All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque

Overview

This masterpiece of war literature that will change your perspective on life and humanity.** Follow the journey of Paul, a young German soldier who enlists in World War I with his friends, full of enthusiasm and patriotism. But soon, he faces the horrors of the trenches, where death, disease, and despair lurk at every corner. He witnesses the brutality and futility of war, and he vows to resist the hatred that makes him kill his fellow human beings, who are just like him, except for their uniforms. This book is a powerful and moving portrait of the suffering, the courage, and the longing for peace of a generation that was sacrificed for a senseless conflict. It is widely regarded as the best war novel of all time, and it has been adapted into an Oscar-winning movie that you can watch on Netflix.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781998050055
Publisher:	Stanfordpub.com
Publication date:	02/05/2024
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

Erich Maria Remarque, who was born in Germany, was drafted into the German army during World War I. Through the hazardous years following the war he worked at many occupations: schoolteacher, small-town drama critic, race-car driver, editor of a sports magazine. His first novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, was published in Germany in 1928. A brilliant success, selling more than a million copies, it was the first of many literary triumphs. When the Nazis came to power, Remarque left Germany for Switzerland. He rejected all attempts to persuade him to return, and as a result he lost his German citizenship, his books were burned, and his films banned. He went to the United States in 1938 and became a citizen in 1947. He later lived in Switzerland with his second wife, the actress Paulette Goddard. He died in September 1970.

Read an Excerpt

"Summer of 1918-Never was life in the line more bitter and more full of horror than in the hours of the bombardment, when the blanched faces lie in the dirt and the hands clutch at the one thought: No! No! Not now! Not now at the last moment!"
—from All Quiet on the Western Front

Table of Contents

Introduction     7
Biographical Sketch     9
The Story Behind the Story     17
List of Characters     20
Summary and Analysis     23
Critical Views     52
Brian Murdoch on All Quiet on the Western Front as a Weimar Antiwar Novel     52
Brian Murdoch on Remarque and Homer     57
A.F. Bance on the Novel's Best-seller Status     63
Chris Daley on the Force of Silence in All Quiet on the Western Front     68
Hildegard Emmel on All Quiet on the Western Front as a Weimar Novel     71
Vita Fortunati on the Representation of World War I in Hemingway, Remarque, and Ford Madox Ford     75
Dorothy B. Jones on the Film Version of the Novel     79
Helmut Liedloff on A Farewell to Arms and All Quiet on the Western Front     83
Alfredo Bonadeo on Paul Baumer's Relationship to German Culture     87
Modris Eksteins on the Novel as a Postwar Commentary     92
Hans Wagener on the Final Chapter of All Quiet on the Western Front     96
Robert Baird on Hollywood's Ambivalence to World War I Novels     100
Wilhelm J. Schwarz on Remarque's Memorial to the Unknown Soldier     105
Works   Erich Maria Remarque     110
Annotated Bibliography     111
Contributors     120
Acknowledgments     123
Index     125

Editorial Reviews

The world has gained a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will.

The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.”—The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2013
Classic novel of young German classmates headed off to war and horror in the trenches. The sequel, The Road Back, covers their return to a devastated country.

Library Journal

Muller’s straightforward, simple delivery underscores the horror and hopelessness depicted in Remarque’s powerful WWI novel. Germany’s Iron Youth, represented by Paul Baumer and his friends, begin the war as teenagers sure of the justice of their cause and the glory that will be theirs. When these young men are confronted with trench warfare, dying in hellish agony, Paul must face the reality in which he finds himself and prepare for the world to which he will return, irrevocably changed. Reading with a calm, quiet sureness, which heightens the soul-destroying nightmare of Paul’s ordeal, Muller’s stunning performance demonstrates the reason for his huge following. Recommended by many high schools, this is a must for young adults. S.G. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

JAN 95 - AudioFile