Just Finished Reading All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque's groundbreaking exposé novel All Quiet on the Western Front came out in 1929, originally written in German as Im Westen Nichts Neues.  A German, he served in World War I on that Western Front in France and suffered leg wounds during trench combat in 1917.  The book would be adapted to film in 1930...both versions are considered to be at the apex of their respective art forms.  I finally got around to reading the book and strongly agree that it is an immortal classic of great literature.  The first-person narrative is by the young German Paul Bäumer as he recounts his ongoing trench warfare experiences in France with memories of his earlier life in Germany.  He is tightly bonded with his fellow soldiers...some of them friends from his home town: Müller, Kropp, Leer, Tjaden...and "Kat" Katczinsky, the last a seasoned, older soldier with whom he forms the closest bond.  The story covers their gradual attrition over the course of months, the shortness of rations and necessary equipment, the often abusive treatment they get from higher-ups in the military, the scary visits to military hospitals with surgeons bent on experimentation, and the almost total disconnect from others when they go on leave to their respective homes.  More than anything this story is a stark reminder that war is decided by the powerful few and inflicted on the powerless masses...Bäumer sees the Russian POWs and a dying French soldier as closer to him than those in charge on his own side.  In short, this was seen as a dangerous, subversive piece of literature by both the emerging Nazis in the 1930s, as well as by many in the West who felt it spoke against the military too harshly: both book and film found themselves banned in different places.  I recently checked out this powerful movie from my library and saw it (see above picture). Not only was there a TV movie version made in 1979 starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine (available on YouTube), but I hear that Netflix is currently filming a new version right now.  You can read All Quiet on the Western Front on pdf by hitting this link.  Read it: even if you are pacifistic to begin with, the vividness of the narrative is so piercing that it will only reinforce your already-held beliefs.  And if you're one of those flag-waving pro-war "patriots", you're probably so stuck in your own narrative that nothing...not even this...will shake you out of your bubble...