲in cu din葲ii de vechile rela葲ii de pe front, din tran葯ee, de camaraderie, descoper膬 c膬 rolurile s-au schimbat. Cei mai buni solda葲i de pe front au revenit la vechea ordine social膬. Acum ei trebuie s膬 tac膬, 卯n timp ce fo葯tii pap膬-lapte din r膬zboi au revenit la statutul 葯i averea dinainte. Nu se mai tutuiesc, ci trec la dumneavoastr膬. Iubitele 葯i fetele pentru care au tr膬it arz膬toare pasiuni au uitat de ei, dar nici ei nu ar mai 葯ti cum s膬 iubeasc膬. Totul pare inutil, pueril, nesemnificativ. Continu膬 s膬 caute un sens pentru r膬zboi, de葯i 卯n jur v膬d doar simulacre de revolu葲ii 葯i schimb膬ri. Unii osta葯i, care au descoperit c膬 nu mai 葯tiu s膬 fac膬 nimic altceva dec芒t s膬 trag膬 葯i s膬 omoare, au 卯ntors armele 卯mpotriva fo葯tilor camarazi. Cei mai slabi 葯i mai dezn膬d膬jdui葲i se sinucid. Al葲ii se pierd din varii motive. R膬zboiul s-a 卯ncheiat demult, dar ei tot cad, pe fronturi invizibile.
Ernst p膬streaz膬 acela葯i aer de resemnare ca 葯i Paul. O triste葲e calm膬, 卯n fa葲a unor fapte 卯mplinite, pe care nu are puterea s膬 le schimbe. Spre deosebire de restul personajelor, Ernst pare totu葯i c膬 reu葯e葯te s膬 p膬streze o doz膬 de optimism, 卯n ciuda a toate pe care le vede, le tr膬ie葯te 葯i a tuturor colegilor pe care 卯i pierde.
E un roman despre inutilitatea r膬zboiului. Despre cum nimeni nu c芒葯tig膬 din asemenea barbarii. Despre pr膬p膬stiile care se ivesc 卯ntre cei de pe front 葯i cei de acas膬 de葯i, teoretic, au luptat to葲i, 卯n diferite moduri, pentru acela葯i 葲el. Este, de asemenea, despre cum un r膬zboi continu膬 mult dup膬 semnarea p膬cii, despre cum 卯ncetarea focului nu 卯nseamn膬 卯ncetarea suferin葲ei ci, din contr膬, agravarea acesteia. Dac膬 pe front ea era ascuns膬 bine, acum are ocazia s膬 ias膬 la suprafa葲膬 葯i s膬-i macine pe cei care au supravie葲uit. Este despre oameni care caut膬 o m芒n膬 de ajutor, o vorb膬 bun膬, un gram de 卯n葲elegere 葯i despre cum nimeni nu vrea s膬 le ofere. 脦n 300 de pagini, naratorul reu葯e葯te s膬 ne treac膬 prin (b膬nuiesc) toate greut膬葲ile 葯i problemele vie葲ii de fost combatant. Iar printre experien葲ele de acas膬, reu葯e葯te s膬 strecoare 葯i amintiri, co葯maruri de pe front.
Dac膬 mai-marii lumii, cei care printr-un ordin pot ucide milioane 葯i distruge societ膬葲i 卯ntregi, ar avea asemenea c膬r葲i pe lista de lectur膬, poate c膬 am vedea mai pu葲ine r膬zboaie. Dar cei 卯mb膬ta葲i de putere nu citesc c膬r葲i, ci vor c膬r葲i scrise despre ei 鈥� mari conduc膬tori de o葯ti f膬r膬 s膬 p膬葯easc膬 vreodat膬 pe un c芒mp de lupt膬.
鈥濼resar 葯i privesc 卯n jur. 脦n urma noastr膬, camarazii mei zac pe t膬rgi 葯i strig膬 dup膬 noi. E pace, dar ei trebuie totu葯i s膬 moar膬. 脦n schimb, eu m膬 cutremur de fericire 葯i nu 卯mi e ru葯ine. Ciudat lucru!
Poate c膬 de aceea izbucnesc mereu r膬zboaie, fiindc膬 omul nu poate intui niciodat膬 pe de-a-ntregul suferin葲ele altora.鈥�
鈥濾ia葲a a mers 葯i continu膬 s膬 mearg膬 卯nainte, de parc膬 prezen葲a noastr膬 ar fi de prisos.鈥�
鈥炩€� C芒t am fost pe front, mi-au trecut multe prin minte, Ernst, 葯i n-am reu葯it s膬 le pun cap la cap. Acum 卯ns膬, dup膬 ce au trecut toate, a葯 vrea s膬 aflu multe lucruri. De pild膬, ce fel de oameni sunt cei care au l膬sat ca asemenea fapte s膬 se 卯nt芒mple 葯i cum de-a fost posibil s膬 se 卯nt芒mple; 葯i ce rost au avut. Sunt multe 卯ntreb膬ri. Chiar 葯i despre noi 卯n葯ine. Mai demult aveam cu totul alte p膬reri despre via葲膬. A葯 vrea s膬 aflu multe, Ernst.鈥�
鈥炩€� Nu te teme, o lini葯tesc. Nu 葯tiu s膬 sar膬. P膬duchii nu sunt purici.
鈥� Pentru Dumnezeu!
脦葯i duce degetul la buze 葯i face o mutr膬 de parc膬 a葯 fi debitat naiba 葯tie ce obscenitate. A葯a sunt to葲i: ne vor eroi, dar s膬 nu 葯tie nimic despre p膬duchi.鈥�
鈥濸rivesc atent grupul de profesori. [鈥 Iat膬-i, aici, gata s膬 ne predea iar膬艧i lec牛ii. Dar li se vede pe fe牛e c膬 sunt dispu葯i s膬-葯i jertfeasc膬 o parte din demnitatea lor. C膬ci ce fel de cuno葯tin葲e ar mai putea ei s膬 ne mai transmit膬? Ast膬zi, noi cunoa葯tem via葲a mai bine ca ei, am dob芒ndit un alt tip de cuno葯tin葲e, 卯n chip s芒ngeros, crud 葯i fatal. Ast膬zi, noi suntem cei care am putea s膬 le transmite lor cuno葯tin葲e, dar cine oare 葯i-ar dori a葯a ceva?鈥�
鈥炩€� 葮i de ce, Georg? De ce? Fiindc膬 am fost 卯n葯ela葲i... 卯n葯ela葲i 卯ntr-o a葯a m膬sur膬 卯nc芒t nici nu ne-am dat seama! Fiindc膬 s-a abuzat 卯ngrozitor de noi! Ni s-a vorbit despre patrie, dar 卯n joc erau planurile de cucerire ale unei industrii hr膬p膬re葲e. Ni s-a vorbit despre onoare, dar 卯n joc erau conflictele 葯i pornirile hegemonice ale unui grup restr芒ns de diploma葲i 葯i principi. Ni s-a vorbit despre na葲iune, dar 卯n joc era dorin葲a de ac葲iune a unor generali lipsi葲i de ocupa葲ie!鈥�
5/5
January 15, 2025
Dopo il folgorante esordio di 鈥淣iente di Nuovo sul Fronte Occidentale鈥� che fece conoscere al mondo le qualit脿 letterarie e la spiccata vena antimilitarista del giovane Erich Maria Remarque [1898-1970], l鈥檃utore prosegu矛 la sua attivit脿 di scrittore pubblicando questo 鈥淟a Via del Ritorno鈥� un romanzo che ha come protagonisti giovani tedeschi colti nel passaggio tra il "cessate il fuoco" della I Guerra Mondiale e il loro difficile reinserimento nella vita quotidiana e sociale di una Germania appena uscita sconfitta e sull鈥檕rlo di una crisi economico-politica. Lo sbandamento individuale e collettivo di questi ragazzi di uno stesso plotone che per anni hanno vissuto come fratelli la guerra, le battaglie, il pericolo quotidiano di morire o di rimanere feriti e mutilati 猫 il fulcro principale di quest鈥檕pera che emoziona e angoscia e colpisce profondamente chi la legge anche e soprattutto per i toni misurati dell鈥檃utore che risulta cos矛 quanto mai efficace e incisiva, echeggiando a lungo nell鈥檃nimo dopo la fine della lettura.
