Peter in Dallas writes:
My grandfather's brother was killed on the western front on May 18th 1917 two days after making sergeant. He sailed from England in December 1915 and kept a diary that ends two days before his death. What struck me most forcibly about what he wrote was that the enlisted man had virtually no idea what was going on.
I have attached a copy of this diary which you and your readers may find of interest.
Unfortunately, it's in PDF format, so I can't cut-and-paste entries, but I'll try to type some in later. Peter hits on something that I noticed from the first chapter: how Remarque throws you intensely into the perspective of Paul Baumer, the protagonist, and how immediate everything is. You don't get a "God's eye" view of the war; you really do see it through the limited but all-consuming perspective of the infantryman.
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Comments
Posted by Georgianne Burlage @ 7:39 PM Mon, Jun 18, 2007
My AP World History students are required to read this book for their summer reading and to complete a journal on the theme of the universal soldier. The most common reflection is that Paul could be from any country in any war. This book is timeless.