My rating:

add to my books

All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque, A.W. Wheen (Translator)

3.73 · rating details · 52,289 ratings · 2,078 reviews

Paul Baumer enlisted with his classmates in the German army of World War I. Youthful, enthusiastic, they become soldiers. But despite what they have learned, they break into pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. And as horrible war plods on year after year, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principles of hate that meaninglessly pits young ...more

Paperback, 296 pages

Published March 12th 1987 by Random House Publishing Group (first published January 1st 1354)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Best Books Ever

140th out of 17,109 books — 57,532 voters

Best Books of the 20th Century

83rd out of 3,797 books — 20,698 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 69,852)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 23, 2009

Daniel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Daniel by: Rose

Shelves: 2009

I don't know why it took me so long to get to "All Quiet on the Western Front," but I'm glad I finally read it and am grateful to my friend Rose for recommending it. The book, first published in the late 1920s, is an absolutely heartbreaking, wonderfully written novel about the permanent damage done to those who fight in wars. Few anti-war novels written since have matched Erich Maria Remarque's unsettling book, and I doubt any have surpassed it.

Given how famous "All Q...moreI don't know why it took me so long to get to "All Quiet on the Western Front," but I'm glad I finally read it and am grateful to my friend Rose for recommending it. The book, first published in the late 1920s, is an absolutely heartbreaking, wonderfully written novel about the permanent damage done to those who fight in wars. Few anti-war novels written since have matched Erich Maria Remarque's unsettling book, and I doubt any have surpassed it.

Given how famous "All Quiet" is, there's little need for me to say much about it here. (Plus, it's so much easier to write negative reviews than positive ones, and I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this book.) There are several heart-rending passages that I expect will stick with me for a long time, though, and that I feel the need to mention: Paul Bäumer's leave, during which he finds it nearly impossible to relate normally to his family after his experiences on the front; Paul's time in a shell hole with French soldier Gérard Duval; the brief interlude Paul and his comrades spend with a group of French girls, and how the gal with whom he'd been paired treats him in the end; and, of course, the scene near the book's end involving Stanislaus Katczinsky, easily "All Quiet"'s most interesting character. (I won't say anything about the scene with Kat so as not to spoil it for those who haven't read the book yet.)

One final thought, which I bring up because of Logan's comment that he didn't like "All Quiet," which he last read in high school. I've talked about this before, most recently in my review of "The Sea Wolf," and I feel the need to bring it up again: Many American readers, it seems, have bad memories of great works of literature they were made to read in school. That they were forced to read the books is, of course, part of the problem, but I also think schoolchildren often are assigned books they're not yet ready for. I don't mean that they're not smart enough to read and understand the books, but rather that they're not mature enough to have the books resonate properly with them. This would definitely be true of "All Quiet." It would be the most unusual of high school students -- one in a hundred, perhaps, if that many -- who could truly appreciate the issues raised in this book.

I would encourage anyone who hasn't read "All Quiet" yet to check it out. And for those who read it in school and were left with a bad taste in their mouths, it's probably time to revisit the book. That means you, Logan.(less)

like 35 likes

· see review

Oct 02, 2009

Martine rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: continental-european, early-twentieth-century, favourites, film, historical-fiction, modern-fiction, war

All Quiet on the Western Front (or, to give it its German title, Nothing New in the West) has been hailed as the best war novel ever, and it's easy to see why. World War I is described in such vivid non-glory in its pages that you are sucked into the story straight away and stay there for the next two hundred pages. It is obvious that the author, Erich Maria Remarque, had first-hand experience of the things he writes about; the details are so right and authentic-sounding that they couldn't possi...moreAll Quiet on the Western Front (or, to give it its German title, Nothing New in the West) has been hailed as the best war novel ever, and it's easy to see why. World War I is described in such vivid non-glory in its pages that you are sucked into the story straight away and stay there for the next two hundred pages. It is obvious that the author, Erich Maria Remarque, had first-hand experience of the things he writes about; the details are so right and authentic-sounding that they couldn't possibly have been wholly made up. Needless to say, the ring of authenticity adds quite a punch to the reading experience, elevating a good war story into an absolute classic of the genre.

All Quiet is a short book, but remarkably complete. All the aspects of trench warfare are there -- the excitement, the tedium, the horror, the pain, the fear, the hunger, the dirt, the loss, the sense of alienation, the awareness that you may die any minute, and last but not least, the realisation of the futility of it all. All Quiet has a pervasive sense of futility, an initially unvoiced but later fully expressed question of 'Just what is this war all about, and why am I putting my life on the line for it? What could be worth such a sacrifice?' The answer is, obviously, nothing, because if this book has one message, it is that war is awful and young men ought not to be forced to fight them. This is not a book which glorifies the war effort, or portrays soldiers as heroes. It is not a book which tries to justify Germany's involvement in World War I. In Remarque's own words, it is 'an attempt to give an account of a generation that was destroyed by the war -- even those of it who survived the shelling'. As such, it is brutal and confronting, but in the best possible way. Anti-war fiction has seldom been this effective, or this memorable for that matter.