December 3, 2020
This is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. That one,is a favourite book of mine. I had high expectations of the sequel. It left me a bit disappointed.
Its predecessor was a hard act to follow. I'm not exactly surprised that the book is not as good. Also,the first book was about the war (WW I),and was much more intense.
This one is more about returning and defeated German soldiers trying to fit back into civilian life. While trying to evade death was their constant preoccupation at the front,life in peacetime is a lot slower,and cannot match that high.
Their military skills have become useless after coming back.Most of their fellow soldiers have been killed,there are food shortages and political unrest. Their women have taken new lovers.
The dilemmas of returning soldiers are similar in all wars,and are more intense if they have been defeated,injured and demobilised.
What made the book disappointing for me,is that it's very slow,and bored me. Not much happens. It's certainly not comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front.
Its predecessor was a hard act to follow. I'm not exactly surprised that the book is not as good. Also,the first book was about the war (WW I),and was much more intense.
This one is more about returning and defeated German soldiers trying to fit back into civilian life. While trying to evade death was their constant preoccupation at the front,life in peacetime is a lot slower,and cannot match that high.
Their military skills have become useless after coming back.Most of their fellow soldiers have been killed,there are food shortages and political unrest. Their women have taken new lovers.
The dilemmas of returning soldiers are similar in all wars,and are more intense if they have been defeated,injured and demobilised.
What made the book disappointing for me,is that it's very slow,and bored me. Not much happens. It's certainly not comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front.
December 6, 2022
W tw贸rczo艣ci Remarque鈥檃 jest co艣, co z ka偶d膮 jego kolejn膮 ksi膮偶k膮, po kt贸r膮 si臋gam, we mnie dojrzewa i za ka偶dym kolejnym razem wywo艂uje wi臋ksze zdumienie i podziw.
(4.5)
(4.5)
May 31, 2018
This novel is the sequel to Remarque's most famous . It is a collective portrait of the returning soldiers from the Great War who failed to reckon with the make-believe peace that followed. The experience at the front shattered them from the rest of the world. This is no longer our world; the trenches ousted it. The loss of comradeship, mostly due to the divisive force of revolution, also featured as a major source of despair. Things were simpler at the front where comrades marched together, noble and good. A nice mess we have made of it.
I expected to gain more historical information about post-war Germany from this novel which it didn't offer, but still a traumatizingly superb read.
I expected to gain more historical information about post-war Germany from this novel which it didn't offer, but still a traumatizingly superb read.
March 30, 2018
PTSD in post-WWI Germany, the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. Episodic, not always linear, first-person narrator although it sometimes feels more like a close third, or even a sort of omniscient first-person when, thanks to Ernst's deep connection with his troubled former comrades, scenes are dramatized that the narrator couldn't know about (friend returning to the trenches alone at night and then shooting himself; how a room feels after another friend cuts open an artery and bleeds out). Teenagers taught to fight and survive, to kill and make it through, dreaming of home and returning alive, holding-up their return as their hope, have trouble reacclimating of course when they finally return and sit with loved ones and see the familiar landscape of their youth as a potential battlefield, have no patience for "fine phrases" about heroism or The Fatherland or anything along those lines, find their studies total bullshit, can't sit in a classroom and teach penmanship to 7 to 10 year olds when the horror they've experienced, the sense of betrayal, solely occupies their mind -- each of a handful of comrades not-so-deeply characterized (stage II case of disembodied proper noun syndrome) try to make their way back to a semblance of sustainable existence, some sort of coming to terms (Ernst ultimately finds a sort of peace via mindful/mystical communion with nature, lying down in the grass alone, just looking, listening, being), some not at all.
Lacks the drive and blatant high stakes of the other EMR novels I've read (I'm on a completist quest, FYI, and have five or six others on a shelf in order of publication ready to go this year). Almost started skimming midway but right when I started to think three-stars could devolve to two it picked-up and ended tremendously. As always with EMR, what's triggered completism, there are moments of extreme vividness, up there with Prince Andrei on his back looking at blue sky, Proust's elevating airplane, Leopold Bloom's kidney sliding in his frying pan, Bartlebooth's watercolors returning to the ocean, etc: in this, it's a war veteran sheep dog named Wolf fighting with the farmer's bulldog Pluto and then later doing what he's been bred to do, excelling at herding sheep although he was raised on the battlefield (Wolf's road back is hard-wired); or when the comrades run to the square with their "faces of the trench" as the military led by a former comrade threatens to turn a machine gun on a crowd of labor protestors led by a former Jewish comrade; or a scene at an official military-sanctioned brothel when Ernst the narrator loses his virginity; the classroom scene when the young veteran students revolt against the principal's fine phrases of heroism and again at the end the courtroom scene when the comrades rise up against the judge and lawyer in defense of their friend's murder of a man who'd been macking on a woman who'd been his only beacon through it all.
Was worried about this one and a little disappointed until page 180 or so but from now on I'll be completely confident that EMR will deliver. He was dramatizing boredom and dissatisfaction, which always makes what follows all the better, although in this it felt like it went on a few dozen pages too long and wasn't sufficiently concentrated?
But generally this is another great EMR novel -- since it's about PTSD (well before the term was coined), it lacks the sense that death could visit with every turned page, but a worthwhile way to spend two long sittings today at jury duty. Always stretches of top-notch translated prose, although in this the translation, especially in dialogue, occasionally seemed wonky thanks most likely to old German slang rendered as old British slang. Also interesting in that it was published in 1931, so before the rise of the forces that would wreck everything hundreds of times over in a decade or so (no lessons in this learned at all) -- those young students of Ernst's would grow up to be in their 30s during WWII and the teens at the end gleefully performing military exercises and calling WWI veterans cowards and traitors to The Fatherland foreshadow what's to come. Hunger and inflation are only touched on.
