Book Review: All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine, 2008. Print. All Quiet on the Western Front is a book written by Erich Maria Remarque in 1929. The story is told from the perspective of a young German soldier, Paul Baumer, who along with some of his schoolmates, is encouraged by his teachers to enlist into the army during World War I. It follows the story of his experiences in the war, along with the interactions he had with his friends and fellow soldiers. Once the young men are thrust into the front lines and get a glimpse of what the war really is, they begin to question the patriotic and nationalistic reasons for which they joined. Paul survives many bombardments, …show more content…
Although no one would be able to fully understand the agony that is battle unless you were there, the book is very vivid and gives a detailed look into what life was like on the front lines. In today’s world, war is mostly fought at a distance using missiles and bombs, but during World War I, war had to be fought up close, and soldiers had to kill hundreds of men in hand to hand combat, and that really took a toll on their mental state. Many people at the time the book was published did not fully know the consequences of the war, or how brutal combat was since the men returning home were so shell shocked and unable to talk about it. The they were expected to come home and share their glorious war stories, which, were not in fact glorious, and that brought back painful, troublesome memories that they would much rather avoid reliving. They were also expected to return to life as usual, which would have been nearly impossible with their psychological scars. The book gives the reader a look inside of the mind of a young soldier, and his many philosophical ideas and thoughts, and how the war slowly ate at