All Quiet tells the story of Paul Bäumer, a young man who gets talked by an idealistic teacher into joining the German army fighting World War I in Belgium. In short, business-like sentences, Paul tells the reader about his experiences in and around the trenches, plus those of his similarly duped classmates, all of whom end up dead. All Quiet does a brilliant job of evoking the strain of being at the front, providing vivid descriptions of the horrors of night-time shelling, being caught in no man's land, the smell of gangrene in the hospital, etc. Reading the book, you get a good feel for what it must have been like to be a soldier in World War I. Remarque does not spare his reader. He not only tells you what it's like to hide from the shells that are coming your way, but also what it feels like to crawl through a recently dug cemetery where shells have just exposed some body parts, and what it's like to crawl deeper and deeper beneath a coffin so that it will protect you, 'even if Death himself is already in it'. He tells you what it's like to hear friendly voices after having been stuck in no man's land for what seems like an eternity, and what it's like to have an unscratchable itch because there are lice underneath your plaster cast. He tells you what it's like to stare longingly at the picture of a squeaky clean pretty girl when you're absolutely filthy yourself and crawling with lice. He tells you why you need coarse and black humour to deal with the horrors of war, and why you need girls, or at least fantasies about girls. He also tells you what it's like to talk to the parents of a soldier who has died a horrible death. And last but not least, he shows you the aftermath. All Quiet on the Western Front demonstrates quite unequivocally how scarred the soldiers emerged from the trenches, because, as one of Paul's classmates says halfway through the book, 'Two years of rifle fire and hand-grenades -- you can't just take it all off like a pair of socks afterwards.' It shows how alienated the veterans of trench warfare felt from those at home, who could not for the life of them understand what it was like to experience the things they were going through. I guess this was the most powerful part of the book for me -- the part where Paul goes home and finds that he cannot communicate with his family, that he cannot possibly share the horrors of his recent experiences with his loved ones, because (1) they wouldn't understand, and (2) he does not want to upset them any more than their concerns for his well-being have already done. With chilling accuracy, Paul describes how empty his war experiences have made him feel. War, he says, brutalises soldiers, turning them into human animals, to the point where they have nothing to live for, as their former interests, dreams, tenderness and the future have all 'collapsed in the shelling, the despair and the army brothels'. His sense of desolation and isolation is so exquisitely rendered that by the time his leave is over and he has to return to the front, you find yourself agreeing with his classmate Albert: 'The war has ruined us for everything.'

As you can probably tell from the above, I had a strong reaction to All Quiet on the Western Front. From the sparse but effective prose to the expert way in which Remarque builds up the final two deaths, I just loved the book, responding to it unreservedly, jotting down astute observations and sharing passages from it with my boyfriend, who is a World War I buff. I felt like I was experiencing the boys' emotions with them, the good ones as well as the bad ones. I was shocked, horrified and repulsed when Remarque wanted me to be, but also got a few chuckles out of the book, because all the bad stuff really makes the good moments the boys experience stand out. I loved the male camaraderie which occasionally drips off the pages. I loved the descriptions of the little acts of vengeance the boys enact on those who have wronged them, as well as the few moments of genuine happiness they experience at the front, such as when they eat a stolen goose, raid an officers' supply depot or make their way to some girls they are not supposed to visit. These events are drawn so vividly and have such a genuine feel of relief and excitement about them that it's hard not to get drawn in. Mostly, though, I just sympathised with the boys, asking with them why war is necessary, and whether those who wage wars on others have any idea what they're doing to the men who fight the wars for them. I think All Quiet on the Western Front should be compulsory reading for every leader who has ever considered going to war. The fact that the book is eighty years old and deals with events which took place nearly a century ago does not make its message any less valid today.

A note on the Vintage English translation: Brian Murdoch's translation is good but a bit sloppy at times, especially in the second half of the book, where he occasionally uses German-sounding grammar and makes a few typos. It also sounds a bit too British for my taste, to the point where I occasionally had to remind myself that I was reading about German soldiers, as they all sounded so terribly English! I would have preferred a slightly less 'placeable' translation, but really, that's a minor complaint. By and large, Murdoch did a good job. Next time round, though, I think I'll read the book in the original German.(less)

like 16 likes

· see review

view all 17 comments

Martine Dottie, I have not visited the Flanders Fields Museum myself, but my boyfriend, being the World War I buff that he is, has. Ieper was the place he mos...more
Oct 12, 2009 03:05pm

Dottie Oh I completely understand that homesickness for green grass -- I moved to southern California from Ohio and it took me ten years to understand that ...more
Oct 12, 2009 06:12pm

Sep 19, 2009

Valerie rated it

Shelves: classic, male-protagonist, historical-fiction

This book is so raw and grusome that I'm sure a story like Paul's is real. I wasn't sure what to give this book because, well, it was just so hopelessly depressing. It made me so depressed that at times that I just had to put it down and breath. I don't regret reading it because I learned a lot about what war is really like but I just felt so hopeless about everything. If you are anything like me and can't handle a lot of hopelessness then have something like Winnie the Pooh on hand to cheer you...more

like 6 likes

· see review

Oct 16, 2010

Kemper rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: military, classic-lit, war, favorites

My copy of this was a paperback that I had picked up somewhere in my high school years. It was printed in the ‘50s and cost 60 cents per the cover price. The pages were yellowed and an old dog of mine (dead 20 years now) chewed on a corner of it at one point, and his teeth marks are still on it. But I held onto that copy over the years through multiple changes of residence and numerous paperback dumps to used book stores and library donations. When I was trying to organize some of my stuff p...moreMy copy of this was a paperback that I had picked up somewhere in my high school years. It was printed in the ‘50s and cost 60 cents per the cover price. The pages were yellowed and an old dog of mine (dead 20 years now) chewed on a corner of it at one point, and his teeth marks are still on it. But I held onto that copy over the years through multiple changes of residence and numerous paperback dumps to used book stores and library donations. When I was trying to organize some of my stuff packed away in the basement, I found my battered old copy and felt the immediate need to read it again.