Generally, I think I'm interested in this era for reasons related to rising fascism worldwide and Trumpism, seeing our own times through the perspective of 80-100 years ago in Europe, the general sense of HEFT that runs through these novels that always elevates the prose (translated German is probably my favorite flavor in the English language), but also because I'm searching for Bolano's sources for the Hans Reiter section in 2666.
Here's a quotation representative of theme and translation (although the language in this bit is a little elevated since Ernst is waxing significantly) from right before he decides he can't be a schoolteacher:
Lacks the drive and blatant high stakes of the other EMR novels I've read (I'm on a completist quest, FYI, and have five or six others on a shelf in order of publication ready to go this year). Almost started skimming midway but right when I started to think three-stars could devolve to two it picked-up and ended tremendously. As always with EMR, what's triggered completism, there are moments of extreme vividness, up there with Prince Andrei on his back looking at blue sky, Proust's elevating airplane, Leopold Bloom's kidney sliding in his frying pan, Bartlebooth's watercolors returning to the ocean, etc: in this, it's a war veteran sheep dog named Wolf fighting with the farmer's bulldog Pluto and then later doing what he's been bred to do, excelling at herding sheep although he was raised on the battlefield (Wolf's road back is hard-wired); or when the comrades run to the square with their "faces of the trench" as the military led by a former comrade threatens to turn a machine gun on a crowd of labor protestors led by a former Jewish comrade; or a scene at an official military-sanctioned brothel when Ernst the narrator loses his virginity; the classroom scene when the young veteran students revolt against the principal's fine phrases of heroism and again at the end the courtroom scene when the comrades rise up against the judge and lawyer in defense of their friend's murder of a man who'd been macking on a woman who'd been his only beacon through it all.
Was worried about this one and a little disappointed until page 180 or so but from now on I'll be completely confident that EMR will deliver. He was dramatizing boredom and dissatisfaction, which always makes what follows all the better, although in this it felt like it went on a few dozen pages too long and wasn't sufficiently concentrated?
But generally this is another great EMR novel -- since it's about PTSD (well before the term was coined), it lacks the sense that death could visit with every turned page, but a worthwhile way to spend two long sittings today at jury duty. Always stretches of top-notch translated prose, although in this the translation, especially in dialogue, occasionally seemed wonky thanks most likely to old German slang rendered as old British slang. Also interesting in that it was published in 1931, so before the rise of the forces that would wreck everything hundreds of times over in a decade or so (no lessons in this learned at all) -- those young students of Ernst's would grow up to be in their 30s during WWII and the teens at the end gleefully performing military exercises and calling WWI veterans cowards and traitors to The Fatherland foreshadow what's to come. Hunger and inflation are only touched on.
Generally, I think I'm interested in this era for reasons related to rising fascism worldwide and Trumpism, seeing our own times through the perspective of 80-100 years ago in Europe, the general sense of HEFT that runs through these novels that always elevates the prose (translated German is probably my favorite flavor in the English language), but also because I'm searching for Bolano's sources for the Hans Reiter section in 2666.
Here's a quotation representative of theme and translation (although the language in this bit is a little elevated since Ernst is waxing significantly) from right before he decides he can't be a schoolteacher:
"What am I able to teach you then? Should I tell you how to pull the string on a hand grenade, how best to throw it at a human being? . . . Should I mimic how a man with a stomach wound will groan, how one with a lung wound gurgles and one with a head wound whistles? More I do not know. More I have not learned.
Should I take you to the brown-and-green map there, move my finger across it and tell you that here love was murdered? Should I explain to you that the books you hold in your hands are but nets with which men design to snare your simple souls, to entangle you in the undergrowth of fine phrases, and in the barbed wire of falsified ideas?
I stand here before you, a polluted, a guilty man and can only implore you ever to remain as you are, never to suffer the bright light of your childhood to be misused as a blow flame of hate. About your brows still blows the breath of innocence. How then should I presume to teach you? Behind me, still pursuing, are the bloody years. -- How then can I venture among you? Must I not first become a man again myself?"
November 11, 2021
Erich Maria Remarque returns with a sequel to his epic Great War novel, exploring life after the armistice is signed and the German soldiers return home. While All Quiet on the Western Front depicted a strong war and 'behind the trenches' sentiment, this novel explores more the re-integration of soliders and how their time away served almost as a 'time gap' that left them wondering if they took a wrong turn on the journey. Remarque offers apt commentary through his prose to explore the struggles of returning home to settle, vilification by citizens, and trying to move forwards from what was seen on the battlegrounds. An eye-opening piece that complements the series debut well, even if I would not call it a classic.
It took four long and intense years, but the Great War has finally ended, with Germany on the losing side. Ernst and some of his fellow soldiers prepare to return home, hoping that things will go well, but worried about what awaits them. As they arrive, nothing is as it seems, from the tiny houses to the people who are less than eager to engage with them, while the rationale for war seems extinguished. This leaves Ernst wondering if it was a useless fight.
As they try to find their niche, Ernst and his fellow soldiers realise that peace may have been the worst thing for them., They are villains and mocked, Germany suffers dibilitating food shortages, and the political scene is anything but pleasant. Still, Ernst has to believe that the end to the fighting was propitious and strives to find himself in this new Germany. When something unexpected occurs, Ernst has an epiphany and discovers where he belongs in this world of unknowns.
It is always difficult to write a sequel to a highly popular and impactful novel, or so it would seem. Filling the boots of the highly-accliamed All Quiet on the Western Front is tough, to be sure, leaving Erich Maria Remarque in a difficult spot. While the book was surely not as strong or blatantly impactful as its predecessor, Remarque does well to leave the reader thinking and wondering throughout the story. Tales of war should leave the reader wondering things, particularly at this time of year. While the narrative was slow at times and I felt it did need a jolt, I was pleased with the message that resonated from its pages. It is too bad that some readers hold the books next to one another and pan this one for not being like its 'cousin'. Alas, it is those who see past this superficiality that can truly learn what Remarque is trying to convey.
Ernst was a great protagonist to offer the reader a wonderful message of war and re-integration. I found myself eager to see what he found and his sentiments about returning all those years later. There is a great deal that is discovered by young Ernst, not the least of which being that life was sure never to be the same after the war. The people treated soldiers differently, the sentiment of the country changed a great deal, and the future looked bleak. Ernst does his best to push through this and make his own impact, only to learn that things on the battlefield might have been preferable, at least to a degree.
Remarque is surely a stunning writer in his own right. While I have only read these two books up to this point, the way he depicts the fighting and the societal re-integration left me wanting to know more. I have always enjoyed the politics surrounding the Great War, as well as the fallout for both governments and people from the four year skirmish. Remarque brings all that to light here and provides the reader with something intense and well worth the reader's time. The narrative is surely not as impactful on a superficial level as the precediing book, but there are some stunning parts where the reader can see into the mind of the returning soldier or the citizen reacting to seeing them. Remarque does this so well and keeps the reader involved in the realisations that come of it. Broken into eight parts, the story shows the evolution of Germany in a post-war world and explores the changes that needed to be made, as well as the sentiments that would fuel the anger that led to the Second World War. I was quite taken by all of this and found myself wanting to learn more when I was able. I will also be checking out some of Erich Maria Remarque's other books about wartime.
