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310514: this is a later addition: i think of books read this year, ones that might become rereads- become 'comfort reading'- and this is a prime candidate. why? i do not know, perhaps in clarity, in artlessness, i can concentrate on the characters. i tried one other book by remarque, very disappointed, and i have read All Quiet on the Western Front- but this was spoiled by having seen the old film. now i know the plot, but this is never important, this is bittersweet, romantic- yes it must be the romantic aspect that appeals. i cannot claim it is great art, only that it is the people i want to read about...

first review: now it has been a few days, a few books, since read and rated so the question is: why give this a five? why put it on the favourites shelf? thinking of it in comparison to llosa's The Feast of the Goat, which is perhaps more literary in shape, in writing, but this is the one better recalled and more likely to be read again. this one has somewhat more average characters, ordinary sort of plot- and i think this is why. this book, set in 1939 France, written in 1945, does not fail to recall the movie Casablanca. indeed, i can see Bogart as the protagonist, and in Paris, where everyone is waiting in disbelief that another war will come...

and character revealed simply, directly, in action, not introspection or close emotional reading, only gradually. i did not think to like this book, as it is long, it is not uniquely told or structured, not surprising characters or plot. i did not think i could be so attached to the man and woman, the world, the politics there but not too there. the young woman who knows she is not a good actor, but pretty enough to be a mistress, the good german doctor living and operating illegally, the petty conniving french doctor who depends on his skill to fix mistakes, the friendlier doctor who pays him better, who becomes something like a friend. the quiet satire of the hotel, the rotating pictures, the rotating refugees, the russian who uniquely does not claim aristocratic heritage...

then, i like the occasional dash of mordant humor, i like the mundane, realistic, rather mature portrayal of romance. these are real people, good people, caught in a very bad time. would this work if set anywhere and -when else? made me also think of the stripped prose of Hemingway, how this is not his style but quieter, how this story is told without stylistic pyrotechnics, this story told directly, without excess of emotion or art... perhaps i would not have liked it so much if it was striving for effect. it is almost like reading two books, as the first half is heavy in dialog, thus easy to read, the second half more description, more thought... but in the end, this works. so maybe it is a bestseller of its time, maybe it is middlebrow, but the looming history is not overplayed, the story is ultimately down to a romance anyone can imagine, anyone could live, and an exactly right ending...

and why did i even read this book, as it is not from a rec, not immediately interesting me, not much liking longish books...well actually, because the last book on philosopher merleau-ponty quoted it at a significant point, quoted it at length, so i decided to read its context... and while looking for that passage, i got sucked into this book. remains a five...