But I also decided to invest in a better edition. Frankly, I was scared the old one would fall apart, but I’ve carefully packed away that copy again. I’m thinking about putting it in my will that I should be buried with it. That gives you an idea of how highly I regard this book.

My new copy says on the cover that it’s the greatest war novel of all time. I’m not going to argue about that statement. I’ve often thought that this book should be required reading for any politician with the power to declare war. Only a madman or Dick Cheney could send troops into combat after reading this.

Paul is a 19 year old German soldier in World War I. Living though artillery shellings, gas attacks, trench warfare and seeing a generation of men blown to bits has made Paul old before his time. He has a soldier’s profound weariness and cynicism. Some of the more heartbreaking parts of this are when Paul and his fellow soldiers realize that they’ve been changed far too much to ever care about anything but survival again. Paul and the other soldiers try to find small comforts where they can since there’s almost no chance they’ll survive the war unscathed.

On the very short list of books that I think everyone should read at least once.

Trivial Side Note or No, I Don’t Work for the Kansas City Tourism Board

The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial is something I recommend to anybody who likes this book, or has any interest at all in these types of things. (My wife is usually not interested in war stories or memorabilia at all, but she found this museum fascinating.) It’s got tons of actual equipment from the war, interactive multi-media displays, and some truly eye-opening exhibits.

For example, there’s one room you walk into that is a recreation of what it looked like when a large shell hit a French farm house from the basement perspective. So you walk in and it feels like you’re in a giant crater with house debris above you. There are also recreations of the trenches and one battlefield set done below a wide screen documentary playing that gives a vivid and eerie feeling of what a hellish landscape was created by the war.

Check it out here: http://www.theworldwar.org/s/110/new/ind...(less)

like 7 likes

· see review

Aug 27, 2007

Paul rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who has seen war firsthand

This book is short, but a must-have read for those understanding the humanity of war. While I cannot even imagine fighting deep in the trenches of WWI, braving shell shock and constant, brazen assaults on my front lines, I can sincerely identify with his feelings as a two-tour veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

All military differences aside (at least this guy knew what his enemy looked like), the deep feelings when you lose one of your own are still dead on--even after all these yea...more

like 15 likes

· see review

Jan 26, 2012

Saman is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

رمان معروف (در جبهه‌ی غرب خبری نیست) را مهم‌ترین و مطرح‌ترین کتاب درباره‌ی جنگ و اثرات آن بر روی آدمی و عمر وی می‌دانند. رمانی با داستانی که بسیار روان و ساده روایت شده و در اصل سندی است از وحشت جنگ و خشونت و کثافتی که در آن نهفته است. حال فرقی نمی‌کند این جنگ با چه نامی شروع شده باشد: دفاع از وطن، دفاع از دین، جنگ برای به دست آوردن صلح! جنگ برای ایجاد دموکراسی! و... که در واقع همه‌ی این‌ها یک مشت نام هستند که بر روی این عمل گذاشته می‌شود و تاوان و بهای آن را مردم و جوانان و پدران و مادران پردا...more

like 6 likes

· see review

Oct 25, 2009

Laurel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, historical-fiction

I thought this book was exceptional. As with any book dealing with the horrors of war, it is not exactly a pleasant book to read. It is not supposed to be. It is full of violence and death and loss and a kind of perpetual suffering and terror that most of us have never and will never experience. What I thought was so extraordinary about this book was the author's ability to so vividly place the reader right there on the front line with the main character -- not just in terms of what he physical...moreI thought this book was exceptional. As with any book dealing with the horrors of war, it is not exactly a pleasant book to read. It is not supposed to be. It is full of violence and death and loss and a kind of perpetual suffering and terror that most of us have never and will never experience. What I thought was so extraordinary about this book was the author's ability to so vividly place the reader right there on the front line with the main character -- not just in terms of what he physically experienced and witnessed, but all the complicated and intense (and often completely numbed) emotions that came with those experiences. There is no glory here. This book is RAW. But it is also deeply poignant, striking, and beautifully written.

Though the book is told through the eyes of a German soldier during WWI, as I read it, I of course could not help but think of our own troops currently fighting in (or just returned home from) Iraq and Afghanistan. While there is no way for me to ever come remotely close to fully comprehending what any individual soldier has gone through, this book, I think, does the best job at describing all the ranges of experiences than any other war book I've read.

Whenever I hear the news of a newly fallen soldier, I am always struck by how young they are. Eighteen years old. Nineteen. Early 20's. These are fully grown men and women in terms of their bravery, courage, honor and sacrifice; however, they really are still just children. Ten years previous they were still in elementary school. They haven't had a chance to fully live life before they are surrounded by death.