Kudos, Mr. Remarque, for another powerful narrative that left me thinking well past the time I closed the book.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: /group/show/...
It took four long and intense years, but the Great War has finally ended, with Germany on the losing side. Ernst and some of his fellow soldiers prepare to return home, hoping that things will go well, but worried about what awaits them. As they arrive, nothing is as it seems, from the tiny houses to the people who are less than eager to engage with them, while the rationale for war seems extinguished. This leaves Ernst wondering if it was a useless fight.
As they try to find their niche, Ernst and his fellow soldiers realise that peace may have been the worst thing for them., They are villains and mocked, Germany suffers dibilitating food shortages, and the political scene is anything but pleasant. Still, Ernst has to believe that the end to the fighting was propitious and strives to find himself in this new Germany. When something unexpected occurs, Ernst has an epiphany and discovers where he belongs in this world of unknowns.
It is always difficult to write a sequel to a highly popular and impactful novel, or so it would seem. Filling the boots of the highly-accliamed All Quiet on the Western Front is tough, to be sure, leaving Erich Maria Remarque in a difficult spot. While the book was surely not as strong or blatantly impactful as its predecessor, Remarque does well to leave the reader thinking and wondering throughout the story. Tales of war should leave the reader wondering things, particularly at this time of year. While the narrative was slow at times and I felt it did need a jolt, I was pleased with the message that resonated from its pages. It is too bad that some readers hold the books next to one another and pan this one for not being like its 'cousin'. Alas, it is those who see past this superficiality that can truly learn what Remarque is trying to convey.
Ernst was a great protagonist to offer the reader a wonderful message of war and re-integration. I found myself eager to see what he found and his sentiments about returning all those years later. There is a great deal that is discovered by young Ernst, not the least of which being that life was sure never to be the same after the war. The people treated soldiers differently, the sentiment of the country changed a great deal, and the future looked bleak. Ernst does his best to push through this and make his own impact, only to learn that things on the battlefield might have been preferable, at least to a degree.
Remarque is surely a stunning writer in his own right. While I have only read these two books up to this point, the way he depicts the fighting and the societal re-integration left me wanting to know more. I have always enjoyed the politics surrounding the Great War, as well as the fallout for both governments and people from the four year skirmish. Remarque brings all that to light here and provides the reader with something intense and well worth the reader's time. The narrative is surely not as impactful on a superficial level as the precediing book, but there are some stunning parts where the reader can see into the mind of the returning soldier or the citizen reacting to seeing them. Remarque does this so well and keeps the reader involved in the realisations that come of it. Broken into eight parts, the story shows the evolution of Germany in a post-war world and explores the changes that needed to be made, as well as the sentiments that would fuel the anger that led to the Second World War. I was quite taken by all of this and found myself wanting to learn more when I was able. I will also be checking out some of Erich Maria Remarque's other books about wartime.
Kudos, Mr. Remarque, for another powerful narrative that left me thinking well past the time I closed the book.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: /group/show/...
November 18, 2020
Izgleda da je Remark od onih autora koji ne mo啪e da me razo膷ara. Ili je rano 拧to mu dajem toliko poverenja nakon tre膰e knjige?
je s pravom najbolja ratna/antiratna knjiga dvadesetog veka. je suptilnija, treba joj du啪e da ti se uvu膷e pod ko啪u. Opet, dobar je znak da sam je 膷itao pre 5 godina, a i dalje osetim atmosferu Pariza pred po膷etak 2. svetskog rata, te啪inu odluka nema膷kog lekara. Skoro da osetim ukus kalvadosa u ustima...
Povratak vra膰a Remarka na autobiografsko - mladi膰i se vra膰aju ku膰i nakon kapitulacije u Velikom ratu. Ljudi koji su "izbegli pakao i vra膰aju se u 啪ivot". Ovo je morao da napi拧e neko ko je to pro啪iveo.
"Mo啪da se rat stalno ponavlja samo zbog toga 拧to jedan nikad ne mo啪e sasvim da oseti ono 拧to drugi pati."
Ali povratnike 膷eka druga膷iji svet. Druga膷iji su i oni. Umesto dece koja su oti拧la u rat, pre nego 拧to su isprobali ljubav ili 啪ivot, vrta膰aju se cini膷ni mu拧karci, iznureni frontom i smr膰u.
"膶udnovato je to: toliko smo navikli na jame i rovove da najednom postajemo podozrivi prema ti拧ini predela u koji sada dolazimo, - kao da je ti拧ina izgovor da nas namame na potajno minirano podru膷je..."
Roditelji ih ne prepoznaju, a oni ne mogu da se uklope u dru拧tvo koje ne razume da su voleli 啪ivot na frontu - 啪iveli su 啪ivot bez ko膷nica, bez pretvaranja, bez klasnih razlika.
"Saop拧tavaju mi, dalje, 拧ta se desilo od mog poslednjeg dopusta. Kasapina sa ugla su skoro pretukle gladne 啪ene. Jedared, koncem avgusta, dobila je svaka porodica celu funtu ribe. Uhvatili su psa doktora Knota i verovatno skuvali sapun. Gospo膽ica Mentrup je dobila dete. Krompir je opet poskupeo. Idu膰e nedelje mo啪da 膷e se mo膰i dobiti kosti na klanici. Pro拧log meseca se udala tetka Gretina druga 膰erka i to za ritmajstera... Napolju lupa ki拧a u okna. Ja skupljam ramena. 膶udno je opet sedeti. 膶udno je opet biti kod ku膰e.
- Pa ti i ne slu拧a拧, Ernest..."
Direktor 拧kole u 膷ije klupe ti prekaljeni borci treba da se vrate, dr啪i dirljiv govor o poginulim pitomcima te 拧kole, koji spavaju ve膷nim snom pod zelenom travom. Odgovor jednog od njih opisuje atmosferu Povratka u par re膷enica:
U tom 膷asu za膷u se kratak smeh. Direktor, neprijatno dirnut, zastade. Smeh dolazi od Vilija, koji stoji blizu njega. U licu je kao rak crven od besa, i muca:
- Zelena trava... zelena trava... ve膷ni san? U blatu po jamama le啪e oni, izre拧etani, iskidani, potonuli u baru拧tine. Zelena trava! Nismo valjda na 膷asu pevanja.
Mlatara rukama kao vetrenja膷a u buri, i nastavlja:
- Juna膷ka smrt! Kako zami拧ljate to! Ho膰ete li da znate kako je umro mali Hojer? Ceo dan je le啪ao u 啪icama i vikao, a creva su mu visila iz trbuha kao makarone. Onda mu je par膷e granate odnelo prste i posle dva sata komad noge, a jo拧 je bio 啪iv i poku拧avao drugom rukom da ugura svoju utrobu. Najzad je, uve膷e, svr拧io. Kada smo posle, no膰u, uspeli da mu se pribli啪imo, bio je izre拧etan kao re拧eto. De, pri膷ajte njegovoj majci kako je umro, ako imate hrabrosti.
