a joy to read, and totally underrated
Rating:
5 / 5
My colleagues who have reviewed Remarque favorably on these sites are totally correct: he is a remarkable writer who still resonates with contemporary readers in a manner that more esteemed German writers such as Mann and Goethe fail to. A cross between Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald, I have seldom spent more rewarding time reading. The combination of humor, philosophy, brilliant dialogue, unusual and touching romantic experience, war-weary and world weary articulations, social commentary, and perfect word craftsmenship (thanks to excellent translations of course), make him stand out among all European writers in my mind--but then again, I'm a more Modernist enthusiast. So far I love all of the novels I've read, but I tend to lean slightly towards The Black Obelisk with its absolutely profound and heart-rending romantic dilemma. I teach All Quiet at the university level, but I'm working on teaching A Time to LOve..., 3 Comrades, etc. BUT...can anybody tell me how in the freakin' world these books are out of print and how to do something about it?! It's a freakin' sacriledge!
Excellent
Rating:
5 / 5
I can't remember the last time I read a book that left me with tears running down my face. This one did. The last sentence echoed in my head for days after I got done reading. Maybe not the best book of all time, but beautifully written and very touching.
Brilliant - A True Classic
Rating:
5 / 5
This is a book of three veterans of World War I trying to continue life in Germany after the war. They are like the Three Musketeers - all for one and one for all. When the narrator character falls in love, the girlfriend becomes the D'artagnon.The characters think they have seen all that can be seen of death and are immune from any feeling relating to it. They learn otherwise as the girlfriend has a terminal injury and there is another death close to them. Remarque is a terrific writer. He captures so well the characters and the times in which they live. The characters - both main three-four and the supporting cast jump out of the pages at the reader. (He reminds me of a German Steinbeck in the way he able to portray characters.) As the three friends plod on fighting to live well and happily in a depressed economy and a depressing time, one finds himself rooting them on. Somehow, Remarque makes the reader have complete empathy with characters - even though we are now eighty plus years away from when they lived. Only one of the best writers of the last century could accomplish such a feat. I rate this above Night in Lisbon and as good, if not better, than All Quiet on the WEstern Front
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