Remarque writes:

"We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world, and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. "

and

"I am young. I am twenty years old. Yet, I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.... What would our fathers do if we suddenly stood up and came before them and proffered our account? What do they expect of us, if a time ever comes when the war is over? ...Our knowledge of life is limited to death. What will happen afterward, and what shall come out of us?"

This last question struck a chord with me, particularly with the high rates of suicide among our troops returning from the Middle East. What happens to our brave men and women soldiers once the war is over is something I don't think is considered to the degree it needs to be. For many of them, the war (the memories, loss, and trauma, etc.) continues even when they have safely returned home.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a difficult book in terms of subject matter and intensity, but I highly recommend it.(less)

like 3 likes

· see review

Nov 17, 2007

Fenixbird SandS rated it

Recommends it for: ALL! Truths of war...

Shelves: requiredschoolreading

Rough translation from the German. Remarque's writing is very deep, and he gives rich characterizations. "All Quiet" made me get to know most of these soldiers rather intimately, for war if nothing else, reminds us of the very basic passion each of us feels for being granted another day or another moment alive. However, a lot the "flow" I believe was lost in this translation. [My essay is below] This book depicts the tragic waste of WWI aka The Great War...never knew anyth...moreRough translation from the German. Remarque's writing is very deep, and he gives rich characterizations. "All Quiet" made me get to know most of these soldiers rather intimately, for war if nothing else, reminds us of the very basic passion each of us feels for being granted another day or another moment alive. However, a lot the "flow" I believe was lost in this translation. [My essay is below] This book depicts the tragic waste of WWI aka The Great War...never knew anything about it really beforehand (except that it started over a dispute in Austria?? Who shot whom?)

[Note: I am renting the movie taken from this fiction novel. If YOU are also a war buff like myself, I recommend these films: "Joyeaux Noel (Merry Christmas)" (World War I) and "The Pianist" (World War II) Somehow their music themes belonged on the silver screen!

[From my essay on this book: "What was most moving of this literary work was the immediacy each solder faced. In particular when faced with the impending death of a fellow soldier, it became clear that each person’s needs were not their first priority but a clear second as they expressed empathy and compassion through extreme valor in trying to keep their wounded comrades alive when on the battlefield-- and as they face what might be their own demise.

A soldier’s perspective certainly moved this reader to retain her belief in pacifism. As "All Quiet" illustrates, there is no apparent glory in war, but rather as Remarque depicts this day-to-day acknowledgment of necessity, sheer robotic conformity and determination to meet that struggle, one has to feel admiration for these young soldiers’ incredible heart in battle. These soldiers, most of them barely more than boys, have their complete outlook changed by the war. Louis Kronenberger aptly expressed:

“It almost certainly had no such fascination for these soldiers; yet All Quiet remains, essentially, a document of men who--however else their lives were disrupted--could endure war simply as war. . .It is about youngsters who were half-puzzled over what it all meant: who were not driven to mental torture because they could not endure what they knew or check their imaginations at what they saw. They sit around, half shrewd, half näive, and speculate now and again....But there is no sense of terrible knowledge, of moral responsibility.” Source: Louis Kronenberger, "War's Horror as German Private Saw It," in The New York Times Book Review, (© 1929 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), June 2, 1929, p. 5.

This writer shares Mr. Kronenberger’s view of the soldiers lacking remorse or a sense of moral responsibility. The young age of the soldiers naturally makes them more programmable to the mechanics of battle and partially as a result of this does change the youths’ outlook on their future. Paul Baumer’s thoughts while he is on leave show how his emotions are juxtaposed between the reality of war and the now seemingly strange hopefulness and familiarity of home and family.

“I bite into my pillow. I grasp the iron rods of my bed
with my fists. I ought never to have come here. Out
there I was indifferent and often hopeless—I will never
be able to be so again. I was a soldier, and now I am
nothing but an agony for myself, for my mother, for
everything that is so comfortless and without end.

I ought never to have come on leave.” Excerpt, pp. 184-5)
. . . "](less)

like 4 likes

· see review

Aug 28, 2010

Jason Pettus rated it

Shelves: early-modernism, classic, military, memoir, personal-favorite, europe

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read for the first time a hundred so-called "classics," then write reports on whether or not they deserve the label

Essay #47: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), by Erich Maria Remarque

The story in a nutshell:
Originally publi...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Mar 04, 2011

K.D. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)

Shelves: 1001-core, war

A good companion to Timothy Findley's The Wars. Why? Both of them are novels about WWI. But All Quiet on the Western Front is the German side and The Wars is the Allied side. Put them side by side in your mind. Run the stories in a parallel manner. You have a whole new novel with complete casts and both warring sides represented. How un-different the young soldiers thoughts are. How much they think that the same war, where their young comrades die left and right, to be senseless. Neither of them...moreA good companion to Timothy Findley's The Wars. Why? Both of them are novels about WWI. But All Quiet on the Western Front is the German side and The Wars is the Allied side. Put them side by side in your mind. Run the stories in a parallel manner. You have a whole new novel with complete casts and both warring sides represented. How un-different the young soldiers thoughts are. How much they think that the same war, where their young comrades die left and right, to be senseless. Neither of them does not have any idea of what the other thinks. But as I reader, I know because I happened to have just read both of their stories. This is just awesome experience!

