Hunter-All+Quiet+on+the+Western+Front

= __All Quiet on the Western Front__  =

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Erich Maria Remarque was born in 1898 to a middle class family in Osnabruck, Germany. Immediately after turning eighteen he was sent off to war and received many medals for his bravery and injuries sustained in combat. In 1917 he returned to Germany and worked various jobs including town librarian. In 1929 he decided to write about his experiences and wrote the know famous //__All Quiet on The Western Front__.// The book and its strong anti-war message made Remarque an international celebrity. He emigrated from Germany in 1931 to Switzerland, then moved to the United States in 1939. He wrote novels and worked briefly in Hollywood. Remarque's other novels include //The Road Back//, //Arch of Triumph//, and //Night in Lisbon//. He died in of old age in 1970.====== [|Full Biography]

Summary
__//All Quiet on the Western Front//__ is the story of a young German soldier, Paul Bäumer, during the last days of World War One. Paul narrates his story and it is split into short episodes. The novel is written like a diary, with entries on everyday life. The story begins with the enlistment of Paul into the the German army along with his classmates Müller, Kropp, and Leer. They are soon deployed to the front lines but are much more concerned with cigarettes and beer then battle. While resting one day, Bäumer and his friends decide to visit Kemmerich, a wounded sergeant, at the field hospital. They realize he is dying and leave in shock and sadness. After returning to the trench the men are soon thrust into the war when they are ordered over the trench. Mass confusion and death overcomes Paul and he is injured by shrap metal. He awakes in a military hospital and is soon granted family leave. For several weeks he is allowed to see his sister and mother. The reunitment is short and unfufilling. Within days he must head back to the battlefield where he will face his greatest challenge yet, staying alive.

Critical Analysis
This award winning novel is an exceptional book in almost every way, but every story has its weak and strong parts. The book dives deep into explaining the lives of Paul and his young friends, detailing as much as their specific reactions to everyday occurrences. Another strong point of the book is its graphic descriptions. Remarque is especially talented at making the reader feel as if they are truly there through the use of strong language. The last main Strong point of the book is its use of everyday situations to model more complex emotional feelings. The author uses the boys fondness for alcohol and ciggarettes to show they are real characters and can be more concerned with material things than the problems they face. Some things I believe could be improved include, making the novel more objective. It is written from a very pacifistic point of view and this seems to overshadow most of the events in the book. The last thing I would change about this book would be its use of emotion. Every great book is filled with large amounts of detailed feeling but this book, which is written like a diary drags out the feelings far to long.

This Book is Outstanding, and was put on the Outstanding books list because it has won numerous international awards and is considered a great book in history. It is also amazing because it helped to show the danger of fascism and was banned by Nazi Germany when they took power in 1930.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in war, history, or great novels because it is well written and helps open my eyes to better understand war through a soldiers eyes.

If you like this book then i would reccomend these others: [|List of Famous war novels]

Similar books chosen by classmates: Nick789 a farwell to arms *Wilson 1984

Literary Information
Point of view: Paul Bäumer (First Person) Setting: The German/French Border in 1918 Style: War Diary Genre: Historiical Fiction

Themes
Loneliness Death War Tragedy Pacifism