All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque

Overview

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 men of the same generation but different uniforms against each other—if only he can come out of the war alive.
"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first trank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454956624
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Series:	Signature Editions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224

About the Author

Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) was one the best-selling German-born authors of the twentieth century. Several of his novels portrayed the experience of war and its aftermath. All Quiet on the Western Front was his best-known and most widely read work.

Kurt Beals is visiting associate professor of German and humanities fellow in literary translation at the University of Richmond. He has translated works by Jenny Erpenbeck, Hermann Hesse, Reiner Stach, Regina Ullmann, and Anja Utler, among others. He lives in Virginia.

Read an Excerpt

"Summer of 1918-Never was life in the line more bitter and more full of horror than in the hours of the bombardment, when the blanched faces lie in the dirt and the hands clutch at the one thought: No! No! Not now! Not now at the last moment!"
—from All Quiet on the Western Front

Table of Contents

Introduction     7
Biographical Sketch     9
The Story Behind the Story     17
List of Characters     20
Summary and Analysis     23
Critical Views     52
Brian Murdoch on All Quiet on the Western Front as a Weimar Antiwar Novel     52
Brian Murdoch on Remarque and Homer     57
A.F. Bance on the Novel's Best-seller Status     63
Chris Daley on the Force of Silence in All Quiet on the Western Front     68
Hildegard Emmel on All Quiet on the Western Front as a Weimar Novel     71
Vita Fortunati on the Representation of World War I in Hemingway, Remarque, and Ford Madox Ford     75
Dorothy B. Jones on the Film Version of the Novel     79
Helmut Liedloff on A Farewell to Arms and All Quiet on the Western Front     83
Alfredo Bonadeo on Paul Baumer's Relationship to German Culture     87
Modris Eksteins on the Novel as a Postwar Commentary     92
Hans Wagener on the Final Chapter of All Quiet on the Western Front     96
Robert Baird on Hollywood's Ambivalence to World War I Novels     100
Wilhelm J. Schwarz on Remarque's Memorial to the Unknown Soldier     105
Works   Erich Maria Remarque     110
Annotated Bibliography     111
Contributors     120
Acknowledgments     123
Index     125

Editorial Reviews

The world has gained a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will.

The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.”—The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2013
Classic novel of young German classmates headed off to war and horror in the trenches. The sequel, The Road Back, covers their return to a devastated country.

Library Journal

Muller’s straightforward, simple delivery underscores the horror and hopelessness depicted in Remarque’s powerful WWI novel. Germany’s Iron Youth, represented by Paul Baumer and his friends, begin the war as teenagers sure of the justice of their cause and the glory that will be theirs. When these young men are confronted with trench warfare, dying in hellish agony, Paul must face the reality in which he finds himself and prepare for the world to which he will return, irrevocably changed. Reading with a calm, quiet sureness, which heightens the soul-destroying nightmare of Paul’s ordeal, Muller’s stunning performance demonstrates the reason for his huge following. Recommended by many high schools, this is a must for young adults. S.G. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

JAN 95 - AudioFile