When All Quiet came out in 1928, Hitler forces banned it as it an anti-war book and for them betrayed their ideologies. The Wars, published in 1977, won awards but as it was peacetime, did not create any controversies. All Quiet was originally written in German so somehow the cadence of its sentences was affected. The Wars was written, brilliantly at that, by a native English-speaker so the narrative is sweeping yet succinct, melodious yet gripping. However, I think that The Wars would not have been written if there was no All Quiet in the first place as it was the book that started all these. So, even if The Wars is definitely better in most aspects than All Quiet, we should give due credits to this Erich Maria Remarque's masterpiece.

Paul Baumer is a 19-y/o German soldier who, together with his 4 other classmates, is encouraged by his teacher to join the army and find himself fighting in the French warfare. He is the first-person narrator in All Quiet. Robert Ross, also 19, decides to join the Canadian army due to the death of his sister and finds himself in the same trench as Paul. Robert is also the first-person narrator this time of The Wars. All Quiet has more characters and gave more pages in the actual battlefield scene particularly the bombings and the scattering of human bodies to bits and pieces and rats, lice, stumps and men squatting at night because of diarrhea. I particularly liked the first time Paul killed a man and he has to talk to its corpse. However, Robert in The Wars fought and rebelled, in his own way, against the stupidity of war. Paul died and the new unknown narrator takes over at the last chapter of the book and deriving my own conclusion dampened the beauty of what I thought to be its striking message: War is stupid but does it have to be proven by death? Does it have to be proven at all?(less)

like 10 likes

· see review

May 05, 2008

Brittany rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Brittany by: I found it on my own.

Shelves: bedtime-books

This book shows you a different side of war. Instead of the books that show you have great or how noble war is this book does not. This book tries to show how teens the same age as me were more or less tricked into fighting a war they didn't even believe in. Unlike world war two, World War one did not really have a reason to begin. (basically ww1 started when countries made pacts with each other to fight with each other. This with the arms race that had been going on, as well as each country so...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Dec 30, 2008

Rose added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008

Fantastic, and great to read a book set during the Great War from the "other side"; it only demonstrates how little difference the side they were on - supposedly the be-all and end-all of war - made to the soldiers themselves. Paul seems to see the main difference between them as one of equipment and supplies, rather than nationality, philosophy, patriotism, or any of the more abstract concepts similar to those his teacher expounded upon to encourage the class to enlist. It's humane wh...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Feb 02, 2009

The other John rated it

Recommended to The other John by: Sonlight

Shelves: historical-fiction, schoolbook, classic, war

What can I say to do justice to this book? The cover blurb calls this "The Greatest War Novel of All Time." It's certainly the best that I've ever read. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the other war stories I've read haven't used All Quiet as part of their research. It's an account of World War I, as seen through the experiences of Paul Bäumer, a young German man serving in France--the "Western front" to the German army. Through his eyes we see the brutalit...more

like 5 likes

· see review

Oct 31, 2011

Jo rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history-smishtory, good-grief, of-epic-proportions, 2011, gorgeous-prose

"Let the months come, and the years, they'll take nothing more from me, they can take nothing more from me...But as long as life is there it will make its own way, whether my conscious self likes it or not."

This review is part of my Poppies & Prose feature. You can find out more here.
So when I first decided to dedicate my reading this November to books either set in or written during the two World Wars, I decided re-visit some books that I had already read.
...more

like 12 likes

· see review

Sep 15, 2008

Mikey B. rated it

Over-rated...

Although this is an intriguing book, I feel that it has been historically over-rated. It is more a series of vignettes describing in detail, events of the war (one could almost say pornographically; but this is admittedly a little harsh): there are scenes of wounded horses screaming, hospital with agonizing amputations, soldiers struggling in the mud…
All of this seems to be pure descriptive; almost like biographical journalistic anecdotes – and none are lengthy. T...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Sep 11, 2008

Joy rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Joy by: Mary

It says right on this cover that it's the greatest war novel of all time.
I agree even though I have not read them all.
Among the reasons why I loved the writing along with the character was the concept of food and/or the event of eating. They're getting shot at, shells are exploding, and the guy is flipping the last of his pancakes to go with the huge score of a roasted pig. They found food and said pig in an evacuated French village and set up a comfy home between bomb blasts.
...more

