All Quiet on the Western Front is probably the most famous anti-war novel ever written. The story is told by a young 'unknown soldier' in the trenches of Flanders during the First World War. Through his eyes we see all the realities of war; under fire, on patrol, waiting in the trenches, at home on leave, and in hospitals and dressing stations. Although there are vividly described incidents which remain in mind, there is no sense of adventure here, only the feeling of youth betrayed and a deceptively simple indictment of war - of any war - told for a whole generation of victims.
Arvustused
Remarque's evocation of the horrors of modern warfare has lost none of its force * The Times * Remarque is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank * New York Times Book Review * There are some books that should be read by every generation... Remarque's story of German trench soldiers of the 1914-18 war gains even more authority in the context of the loss of life in wars that still rage Brian Murdoch's new English translation shows that Remarque's evocation of the horrors of modern warfare has lost none of its force * The Times * The book conquers without persuading, it shakes you without exaggerating, a perfect work of art and at the same time truth that cannot by doubted This harrowing narrative is unexpectedly beautiful, more pensive than angry * Irish Times * Its extraordinary appeal may stem from Remarques success in universalising the soldiers experience that the war was the same for all who fought * Daily Telegraph * The power to move people by words, to arouse their sensibilities as well as their minds, was Erich Maria Remarque's to an extraordinary degree * New York Times * [ A] masterpiece For the first time a writer gave a raw, pitiless account of men killing each other, by any means possible its unrelenting honesty makes it hard to read it as anything else * Economist * 'Brian Murdoch's new English translation...shows that Remarque's evocation of the horrors of modern warfare has lost none of its force' * The Times *
Muu info
One of 15 limited edition Vintage Future Classics published to celebrate Vintage's 15th birthday. The 15 titles were voted for by reading groups all over the UK as being books that would still be read in 100 years time.
Erich Maria Remarque (Author) Erich Maria Remarque was a German author and veteran of the First World War. He was born 1898 in Osnabrück, Germany. At the age of 18 he was conscripted into the German army. During his service he was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck. Following the war he worked as a primary school teacher, and later as a librarian, a journalist and a technical writer. Among Remarques published novels were All Quiet on the Western Front, The Road Back, Three Comrades and Arch of Triumph. His works were publicly burned by the Nazi German government, and in 1947 he and his first wife became naturalised citizens of the United States. Four years earlier, his sister had been executed at the behest of Hitlers Peoples Court.
Remarque adapted the book Ten Days to Die, about Hitlers final days, as a screenplay, and he also wrote for the stage. His last novel was The Night in Lisbon, published in 1962. During his lifetime Remarque married twice and had love affairs with the actresses Hedy Lamarr, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo.