Direktor je pobledeo. Lomi se da li da o膷uva disciplinu ili da be啪i. Ali nema vremena ni za jedno ni za drugo, jer Albert Troske odmah prihvati:
"Gospodine direktore, mi nismo do拧li ovamo da slu拧amo kako smo dobro obavili na拧 posao, iako, na啪alost, nismo mogli pobediti. Seremo mi na to..."
je s pravom najbolja ratna/antiratna knjiga dvadesetog veka. je suptilnija, treba joj du啪e da ti se uvu膷e pod ko啪u. Opet, dobar je znak da sam je 膷itao pre 5 godina, a i dalje osetim atmosferu Pariza pred po膷etak 2. svetskog rata, te啪inu odluka nema膷kog lekara. Skoro da osetim ukus kalvadosa u ustima...
Povratak vra膰a Remarka na autobiografsko - mladi膰i se vra膰aju ku膰i nakon kapitulacije u Velikom ratu. Ljudi koji su "izbegli pakao i vra膰aju se u 啪ivot". Ovo je morao da napi拧e neko ko je to pro啪iveo.
"Mo啪da se rat stalno ponavlja samo zbog toga 拧to jedan nikad ne mo啪e sasvim da oseti ono 拧to drugi pati."
Ali povratnike 膷eka druga膷iji svet. Druga膷iji su i oni. Umesto dece koja su oti拧la u rat, pre nego 拧to su isprobali ljubav ili 啪ivot, vrta膰aju se cini膷ni mu拧karci, iznureni frontom i smr膰u.
"膶udnovato je to: toliko smo navikli na jame i rovove da najednom postajemo podozrivi prema ti拧ini predela u koji sada dolazimo, - kao da je ti拧ina izgovor da nas namame na potajno minirano podru膷je..."
Roditelji ih ne prepoznaju, a oni ne mogu da se uklope u dru拧tvo koje ne razume da su voleli 啪ivot na frontu - 啪iveli su 啪ivot bez ko膷nica, bez pretvaranja, bez klasnih razlika.
"Saop拧tavaju mi, dalje, 拧ta se desilo od mog poslednjeg dopusta. Kasapina sa ugla su skoro pretukle gladne 啪ene. Jedared, koncem avgusta, dobila je svaka porodica celu funtu ribe. Uhvatili su psa doktora Knota i verovatno skuvali sapun. Gospo膽ica Mentrup je dobila dete. Krompir je opet poskupeo. Idu膰e nedelje mo啪da 膷e se mo膰i dobiti kosti na klanici. Pro拧log meseca se udala tetka Gretina druga 膰erka i to za ritmajstera... Napolju lupa ki拧a u okna. Ja skupljam ramena. 膶udno je opet sedeti. 膶udno je opet biti kod ku膰e.
- Pa ti i ne slu拧a拧, Ernest..."
Direktor 拧kole u 膷ije klupe ti prekaljeni borci treba da se vrate, dr啪i dirljiv govor o poginulim pitomcima te 拧kole, koji spavaju ve膷nim snom pod zelenom travom. Odgovor jednog od njih opisuje atmosferu Povratka u par re膷enica:
U tom 膷asu za膷u se kratak smeh. Direktor, neprijatno dirnut, zastade. Smeh dolazi od Vilija, koji stoji blizu njega. U licu je kao rak crven od besa, i muca:
- Zelena trava... zelena trava... ve膷ni san? U blatu po jamama le啪e oni, izre拧etani, iskidani, potonuli u baru拧tine. Zelena trava! Nismo valjda na 膷asu pevanja.
Mlatara rukama kao vetrenja膷a u buri, i nastavlja:
- Juna膷ka smrt! Kako zami拧ljate to! Ho膰ete li da znate kako je umro mali Hojer? Ceo dan je le啪ao u 啪icama i vikao, a creva su mu visila iz trbuha kao makarone. Onda mu je par膷e granate odnelo prste i posle dva sata komad noge, a jo拧 je bio 啪iv i poku拧avao drugom rukom da ugura svoju utrobu. Najzad je, uve膷e, svr拧io. Kada smo posle, no膰u, uspeli da mu se pribli啪imo, bio je izre拧etan kao re拧eto. De, pri膷ajte njegovoj majci kako je umro, ako imate hrabrosti.
Direktor je pobledeo. Lomi se da li da o膷uva disciplinu ili da be啪i. Ali nema vremena ni za jedno ni za drugo, jer Albert Troske odmah prihvati:
"Gospodine direktore, mi nismo do拧li ovamo da slu拧amo kako smo dobro obavili na拧 posao, iako, na啪alost, nismo mogli pobediti. Seremo mi na to..."
January 5, 2018
L'ho riletto dopo tanti anni, in una nuova traduzione. Mi piacque molto allora, mi 猫 piaciuto molto oggi. Sempre una gran lettura, Remarque non tradisce.
脠 giorno. Entro in classe. I piccoli sono l矛 seduti, a mani giunte. Nei loro occhioni c鈥櫭� ancora tutto il timido stupore degli anni infantili. Mi guardano tanto fiduciosi, con tanta devozione, che mi provocano un colpo al cuore.
Eccomi davanti a voi, uno dei centomila falliti ai quali la guerra ha infranto ogni fede e quasi ogni energia... Sono davanti a voi e mi rendo conto di quanto siete pi霉 vivi e pi霉 legati alla vita. Sono davanti a voi e dovrei esservi maestro e guida. Ma che cosa vi devo insegnare? Devo dirvi che fra vent鈥檃nni sarete inariditi e mutilati, atrofizzati nei vostri istinti pi霉 spontanei, ridotti senza piet脿 a merce avariata? Devo spiegarvi che tutta la cultura, tutta la civilt脿, tutta la scienza non sono che uno scherno orrendo fintanto che ci sono uomini che si fanno la guerra col gas e col ferro, con la polvere e col fuoco, in nome di Dio e dell鈥檜manit脿? Che cosa devo insegnarvi, piccole creature, a voi, le uniche che siete rimaste pure in questi anni terribili?
脠 giorno. Entro in classe. I piccoli sono l矛 seduti, a mani giunte. Nei loro occhioni c鈥櫭� ancora tutto il timido stupore degli anni infantili. Mi guardano tanto fiduciosi, con tanta devozione, che mi provocano un colpo al cuore.
Eccomi davanti a voi, uno dei centomila falliti ai quali la guerra ha infranto ogni fede e quasi ogni energia... Sono davanti a voi e mi rendo conto di quanto siete pi霉 vivi e pi霉 legati alla vita. Sono davanti a voi e dovrei esservi maestro e guida. Ma che cosa vi devo insegnare? Devo dirvi che fra vent鈥檃nni sarete inariditi e mutilati, atrofizzati nei vostri istinti pi霉 spontanei, ridotti senza piet脿 a merce avariata? Devo spiegarvi che tutta la cultura, tutta la civilt脿, tutta la scienza non sono che uno scherno orrendo fintanto che ci sono uomini che si fanno la guerra col gas e col ferro, con la polvere e col fuoco, in nome di Dio e dell鈥檜manit脿? Che cosa devo insegnarvi, piccole creature, a voi, le uniche che siete rimaste pure in questi anni terribili?