like 3 likes

· see review

May 08, 2008

Andrea M. rated it

Recommends it for: EVERYONE

‘The greatest war novel of all time’ is a huge understatement, possibly even an insult to Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. It is more than just a great war novel – it is maybe truly the greatest novel ever, period. War is the obvious main theme, but it must not be read as a war novel to fully understand the powerful message hidden behind the actions of war in this novel.
Paul Baumer, the protagonist of this novel is pretty much your typical German nineteen year old te...more‘The greatest war novel of all time’ is a huge understatement, possibly even an insult to Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. It is more than just a great war novel – it is maybe truly the greatest novel ever, period. War is the obvious main theme, but it must not be read as a war novel to fully understand the powerful message hidden behind the actions of war in this novel.
Paul Baumer, the protagonist of this novel is pretty much your typical German nineteen year old teenage boy. The only difference is World War 1 breaks out and he, along with his classmates, unwittingly enlists himself.
There are several deaths suffered in this book and every single one has beautiful powerful symbolism connected to it. For instance, Major Kemmerich’s boots that were left behind after he died, even though he wanted to carry with him afterlife, is symbolism of how during a war, little things mean the most. The fact the boots were forced left behind by doctors signifies how war deaths are kind of moved aside like it means nothing.
This book was very interesting for me to read, not only because of the war theme but also because I’m American. I picked this book up and read it briefly before I figured out he was German, and it definitely gave me mixed feelings. I was not sure if I should support him and sympathize with him because he set out for the war that pits Germany against America. As I read on, I stopped seeing him as a German boy fighting against American soldiers and started seeing him as a boy fighting in a war. This book has vast impact after impact; I did not see any coming. It had no foreshadowing at all, so when something significant happened, it hit me and left me shell shocked, wanting to read more to find out what happens afterward. I don’t think any other novel ever had that kind of impact on me – for a while after I finished it, I found myself thinking back to the novel. You will feel part of the action, guaranteed - it was such an adrenaline rush to read this. I didn't want to rush through; I wanted to really read it and feel it. Just a complete page-turner for me... I LOVED IT.
It’s not just a war novel – it is a champion novel with champion characters. A wonderful story of growing up fast during bleak times and death, faith, and courage and a bonus shocking ending.
(less)

like 3 likes

· see review

May 05, 2008

Andy rated it

A high school standard but I can't imagine I would have understood this fully in high school and I'm glad nobody assigned it to me then. A gruelingly painful, mournful book. The writing is resolutely unpretentious and yet incredibly effective in its descriptions both of battle and of states of mind. I'm not really sure how he pulls it off. The portrait of a man feeling irredeemably divorced from his past and his future is heartbreakingly vivid. If literature is meant to offer us experiences that...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Feb 29, 2008

Stephanie Roller rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: english-12

After reading All Quiet on the Western Front (written by Erich Maria Remarque), I feel very differently towards World War One particularly, but also to war in general. Prior to reading this book, I had no desire to know of the horrors that take place in a time of war. However, this book, though very graphic at times, has shown me many new insights on war. I always imagined the horrors of war to be things visible to the eye; physical wounds. But by the end of this book, I see that the horrors tha...moreAfter reading All Quiet on the Western Front (written by Erich Maria Remarque), I feel very differently towards World War One particularly, but also to war in general. Prior to reading this book, I had no desire to know of the horrors that take place in a time of war. However, this book, though very graphic at times, has shown me many new insights on war. I always imagined the horrors of war to be things visible to the eye; physical wounds. But by the end of this book, I see that the horrors that take place in the minds of the soldiers that fight in the war are so much more terrifying. War not only has the capability to destroy bodies, countries and populations but also to destroy hope, ways of thinking and purpose in life.
All Quiet on the Western Front follows the story of Paul, a German soldier. His journey in the war as a 20 year old healthy young man starts off strong, with a very brave and nationalistic mindset. Friends on every side and plenty of rations add to his excitement of being on the front line fighting for his country. However, this sort of thinking is very short-lived. By the end of the first chapter, and after the death of one of his friends, Paul insightfully reflects “Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk” (18). The amount of sorrow these young men must endure shows in this quote. A common understanding about “old folk” is that they have seen and experienced many things, including much hardship. By likening themselves to “old folk”, Paul gives readers an understanding of how hard life on the front lines is. There is another quote that is probably the most telling of all of how distorted a soldier’s view of life can become because of war. Paul says,
“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another. I see that the keenest of brains in the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring. And all men of my age, here and over there, throughout the whole world see these things; all my generation is experiencing them with me…Our knowledge of life is limited to death” (173).
Paul’s view of life is entirely without purpose or hope. He has seen so much in the short time he has been in the war, so much so that he has forgotten everything of life before the war. His life has become nothing “but despair, death [and] fear…” I had not realized before I read this book the lasting affects of war on not only a soldier’s body, but in their minds. All Quiet on the Western Front is very eye-opening, fantastically written, and although gory at parts, an overall incredible and gripping read.
Paul also makes a very interesting thought when he says, “And men will not understand us…now it will return to its old occupations, and the war will be forgotten…” (190). This is one of Paul’s closing remarks in this book. It seems that the author is alluding to Remembrance/Veteran’s Day. That is a step that society has taken to ensure that this sacrifice will not be forgotten. I know that the next time Remembrance Day comes around, I will think of it differently. Now that I understand a little bit better what the soldiers really and truly endured by going to war, and how terrible it was for them to do so, I’m sure I will be more grateful for their sacrifice.
(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Feb 07, 2008

Jd Stottlemire rated it

Recommends it for: anyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. “All Quiet on The Western Front” is in my opinion simply the most powerful anti-war novel ever written. Its author Erich Maria Remarque was a German foot soldier in World War One and writes with great authority.

