All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

4.03 AVERAGE

euedhdhdyx's review

4.25
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

adamc90's review against another edition

4.5
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

carrie613's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
jac_beh's profile picture

jac_beh's review against another edition

4.75
Obviously an intense book. I really like how the author describes scenes and plays with emotions. Stylistic it is very well written. 

Some scenes were a bit too slow for my taste, especially when the protagonist started philosophizing and describing situations in a rather abstract way (but it rarely happened). I didn’t know many (probably old) words even though I read the book in German.

Apart from these minor issues I loved the book and would recommend it to everyone (in case it is a realistic portrayal which I assume).

michaeldionne's review against another edition

I can’t think of a reason why anyone shouldn’t read this book.
There is no glory in war. War may at times be necessary, but it is hell, and this book reminds you of that.

dr_schulz's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

abbymairead's review against another edition

4.0
depressing but realistic commentary on the promises and traumas of war in youth

g_george04's review against another edition

5.0
The novel shows us very clearly that war is something almost dystopian: war is not about heroism, but about terror, either waiting for death, or trying desperately to avoid it, even if it means killing a complete stranger to do so, about losing all human dignity and values, about becoming an automaton; it is not about falling bravely and nobly for one's country ('he was killed instantly' was usually a lie), but about soiling oneself in terror under heavy shellfire, about losing a leg, crawling blinded in no man's land, or (in those telling hospital scenes) being wounded in every conceivable part of the body.
Bäumer and his fellow soldiers discuss the nature of the war and war itself, but they do not come to any real conclusions - nor could they. They are too young, they lack the background. But their naivety, their very inability to articulate an answer is the point of the book. Bäumer dies. The reader is left to draw the conclusion.

prodilosso's review against another edition

4.0
Like the "Red Badge of Courage" this book paints a screaming picture of abject terror. It's so hard to fathom how talking heads can order a young man to his doom. The visits home are awful with hysterical mothers and deadened young sons.

I understand intellectually that there are forces of evil that have to be stopped. There are national security issues. Since I know nothing of weaponry, I have to ask: can we get the soldiers out of the trenches and jungles? Can we deploy more drones?

Although the outcome is clear, the War is hopefully almost over. Then, wham, the reader is punched in the gut. The POV changes matter of factly to the third person.

ashtray988's review against another edition

5.0
dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No