264 pages
English language
Published Jan. 24, 2004 by Continuum.
"Written during the last years of the Weimar Republic, the two novels collected here address the urgent problems of that age. Both Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) and Joseph Roth (1894-1939) served in World War I, Remarque with the German army and Roth with the Austrian. Their experiences would help define what Gertrude Stein referred to as the "Lost Generation." All Quiet on the Western Front is the testimony of a soldier who had become aware of how much he, and those of his generation who had survived, had been affected by the trauma of the Great War. For Joseph Roth, World War I had cost him his homeland and turned him into a nomad. Job, in abridged form for The German Library, addresses the theme of Jewish identity in a newly mobilized society."--BOOK JACKET
A re-read. Tremendous, of course. The translation (from German to British English) renders the prose a bit matter-of-fact, losing some of its emotional heft, but this book is still rightly poised amongst the top war novels of all time.
4 1/2 stars
Yeah, I liked this. I can see why this is a classic and why it has withstood the test of time. I'm sure it was controversial back in the day because it was kind of gritty and risque'. I'm not one for war stories so the fact that I read this and was engaged until the end is a testament to the authors ability to tell it "like it is" without sugar-coating or sentimentality which would render it corny. And we all know I have an adversion to corny.
So yeah, force yourself out of your comfort zone occasionally and read something you aren't exactly drawn towards. There is a lot of classic literature out there and it's almost always worthy of your reading time. Go for it.