February 25, 2025
Inegalabilul Remarque! Oric芒te c膬r葲i s-ar scrie despre r膬zboaie, nimeni nu poate scrie mai profund dec芒t cineva care a fost acolo. Imagineaz膬-葲i c膬 e葯ti 卯n clasa a 11-a 葯i tu 卯mpreun膬 cu colegii t膬i sunte葲i to葲i lua葲i 卯n r膬zboi 葯i trimi葯i pe front, iar dup膬 4 ani doar c芒葲iva dintre voi se mai 卯ntorc acas膬, unii mutila葲i fizic, al葲ii mutila葲i psihic. Reveni葲i acas膬 trebuie s膬 v膬 relua葲i locurile 卯n b膬ncile 葯colii 葯i s膬 ridica葲i dou膬 degete c芒nd vre葲i s膬 spune葲i ceva, asta dup膬 ce ani de zile a葲i fost 卯nv膬葲a葲i cum s膬 omor芒葲i inamicii 葯i cum s膬 p膬c膬li葲i moartea care v膬 p芒ndea 卯n fiecare secund膬. Acum sunte葲i al葲i oameni, familiile 葯i apropia葲ii nu v膬 卯n葲eleg, societatea s-a schimbat, lupta intern膬 continu膬. 鈥溍巒toarcerea din r膬zboi鈥� este o carte despre reversul medaliei, despre camaraderie, despre tot ce 卯nseamn膬 revenirea dintr-un infern 卯n care 葯tiai c膬 vrea s膬 te omoare 卯ntr-un alt infern dominat de alte legi. Numai cine a tr膬it a葯a ceva poate descrie asemenea g芒nduri 葯i sentimente. Magistral!
December 11, 2017
Es ist f眉r mich das bisher am schwersten verdauliche Buch Remarques.
Erneut habe ich dutzende Passagen unterstrichen und f眉r mich kommentiert, in denen meines Erachtens Wahrheit und Tiefgang stecken. Remarque leiht den zur眉ckgekommenen Soldaten, die als Jugendliche in den Krieg gezogen sind, seine Stimme und konfrontiert die verantwortlichen Stellen mit deren verlorenen Jugend, ihrer unertr盲glichen Gegenwart und einer scheinbar hoffnungslosen Zukunft.
Remarque wei脽 wovon er schreibt, war er schlie脽lich selbst mit 18 Jahren in den Krieg eingezogen und Zeuge des T枚tens auf oberen Befehl f眉r das Vaterland und die anschlie脽ende R眉ckkehr zum allt盲glichen Leben oder besser, der Versuch in einen Alltag zur眉ckzufinden, der nach den Fronterlebnissen keinen Sinn mehr macht. Familie, Nachbarn, Lehrer verstehen nicht den Zustand, in dem sich die R眉ckkehrer befinden und der sie qu盲lt ("Es ist alles umsonst, Ernst. Wir sind kaputt, aber die Welt geht weiter, als wenn der Krieg nicht da gewesen w盲re.").
Umsonst warten die jungen M盲nner auf die vers枚hnlichen Worte: "Wir haben alle furchtbar geirrt! Wir wollen gemeinsam zur眉ckfinden! Habt Mut!" Stattdessen sehen sie sich mit den Erwartungen konfrontiert, alles zu vergessen, geregelte Arbeit zu finden und sich wieder der staatlichen Ordnung anzupassen. Dies wird besonders in der Gerichtsverhandlung deutlich. Albert hat den Geliebten seiner Freundin erschossen. Seine Freunde klagen die Obrigkeit an! - Eine der ganz gro脽en Szenen f眉r mich!
Der erste ergreifende Augenblick war f眉r mich jedoch die Passage, in der Ernst zu seiner Familie zur眉ckkehrt und einen Moment mit seiner Mutter allein im Treppenhaus steht:
"Sie beugt sich 眉ber das Gel盲nder. Ihr kleines zerfurchtes Gesicht ist golden beschattet vom Lampenschirm. Unwirklich wehen die Schatten und Lichter hinter ihr 眉ber den Flur. Und pl枚tzlich schwankt etwas in mir, eine seltsame R眉hrung packt mich, fast wie ein Schmerz - als g盲be es nichts auf der Welt als dieses Gesicht, als w盲re ich wieder ein Kind, dem man auf der Treppe leuchten muss, ein Junge, dem auf der Stra脽e etwas geschehen kann, und alles andere dazwischen nur Spuk und Traum. -
Aber das Licht der Lampe f盲ngt sich zu einem scharfen Reflex in meinem Koppelschloss. Die Sekunde verfliegt, ich bin kein Kind, ich trage eine Uniform. Rasch springe ich die Treppe hinunter, immer drei Stufen auf einmal, und sto脽e die Haust眉r auf, begierig, zu meinen Kameraden zu kommen."
In jeder Szene steckt ein hohes Ma脽 an Bewegung, sei es 盲u脽erlich oder nur innerlich. Remarque gibt dem Leser keine Ruhe, schont ihn nicht, sondern zieht ihn durch das Gef眉hlschaos seiner Protagonisten mit. So schildert er die Freitode von Ludwig und Georg detailliert. Allerdings in einer poetischen, beeindruckend 盲sthetischen Art. Er beraubt sie grausam ihres jungen Lebens und bettet sie sanft. Hier greift sie wieder, seine gewohnt schn枚rkellose Sprache, die gewaltige Bilder vor unseren Auge entstehen l盲sst, das Innere aufw眉hlt, ja ergreift und eine Wahrheit herauskatapultiert, die so gro脽 und komplex ist, dass es mich nicht wundert, dass der Roman 1931 wie eine Bombe auf deutschen Boden schlug und heftig kritisiert wurde. Wie es Remarque so trefflich in einer Freitodszene formuliert "Das Schweigen beginnt zu reden." -
Es ist ein wichtiges Buch und die notwendige wie gelungene Fortsetzung von "Im Westen nichts Neues". Schade, dass dies damals von der Mehrheit der deutschen Bev枚lkerung nicht wahrgenommen und erkannt wurde, verbirgt Remarque in seinen Text sogar eine Begebenheit, die geradezu prophetisch ist. W盲hrend Ernst und seine Kameraden vor einem Waldst眉ck sitzen, durchst枚脽t pl枚tzlich eine Gruppe minderj盲hriger Jungen das Geb眉sch und 眉bt Krieg, angeleitet von einem Erwachsenen, den er wiederholt als "F眉hrer" betitelt.
Ich ziehe erneut meinen Hut vor diesen gro脽artigen Schriftsteller.
Erneut habe ich dutzende Passagen unterstrichen und f眉r mich kommentiert, in denen meines Erachtens Wahrheit und Tiefgang stecken. Remarque leiht den zur眉ckgekommenen Soldaten, die als Jugendliche in den Krieg gezogen sind, seine Stimme und konfrontiert die verantwortlichen Stellen mit deren verlorenen Jugend, ihrer unertr盲glichen Gegenwart und einer scheinbar hoffnungslosen Zukunft.
