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51st out of 93 books
—
158 voters
The Road Back
After surviving several horrifying years in the inferno of the Western Front, a young German soldier and his cohorts return home at the end of WW1. Their road back to life in civilian world is made arduous by their bitterness about what they find in post-war society. A captivating story, one of Remarque's best.
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
December 1st 2001
by Simon Publications
(first published January 1st 1931)
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The Road back, although less well known than All Quiet on the Western Front, is just as thought-provoking and, in subtle ways, even more heart breaking.
The story begins during the last few days of WWI. As battle rages around them, a group of young German soldiers contemplate what peace will be like and dream of returning home with both fear and longing. They grieve for lost comrades who won't be returning with them but anticipate the joy of being back with friends and family, of returning, final...more
The story begins during the last few days of WWI. As battle rages around them, a group of young German soldiers contemplate what peace will be like and dream of returning home with both fear and longing. They grieve for lost comrades who won't be returning with them but anticipate the joy of being back with friends and family, of returning, final...more
The psychologically haunting follow-up novel to All Quiet on the Western Front. These boys traveled to the depths of human depravity and brutality and came back to a thankless, cold, poor society. A society that didn't know who these boys were or what they did or why they did it, and didn't want to know.
Welcome to the 20th century boys! Here we are individuals, we do not have social infrastructure to help reintegrate you into society. It's up to you to find it within yourself to just forget the...more
Welcome to the 20th century boys! Here we are individuals, we do not have social infrastructure to help reintegrate you into society. It's up to you to find it within yourself to just forget the...more
This is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, and it may be more quietly powerful. There are some of the snippets of gruesome battle scenes, but this book that takes place after World War I shows the soldiers disillusioned with the war's purpose, alienated from their friends and life before the war and adrift when they try to resume their lives at home. Trained as soldiers in a brutal war, they have a hard time finding their place in society and find themselves missing the camaraderie of...more
Heartbreaking. This book shows the soldiers returning home after the war. They do not belong to the ordinary society any more and nightmares of the past don't want to leave them alone, The only chance of surviving is found in friendship which later seems to slip away...
After finishing this book I feel sad. It shows very vividly the real hardship of life of the 'lost generation', where even the truest things like brotherhood of soldiers loses its value in the dirty society full of lies and bloo...more
After finishing this book I feel sad. It shows very vividly the real hardship of life of the 'lost generation', where even the truest things like brotherhood of soldiers loses its value in the dirty society full of lies and bloo...more
This was a great follow up to Remarque's 1st novel "All Quiet on the Western Front". I was drawn into the story. A story of men, soldiers, trying to re-adjust to civilian life after years at the front, in the trenches. This book should be recommended for any of our troops today. To show them, that they are not alone, nor are they first. Sometimes, the way back is more treacherous. For my veteran friends and for those still serving, give this book a read.
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The sequel to "All Quiet on the Western Front": Remarque follows the lives of several German soldiers who return home from the Western front after World War I. It is an indictment of war, and of the conditions that promote it and permit it, from the author of the greatest anti-war book ever. In light of all the discoveries around post-traumatic stress disorders in later years, this is a look at what soldiers encountered and how they responded long before such conditions were ever recognized.
Have not read All quiet on the Western front. This work by Erich Maria Remarque shows powerfully the dismay of a group of soldiers (comrades in arms) re-entering civil society after the end of WW 1. Their friends and family do not understand them. Have trouble with the stories of the cruelty of the soldiers' experience, while the comrades do not relate to the triviality of the civilians' way of living. It can take years for the ex-soldiers to rehabilitate to civilian life.
fantastic sequel to "All Quiet on the Western Front." Remarque really captures what it is like to come home from war, but the book like many of his others is som much more, it is about youth lost and vain attempts to get it back. It is about realizing what is truly important in life, something unique from a Soldier's perspective.
Another Remarque classic, another one of the Greatest novel I've read. This is THE ABSOLUTE PERFECT followup there can be to the epical greatness of the story of All Quiet on the Western Front. A must read for anyone who ever heard of World War 1/2, or ever had a friend, or just ever read even a single book!
Amazing work! For anyone wondering what Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is all about, here it is. Imagine having no idea about the psychology of the condition. Now, multiply that with an entire generation coming home to family and friends, none of whom have any idea of what they are going through, nor the capacity to understand them.
Remarque starts out with an existential narrative, but then switches towards the transcendental. Echoing hints of ‘Wind and the Willows,’ he finds the sole saving gr...more
Remarque starts out with an existential narrative, but then switches towards the transcendental. Echoing hints of ‘Wind and the Willows,’ he finds the sole saving gr...more
A great series of books. It you to comprehend the hardships of the average German man during World War and gives you a little insight into their reasoning for starting WW II.
Aug 05, 2012
Kim Jones
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Esteban Hernandez, Mihai Razvan
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Speechless. Hours later and the emotions this novel have given me still swell my breast and will not dissipate.
less well known then then "All Quiet on the Western Front", still a powerful and often saddening book.
This is one of the few books that has ever made me cry. Excellent book, I highly recommend this book!
more satiric than all the quiet...
story of german soldiers' struggle fitting back into society after spending months in the trenches during WWI. speaks to the the life of the soldier after war: something we do not often take the time to think about.
Perhaps a bit too long winded, but powerful all the same. Remarque was a master of showing the despair that overwhelms men in times of quiet reflection.
Not quite to the level of All's Quiet, but a worthy follow-up that examines the impact of violence and war on men as they try to return home.
Uniquely compassionate view on post-war stress.
May 16, 2013
Mary Chisholm
marked it as to-read
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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 States. With the...more
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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 States. With the...more
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“И внезапно ме обзема неизразимата печал на отлитащото време - то тече ли, тече и променя всичко, а когато се върнеш, не заварваш нищо от предишното. Ех, сбогуването е тежко, ала завръщането понякога е още по-тежко.”
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5 people liked it
“Educationalists who think they can understand the young are enthusiasts. Youth does not want to be understood; it wants only to be let alone. It preserves itself immune against the insidious bacillus of being understood. The grown-up who would approach it too importunately is as ridiculous in its eyes as if he had put on children's clothes. We may feel with our youth, but youth does not feel with us. That is its salvation.”
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3 people liked it
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