I'm reading ahead in the book, and I have to say that last night's chapter, which explored the experience of a bombardment, was so intense that I almost had to close the book. The prose is just as flat and straightforward and affectless as ever, but Remarque has a way of making it so immediate. I don't want to get ahead of our narrative here, but I did want to say that the deeper I go into this book, the more I appreciate the writer's artistry.
Posted by Mitzi M Walsh @ 11:33 AM Tue, Jun 19, 2007
This is a most intriguing exercise for me. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is another one of the classics that I, from time to time, assume I have read. As I often discover, this is another classic that I find myself reading for the first time.
It is exciting to hear what others are saying about the book and I look forward to all that is to come.
My observation--based on the comments about this and other wars--is that there is really only one war, and it never ceases to wreak its havoc on mankind. Today's victors become tomorrow's victims who become the next generation of victors, ad infinitum.
The rhetoric stays the same, "War is inhumane, awful, deplorable and it must stop! WE can stop war by killing anyone who disagrees with us."
I am not really a fatalist, but a life-long optimist who still believes in the over-arching goodness of humankind. The more we know and understand about past wars the better chance to have to someday find the answers that will truly stop violence and hatred, maybe even war.
I believe that peace must begin with understanding. Maybe this summer will be that beginning.
I too was struck by the intensity of the shellings. I'm guessing Remarque's frank descriptions probably come from his own experiences in the war.
I found it interesting that some of the men were much more moved by the screams of the injured horses rather than those of their wounded comrades. At one point the men are so weighed down by the pathetic cries of the horses they become frantic. As Paul observes, "We must get up and run no matter where, but where these cries can no longer be heard. And it is not men, only horses."
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Posted by Mitzi M Walsh @ 11:33 AM Tue, Jun 19, 2007
This is a most intriguing exercise for me. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is another one of the classics that I, from time to time, assume I have read. As I often discover, this is another classic that I find myself reading for the first time.
It is exciting to hear what others are saying about the book and I look forward to all that is to come.
My observation--based on the comments about this and other wars--is that there is really only one war, and it never ceases to wreak its havoc on mankind. Today's victors become tomorrow's victims who become the next generation of victors, ad infinitum.
The rhetoric stays the same, "War is inhumane, awful, deplorable and it must stop! WE can stop war by killing anyone who disagrees with us."
I am not really a fatalist, but a life-long optimist who still believes in the over-arching goodness of humankind. The more we know and understand about past wars the better chance to have to someday find the answers that will truly stop violence and hatred, maybe even war.
I believe that peace must begin with understanding. Maybe this summer will be that beginning.
Posted by Doug Woods @ 11:43 AM Tue, Jun 19, 2007
I too was struck by the intensity of the shellings. I'm guessing Remarque's frank descriptions probably come from his own experiences in the war.
I found it interesting that some of the men were much more moved by the screams of the injured horses rather than those of their wounded comrades. At one point the men are so weighed down by the pathetic cries of the horses they become frantic. As Paul observes, "We must get up and run no matter where, but where these cries can no longer be heard. And it is not men, only horses."