Remarque wei脽 wovon er schreibt, war er schlie脽lich selbst mit 18 Jahren in den Krieg eingezogen und Zeuge des T枚tens auf oberen Befehl f眉r das Vaterland und die anschlie脽ende R眉ckkehr zum allt盲glichen Leben oder besser, der Versuch in einen Alltag zur眉ckzufinden, der nach den Fronterlebnissen keinen Sinn mehr macht. Familie, Nachbarn, Lehrer verstehen nicht den Zustand, in dem sich die R眉ckkehrer befinden und der sie qu盲lt ("Es ist alles umsonst, Ernst. Wir sind kaputt, aber die Welt geht weiter, als wenn der Krieg nicht da gewesen w盲re.").
Umsonst warten die jungen M盲nner auf die vers枚hnlichen Worte: "Wir haben alle furchtbar geirrt! Wir wollen gemeinsam zur眉ckfinden! Habt Mut!" Stattdessen sehen sie sich mit den Erwartungen konfrontiert, alles zu vergessen, geregelte Arbeit zu finden und sich wieder der staatlichen Ordnung anzupassen. Dies wird besonders in der Gerichtsverhandlung deutlich. Albert hat den Geliebten seiner Freundin erschossen. Seine Freunde klagen die Obrigkeit an! - Eine der ganz gro脽en Szenen f眉r mich!
Der erste ergreifende Augenblick war f眉r mich jedoch die Passage, in der Ernst zu seiner Familie zur眉ckkehrt und einen Moment mit seiner Mutter allein im Treppenhaus steht:
"Sie beugt sich 眉ber das Gel盲nder. Ihr kleines zerfurchtes Gesicht ist golden beschattet vom Lampenschirm. Unwirklich wehen die Schatten und Lichter hinter ihr 眉ber den Flur. Und pl枚tzlich schwankt etwas in mir, eine seltsame R眉hrung packt mich, fast wie ein Schmerz - als g盲be es nichts auf der Welt als dieses Gesicht, als w盲re ich wieder ein Kind, dem man auf der Treppe leuchten muss, ein Junge, dem auf der Stra脽e etwas geschehen kann, und alles andere dazwischen nur Spuk und Traum. -
Aber das Licht der Lampe f盲ngt sich zu einem scharfen Reflex in meinem Koppelschloss. Die Sekunde verfliegt, ich bin kein Kind, ich trage eine Uniform. Rasch springe ich die Treppe hinunter, immer drei Stufen auf einmal, und sto脽e die Haust眉r auf, begierig, zu meinen Kameraden zu kommen."
In jeder Szene steckt ein hohes Ma脽 an Bewegung, sei es 盲u脽erlich oder nur innerlich. Remarque gibt dem Leser keine Ruhe, schont ihn nicht, sondern zieht ihn durch das Gef眉hlschaos seiner Protagonisten mit. So schildert er die Freitode von Ludwig und Georg detailliert. Allerdings in einer poetischen, beeindruckend 盲sthetischen Art. Er beraubt sie grausam ihres jungen Lebens und bettet sie sanft. Hier greift sie wieder, seine gewohnt schn枚rkellose Sprache, die gewaltige Bilder vor unseren Auge entstehen l盲sst, das Innere aufw眉hlt, ja ergreift und eine Wahrheit herauskatapultiert, die so gro脽 und komplex ist, dass es mich nicht wundert, dass der Roman 1931 wie eine Bombe auf deutschen Boden schlug und heftig kritisiert wurde. Wie es Remarque so trefflich in einer Freitodszene formuliert "Das Schweigen beginnt zu reden." -
Es ist ein wichtiges Buch und die notwendige wie gelungene Fortsetzung von "Im Westen nichts Neues". Schade, dass dies damals von der Mehrheit der deutschen Bev枚lkerung nicht wahrgenommen und erkannt wurde, verbirgt Remarque in seinen Text sogar eine Begebenheit, die geradezu prophetisch ist. W盲hrend Ernst und seine Kameraden vor einem Waldst眉ck sitzen, durchst枚脽t pl枚tzlich eine Gruppe minderj盲hriger Jungen das Geb眉sch und 眉bt Krieg, angeleitet von einem Erwachsenen, den er wiederholt als "F眉hrer" betitelt.
Ich ziehe erneut meinen Hut vor diesen gro脽artigen Schriftsteller.
June 10, 2013
The Road Back:
I am quite astonished that The Road Back is much less known than its famous prequel All Quiet on the Western Front. For me The Road Back is a heartbreaking story, that left me crying myself quietly to sleep in the middle of the night. In All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque was not quite himself 鈥� the author I know for dissecting human relationships and for philosophizing about life and love. Instead he was focused exclusively on the grotesqueness, violence and fatuity of war that leaves young men physically and emotionally crippled.
In The Road Back Erich Maria Remarque is again the author I fell in love with. The story begins during the last few days of WWI, a short time after All Quiet on the Western Front ended. Although it doesn鈥檛 feature the same characters (with the exception of Tjaden) in The Road Back many of the soldiers from All Quiet on the Western Front are mentioned鈥ut they are already dead.
Read more:
I am quite astonished that The Road Back is much less known than its famous prequel All Quiet on the Western Front. For me The Road Back is a heartbreaking story, that left me crying myself quietly to sleep in the middle of the night. In All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque was not quite himself 鈥� the author I know for dissecting human relationships and for philosophizing about life and love. Instead he was focused exclusively on the grotesqueness, violence and fatuity of war that leaves young men physically and emotionally crippled.
In The Road Back Erich Maria Remarque is again the author I fell in love with. The story begins during the last few days of WWI, a short time after All Quiet on the Western Front ended. Although it doesn鈥檛 feature the same characters (with the exception of Tjaden) in The Road Back many of the soldiers from All Quiet on the Western Front are mentioned鈥ut they are already dead.
Read more:
September 9, 2023
Review to come when I'm back in the groove, for now I'm just glad I finally managed to read a book again. (Have been in a massive reading slump for over two years now - not because of this book, this was great!)
August 26, 2024
"The Road Back" is a sequel to "All Quiet on the Western Front."
The end of the war is near. Ernst Birkholz is the narrator throughout the Novel.
The men all are struggling to survive the Trenches and get on with what remains of their lives. The road, however, is not bright for any of the survivors: Baumer, Kat, Haie, Brandt and Muller are among the survivors and war buddies of Ernst.
After the Armistice is signed in November 1918, the men must walk back from the Trenches in France to Germany. The Army does not provide transport; Germany has badly lost the War.
All of the survivors are suffering from, a common term now, PTSD.
Mr. Remarque has written a masterpiece in his interpretation of life for these young Germans struggling to survive the war, but also struggling to survive the peace in a devastated Germany.
The end of the war is near. Ernst Birkholz is the narrator throughout the Novel.
The men all are struggling to survive the Trenches and get on with what remains of their lives. The road, however, is not bright for any of the survivors: Baumer, Kat, Haie, Brandt and Muller are among the survivors and war buddies of Ernst.
