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#1
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All Quiet on the Western Front
Cannot recommend this book highly enough. For those with an interest in the Great War, and who have never read it, be sure to acquire a copy.
I re-read this at the beginning of the first lockdown and it left me reeling. An incredibly powerful book, made all the more memorable by A. W. Wheen's wonderful translation (Wheen's translation is the one to read, in my opinion). 'These first minutes with the mask decide between life and death: is it air-tight? I remember the awful sights in the hospital: the gas patients who in day-long suffocation cough up their burnt lungs in clots.' '...our bodies are a thin skin stretched painfully over repressed madness.' 'We are not youth any longer. We don't want to take the world by storm. we are fleeing. We fly from ourselves. From our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. This first bomb, the first explosion, bursts in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in things no longer, we believe in war.' 'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque - [book] first published in Germany in 1929. |
#2
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Still got my copy from about 1970.
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#3
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Cool.
I'm currently reading Sassoon's 'Memoirs of an Infantry Offier'. It never ceases to amaze me how these men wrote so beautifully about such horrors. JT |
#4
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I too obtained a second hand copy of “All Quiet on the Western Front”………………..many years ago. It is like an old friend.
It is a classic piece of writing. As you say it is a powerful book written as an anti-war message and it leaves one reeling. I could not put it down and have read it so many times now that I have lost count. Cheers James PS: I would recommend the book by Henri Barbusse published in December 1916 (easily obtained in English). His description of being at the receiving end of an Artillery bombardment is utterly breathtaking. To complete the trio the novel ‘Storm of Steel’ by Ernst Junger is a powerful piece of writing too.
__________________
He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. (Albert Einstein) Last edited by Charliedog012012; 19-03-22 at 12:10 AM. |
#5
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Thanks for the recommendations, James. I know the Barbusse book to which you refer: 'Under Fire'. Not read it but will endeavour to source a copy. 'Storm of Steel' too. Thanks again. JT |
#6
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I have my grandfather's copy from 1930ish.
He had flat feet so didn't serve in WW1 but must have had a reason to buy this. |
#7
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I'm a shameless bibliophile… any chance of a photo? Yep, book porn! |
#8
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Yes, French members Roland does need an accent on his name but I'm lazy to change my keyboard... |
#9
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It's a hard cover but no dust jacket. I do have a book called "The Silent Division" by Ormond Burton. Well written and presented to one of our veteran's clubs by the author! Then maybe "borrowed" many years ago... Interesting that the book's owner (whose son we met) served in the Artillery and clearly read the book. At one point, Burton says that the guns were lined up wheel to wheel for a bombardment. Peter's Dad added a note in the margin: "It wasn't really like this". He would have known! Oh and Remarque also wrote "The Road Back" but it's not quite as good. |
#10
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Who is the publisher?
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#11
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Still got a copy from around 1980......
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#12
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I'll stop doing the "I've got that too's" now". |
#13
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Got a fave out of that lot?
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#14
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Havn't looked at them for years, but "Storm of Steel" I think - simply because Junger's attitude to War is so different to that of Barbusse, Sassoon, Graves etc.
Doesn't mean to say I like it - it's just "different". Last edited by leigh kitchen; 19-03-22 at 04:54 AM. |
#15
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Not exactly a book of memoirs, but this arrived yesterday (the author's also published a similar book on Arnhem veterans).
http://www.greatwarportraits.com/ |
Tags |
remarque, ww1 |
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