The plot is straight forward. We join young Paul Baumer before he enlists in the military. We see the idealism and nationalism being bred into him. From there we follow him into training and then to the trenches where his ideals are swept away by the mad horror of war. He...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Nov 12, 2008

Bettie rated it

Shelves: historical-fiction, classic

ETA - just sniffed out the film - 1930 and all that! Banned Books
Because All Quiet on the Western Front offered a gruesome portrayal of a war lost by the Germans, it infuriated Adolph Hitler, who ordered the book banned and destroyed throughout Germany. Many critics, however, consider it the best antiwar novel ever written.

The French banned it until 1962 - that must have something to do with Vichy and De Gaulle (the gall of it)

---

It's about time I...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Jan 11, 2011

Collin rated it

· review of another edition

This book is often called "The greatest war novel of all time" (it says so on the front cover of my copy, actually, printed directly below the title). It certainly is this.

Most other war books that I have read--here I am thinking specifically of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls--war is merely the setting for the story of love or whatever. In this book, on the other hand, the war itself is the story. You relive the horror and alienation of WW1, fro...more

like 1 like

· see review

Nov 05, 2010

Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, really-good, classics, realistic-fiction, historical, movies-or-tv, no-longer-own, 1001-books, translated, ww1

This book was absolutely beautifully written and nearly every line felt poetic, without being 'overdramatic', if I could use that word in regards to this genre. The book is also very informative, allowing readers to gain an insight of the German side of The Great War. It teaches us about both the factual trench conditions and allows us to experience the emotions and day to day living of the soldiers. The book was touching and certainly showed the horrors of war, with quite graphic description of...more

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 30, 2008

James rated it

Shelves: historical-fiction, lplib-classics, mitteleuropa

Rereading Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front , I was moved by his contrast of the innocence of the 19 year-old (teenage!) boys and the horrific scenes of trench warfare. The opening chapter, especially, where the one young boy who had the temerity to disagree with the military mindset of his schoolteacher was the first to be slain. But not just slain, rather left to die and only shot as he dragged himself back toward his comrades. This was bitter scene, but it would soon to ge...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 01, 2012

Ans Luiken rated it

Ik heb het boek in stukjes gelezen, omdat het zo heftig en direct overkwam. Ben van plan het nog een in één keer achter elkaar uit te lezen. Het heeft denk ik na meer dan 80 jaar nog niets van zijn zeggingskracht verloren. Een citaat van de schrijver zelf: “Dit boek wil, noch een aanklacht, nog een bekentenis zijn, het wil alleen een poging wagen, verslag uit te brengen over een generatie die door de oorlog werd vernield, ook wanneer het haar was gelukt aan de granaten te ontkomen”(Remarque)

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 03, 2010

Erik Graff rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Einar Graff

Shelves: literature

WTTW, Chicago's public television station, used to show classic films on a regular basis. Dad usually did not allow the television to be watched, but these films were an exception and watching them a family treat. I first saw All Quiet on the Western Front in such circumstance.

The film impressed me. I got the book and read it. As ever, the USA was at war, having invaded Southeast Asia, and I was conscious of the fact that I'd be subject to the draft in a few more years. Conseque...more

like 1 like

· see review

Dec 16, 2010

carl theaker rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history-fiction, war

Im Westen, nicht neues. I always loved the German title
of this story, it has a ring to it. I first read this book
when I was about 17 and getting drafted was not far off
for my future and though it is an anti-war book I looked
on it as a tale of adventure.

Remarque takes protagonist Paul on the rites of passage
of growing up, though this growing up is in the Army,
it's a fraternity to which one finds a belonging. Later
on the front the...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 08, 2008

Angela rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Angela by: it's in the canon

No one who hasn't experienced war can know war... However, in our society, soldiers self-select (volunteer) so that those who experience war from America tend toward an idealism that approves of war as a general-use tool. This book depicts war in all its horror; it gives a compelling case for how senseless wars, and even strategic wars, are inherently and wholly destructive. War should only be engaged in when it will demonstrably prevent more loss of life than it will create.

Besid...more

like 1 like

· see review

Mar 16, 2010

Daniel Nguyen added it

Recommends it for: 14+

Recommended to Daniel by: Teacher

Daniel Nguyen

Book Review
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
The book began with a young soldier, Paul Baumer. Paul was a loving man and a poet, but that all changed when he became a soldier. He was unable to speak with his family, speak with comrades, show emotion, and even mourn the death of his beloved friends. The war taught paul to disconnect his emotions from his mind, thats what changed Paul forever. Paul believe he was living a nightmare, he shows...moreDaniel Nguyen

Book Review
"All Quiet on the Western Front"
The book began with a young soldier, Paul Baumer. Paul was a loving man and a poet, but that all changed when he became a soldier. He was unable to speak with his family, speak with comrades, show emotion, and even mourn the death of his beloved friends. The war taught paul to disconnect his emotions from his mind, thats what changed Paul forever. Paul believe he was living a nightmare, he shows what difficulties soldiers have while fighting on the battlefield. Paul was in the hospital and his friend Kat absolutely lost it. He lost control of his mind and began to start babbling word because of his mind being distant of his emotions. That’s when Paul Baumer began to feel his emotions once again.
The main character of this book is a young soldier named Paul Baumer. Paul Baumer is a soldier in the German army in World War I, throughout the book Paul begins to have difficulty with how the war forces to act and feel. Paul used to be many things before the war, he was sensitive, loved his family, and he used to write poetry. The war changed Paul's feelings he somehow was able to disconnect emotions from his mind. So, if Paul killed someone he had no emotion towards it. Though, he did know how to keep his emotions stable so he can avoid becoming insane. Though Paul was unable to feel emotions during the war, some parts in the book shows that Paul has mourned his comrade’s deaths. (Kat's and Kemmerich).
Kantorek is not really an important character but he does symbolize the Nationalism and Militarism that took place in the war, which eventually was one of the causes of World War I. Corporal Himmelstoss is also another character that is symbolizes because he showed the savagery and lust for power that people had during the war. Especially what people did for it.
I give this book an 8 out of 10 rating because I really like the accuracy of the book and how it showed the fears of a soldier during a time of conflict. I would recommend this book to young teens 14+ or even older because of the horrors to know in the WWI and its impact on the world. It also can explain how the people are maybe feeling in Iraq right now.