After the Armistice is signed in November 1918, the men must walk back from the Trenches in France to Germany. The Army does not provide transport; Germany has badly lost the War.
All of the survivors are suffering from, a common term now, PTSD.
Mr. Remarque has written a masterpiece in his interpretation of life for these young Germans struggling to survive the war, but also struggling to survive the peace in a devastated Germany.
June 15, 2022
Another Remarque classic, another One of the All-time Greatest novels I've ever read. This is THE ABSOLUTE PERFECT followup to the epic greatness of the story of All Quiet on the Western Front. A must read for anyone who ever heard of World War 1-2, or ever had a friend, or just ever read even a single book!
August 3, 2023
L鈥檃nima ferita dei reduci
Legato inscindibilmente nella memoria al capolavoro 鈥淣iente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale鈥�, Eric Maria Remarque 猫 tuttavia autore di altri eccellenti romanzi meno noti che nel loro complesso presentano un suggestivo spaccato della Germania dagli anni 鈥�10 del secolo scorso in poi, non solo negli aspetti storici, economici e politici ma soprattutto nelle dure ripercussioni psicologiche e sociali della Grande Guerra sulla popolazione tali da preludere alle prime avvisaglie del nazionalsocialismo.
Questo romanzo in particolare si sviluppa negli anni immediatamente successivi al conflitto, ponendo in primo piano, attraverso la voce del soldato Birkholz, la dolorosa situazione dei reduci, anche se tutta la comunit脿 tedesca contemporanea affiora in filigrana nella narrazione.
L鈥檈lemento principale che domina la condizione dei sopravvissuti al quadriennio di massacri nelle Fiandre, decimati dalla fame e dalle bombe, dagli stenti e dal freddo, 猫 il disadattamento, psicologico ancor pi霉 che sociale, l鈥檌ncapacit脿 a reinserirsi in una societ脿 che appare indifferente quando non addirittura ostile, quasi a ritenerli responsabili delle conseguenze della guerra e della sconfitta patite dalla popolazione civile.
Il passaggio dalla brusca conclusione del conflitto, che coglie quasi increduli i combattenti, al congedo 猫 rappresentato nella scena disperata dell鈥檜ltima adunata quando, di fronte a un imbarazzato sottufficiale nel piazzale che ospitava fieramente schierati cinquecento uomini, si ritrovano ora solo trentadue laceri derelitti: 鈥淚l vento di novembre fischia nel cortile vuoto della caserma e i nostri compagni se ne vanno. Non ci vorr脿 molto perch茅 ciascuno sia di nuovo solo鈥�.
Inizia cos矛 per questi infelici, in contrasto con l鈥檃gognato recupero della vita civile, la dura via del ritorno: ben presto l鈥檜nico vincolo con il mondo circostante si riveler脿 il cameratismo, un legame che travalica il carattere, il ceto sociale, il mestiere civile dei reduci portandoli a cercare ancora la vicinanza dei compagni, anche se afflitti in vario modo dalle ferite non rimarginate della terribile esperienza convissuta: il suicidio, la violenza, le sbornie, i ricoveri negli ospedali psichiatrici, la perdita dei legami familiari, l鈥檃patia sono trappole che minacciano l鈥檈sistenza, anche di coloro che al fronte parevano i pi霉 robusti e resistenti.
La narrazione intrisa di grande malinconia si apre di tanto in tanto a momenti di tregua illusoria, dove la natura della campagna e dei boschi riporta la mente al ricordo di una giovinezza spensierata, prima che fosse troncata dagli eventi e sopraffatta dall鈥檈sperienza terribile delle trincee.
Legato inscindibilmente nella memoria al capolavoro 鈥淣iente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale鈥�, Eric Maria Remarque 猫 tuttavia autore di altri eccellenti romanzi meno noti che nel loro complesso presentano un suggestivo spaccato della Germania dagli anni 鈥�10 del secolo scorso in poi, non solo negli aspetti storici, economici e politici ma soprattutto nelle dure ripercussioni psicologiche e sociali della Grande Guerra sulla popolazione tali da preludere alle prime avvisaglie del nazionalsocialismo.
Questo romanzo in particolare si sviluppa negli anni immediatamente successivi al conflitto, ponendo in primo piano, attraverso la voce del soldato Birkholz, la dolorosa situazione dei reduci, anche se tutta la comunit脿 tedesca contemporanea affiora in filigrana nella narrazione.
L鈥檈lemento principale che domina la condizione dei sopravvissuti al quadriennio di massacri nelle Fiandre, decimati dalla fame e dalle bombe, dagli stenti e dal freddo, 猫 il disadattamento, psicologico ancor pi霉 che sociale, l鈥檌ncapacit脿 a reinserirsi in una societ脿 che appare indifferente quando non addirittura ostile, quasi a ritenerli responsabili delle conseguenze della guerra e della sconfitta patite dalla popolazione civile.
Il passaggio dalla brusca conclusione del conflitto, che coglie quasi increduli i combattenti, al congedo 猫 rappresentato nella scena disperata dell鈥檜ltima adunata quando, di fronte a un imbarazzato sottufficiale nel piazzale che ospitava fieramente schierati cinquecento uomini, si ritrovano ora solo trentadue laceri derelitti: 鈥淚l vento di novembre fischia nel cortile vuoto della caserma e i nostri compagni se ne vanno. Non ci vorr脿 molto perch茅 ciascuno sia di nuovo solo鈥�.
Inizia cos矛 per questi infelici, in contrasto con l鈥檃gognato recupero della vita civile, la dura via del ritorno: ben presto l鈥檜nico vincolo con il mondo circostante si riveler脿 il cameratismo, un legame che travalica il carattere, il ceto sociale, il mestiere civile dei reduci portandoli a cercare ancora la vicinanza dei compagni, anche se afflitti in vario modo dalle ferite non rimarginate della terribile esperienza convissuta: il suicidio, la violenza, le sbornie, i ricoveri negli ospedali psichiatrici, la perdita dei legami familiari, l鈥檃patia sono trappole che minacciano l鈥檈sistenza, anche di coloro che al fronte parevano i pi霉 robusti e resistenti.
La narrazione intrisa di grande malinconia si apre di tanto in tanto a momenti di tregua illusoria, dove la natura della campagna e dei boschi riporta la mente al ricordo di una giovinezza spensierata, prima che fosse troncata dagli eventi e sopraffatta dall鈥檈sperienza terribile delle trincee.
July 8, 2009
This is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, and it may be more quietly powerful. There are some of the snippets of gruesome battle scenes, but this book that takes place after World War I shows the soldiers disillusioned with the war's purpose, alienated from their friends and life before the war and adrift when they try to resume their lives at home. Trained as soldiers in a brutal war, they have a hard time finding their place in society and find themselves missing the camaraderie of their fellow soldiers.
September 24, 2019
The Road Back is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. They are both dramatic (in a good way) and eye-opening. Where All Quiet in the Western Front is a bit more brutal and shows us life at the Front, The Road Back is more subtle and gives us a glimpse of the emotional side of coming back from WW1 as a young man.
Really one of the best books I read so far!
Really one of the best books I read so far!
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