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Happy Birthday: Erich Maria Remarque born Erich Paul Remark; (22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel All Quiet on the Western Front (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during World War I, an international bestseller which created a new literary genre of veterans writing about conflict. The book was adapted to film several times. Remarque's anti-war themes led to his condemnation by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as "unpatriotic." He was able to use his literary success and fame, to relocate to Switzerland as refugee, and to the United States, where he became a Naturalized citizen.
[Yeah, my first author! I read 'All Quiet..' decades ago, but only discovered recently that the author had penned a sequel about the surviving soldiers trying to adapt to peace in a country shattered by war. I'll see about reading both next year as I'm presently maxed out on Classics. Looking forward to it.]
10 comments:
I remember reading All Quiet in high school, picking it up for an exciting war read, being scandalized that it was about the Germans, and then ....deeply saddened by the ending.
Scandalised? Why? Because it was about the German army? AKA: The 'bad' guys?
I don't live far from Remarque's home town and there is a museum dedicated to him. I might have to write a post about it.
I think what is even more important than his description about what soldiers have to go through during a war is that they don't always agree with being soldiers. My grandfathers had to serve in WWI, my father and uncles in WWII. None of them was happy with that, not because they didn't want to defend their country, they didn't want to fight for the Nazis. But they had no choice. And I think that is part of the reason why he was condemned by the Nazis. Any pacifist was "unpatriotic" in their eyes, though in reality, it was them.
My review:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/remarque-erich-maria-all-quiet-on.html
I'll look forward to that post if you decide to do one.
There's certainly a huge difference between volunteer and conscript troops - especially when they *really* don't want to be there and are fighting for something they *really* don't agree with.
I see that most (if not all) of Remarque's works have been republished (possibly because of the Netflix adaptation of 'All Quiet..'). I'll see about reading them at some point.
All Quiet on the Western Front
1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
2. The Way Back (1931)
Three Comrades (1937)
Flotsam (1941)
Arch of Triumph (1945)
Spark of life (1952)
Time to Love and a Time to Die (1954)
The Black Obelisk (1957)
Heaven Has No Favourites (1961)
aka Bobby Deerfield
The Night in Lisbon (1964)
The Promised Land (1970)
Shadows in Paradise (1972)
@Cyberkitten: Yep. This was when I was very young, like 13/14.
I remember the book having a very deep, quiet, but strong impact on me emotionally. The war experiences felt visceral to me. I urged my students to read the book or see the film to get some sort of inkling of what the war was like. I had one student come to me after watching the film and asking why anyone would ever go to war. 😟
Definitely a huge difference. If you only go because otherwise your whole family gets killed, you don't reall want to defend your nation becaue your nation is the one under threat from the people you have to fight for.
@ Stephen: Youth, eh...? [grin]
@ V V: The book definitely worked for *that* student!
@ Marianne: You have to wonder what authorities are thinking (if anything) when they FORCE people to fight for something they don't believe in. Like the nonsensical Tory idea here for 'National Service' for all 18 year olds. Yeah, like **that's** going to fly!?!
Since when are authorities thinking?
We used to have conscription until a couple of years ago. Now they say they might reintroduce it again. Well, we'll see about that.
Here conscription ended in 1960 (coincidently the year I was born) with the last conscription batch finishing their 'term' in 1963. I *really* don't think they'll ever bring it back. I think the only country that still fights with massive conscript armies are the Russians - and look how well its going for them!
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