(less)

· see review

Mar 15, 2010

Chandler added it

Chandler LaFee
March 15, 2010
Book Review: All Is Quiet on the Western Front

All Is Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in World War I. The story follows Paul and several friends through the brutality of the war, and how unforgiving it is. Throughout the book a number of gory fights take place and many of Paul’s friends are killed one by one. During the book Paul becomes a different...moreChandler LaFee
March 15, 2010
Book Review: All Is Quiet on the Western Front

All Is Quiet on the Western Front is narrated by Paul Bäumer, a young man of nineteen who fights in the German army on the French front in World War I. The story follows Paul and several friends through the brutality of the war, and how unforgiving it is. Throughout the book a number of gory fights take place and many of Paul’s friends are killed one by one. During the book Paul becomes a different man, seeing that this war is pointless and nobody wants to fight in it. It a heart-wrenching scene Paul kills a man slowly and painfully without thinking was he is doing. Paul is immediately overcome with remorse for having hurt him. He feels that this enemy soldier is no enemy at all but rather a victim of war just like himself. Paul realized that nobody really wants to fight in war and every one is the same in some way.
I thought it book was okay. I did not think it was anything amazing or special or interesting. I just thought it was okay. I did however think it was extremely thought provoking. It made me think of war in a completely different war, and I thought that was enjoyable. I have always thought of war as just two sides fighting against each other and I was on the side that I was researching or the one I knew the most information about or the one that I agreed with more. But in actuality there aren’t really two sides in war. I mean there are two opposing forces that are going against each other because there government or country tells them too, but as individual soldiers, or captains or generals, they don’t want to really fight. I feel as if, they don’t really want to be there, they don’t want to kill anyone; they don’t even want to hurt anyone. They are there because most of the time, they are just told to be there. They are told to find and kill the opposing sides army or to sink the “enemies” ship. They are trained to take orders and do them no matter what. But I think if you sat two soldiers from two different countries fighting a war against each other, they would find more in common than more uncommon.
I think this book would be for a mature audience, I think high school is an appropriate age. Some of the war scenes in the book are pretty violent and graphic and there is a little bit of language.
So overall, I thought this book was well written and gave you a sense of what goes through an average soldier fighting in a war. It really made you feel all of the feeling you would expect a soldier to go through and more. So maybe I thought it was a good book, better then okay but nothing incredible.
(less)

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 2328 2329 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Ms. Hamilton's Ho...: Secondary Characters	58	30	Feb 03, 2012 10:03am
Ms. Hamilton Hono...: Secondary Characters	54	29	Feb 03, 2012 06:16am
Ms Hamilton Honor...: Secondary Characters	56	25	Feb 03, 2012 04:41am
beautiful and disturbing	19	52	Dec 01, 2011 04:53pm

combine
Other Editions (128)

More editions...

Genres

Classics

1,128 users

Historical Fiction

479 users

War

336 users

Literature

196 users

Academic > School

128 users

European Literature > German Literature

107 users

War > Military

69 users

Young Adult > High School

64 users

Novels

64 users

Cultural > Germany

57 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

The Thin Red Line
by James Jones
The Cruel Sea
by Nicholas Monsarrat
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family
by Thomas Mann
Storm of Steel
by Ernst Jünger (Author)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

About Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque is one of the best known and most widely read authors of German literature in the twentieth century.

Remarque's biography is essentially marked and his writing fundamentally influenced by German history of the twentieth century: Childhood and youth in imperial Osnabrück, World War I, the Weimar Republic, and most of all his exile in Switzerland and the United State...more

More about Erich Maria Remarque...

Books by Erich Maria Remarque

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About All Quiet on the ...

18 trivia questions
3 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from All Quiet on the Weste...

“It is very queer that the unhappiness of the world is so often brought on by small men.” — 44 people liked it

“But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?” — 33 people liked it

More quotes…

Groups That Shelved All Quiet on the ...

The History Book Club

2532 members

last activity 29 minutes ago

shelf: read

Comfort Reads

1131 members

last activity 9 minutes ago

shelf: read

Pick-a-Shelf

732 members

last activity 1 hour, 4 min ago

shelf: read

title link	preview: All Quiet on the Western Front
avg rating	preview: All Quiet on the Western Front Goodreads rating: 3.73 (52289 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/355697.All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285704153m/355697.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/355697.All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque[/url]

All Quiet on the Western Front

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website