All Quiet on the Western Front

[gollum9630]

Has anyone read this book, right now i am reading it in my english class and i like it, just wondering what others think of it

[azalea]

I've only seen the movie, but it was excellent. I plan to read the book someday.:)

[IronParrot]

I'm in the same boat as azalea. It's very interesting to see how people looked at the First World War before the Second one ever started.

[Snowdog]

I read the book after I saw the 1930 movie. It makes quite the statement on war. There was a later movie with Ernest borgnine and Richard Thomas as well.

I recommend this book hihgly, even if you dont have an assignment. ;0

[Percy Weasley]

This book is certainly one of my favorites.

It is a poignant, heartbreaking commentary on the horrors of war, and I think that one of the saddest things about the book is the fact that the world has suffered countless wars since this book was published.

It seems that people never learn.

I would also like to comment that while the movie is acceptable, it does not hold a candle to the blazing glory of the novel.

Peace to all,
~Percy

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by Percy Weasley
This book is certainly one of my favorites.

It is a poignant, heartbreaking commentary on the horrors of war, and I think that one of the saddest things about the book is the fact that the world has suffered countless wars since this book was published.

It seems that people never learn.

I would also like to comment that while the movie is acceptable, it does not hold a candle to the blazing glory of the novel.

Peace to all,
~Percy

i liked the book, i think it portrayed WWI very well, but, as you said, the movie for it sucked.

[azalea]

WHAT!?!? That movie was great! It may not have been as good as the book, but no way did it "suck!":eek:

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by azalea
WHAT!?!? That movie was great! It may not have been as good as the book, but no way did it "suck!":eek:

i found it cheezy, especially when the guy gets blown to pieces and his arm is still hanging on the barbwire.

[azalea]

Are you talking about the 1930 black and white version?

[Percy Weasley]

Movies are never as good as books, be they new movies or old movies. You simply cannot convey the depth and detail in a movie that you can in a book, and it is much more difficult to do a competent job of showing the audience what conflicts are taking place in the human mind.

Of course, this does not mean that a movie made from a book cannot be good - you simply cannot expect them to be the same thing.

A movie about a book must be seen as an artist's rendition of that book - as everyone interprets a book differently, everyone will find something wrong with the director's interpretation. The best thing to do is to simply appreciate the movie for what it is on its own, and if you can't do that, stick to books.

[elixir]

Oh, that's what it's called in English! A very useful knowledge, I would have translated it a bit differently.

Anyway, I've started reading it and someday, when I have time, I will certainly finish it. ;) :D :p

[Silpion]

All Quiet on the Western Front, is a good book to read. It shows how awful war can be but also how war affects the soldiers that fight in it.

Spoilers:
What struck me the most was how Paul carries on through his experiences up in the front. His friends died or were severely injured one by one, he and the other soldiers were trying to survive without enough food or sleep, he learns to become hardened (or maybe he just distances himself from his emotions) like when Paul’s friends are deciding who gets the boots even though the owner of the boots is right there dying slowly from gangrene, and even at the end he just dies with no battle or notice.

I think this is a good book because it doesn't romanticize war, the book takes away the glory and the patriotism and replaces it with the realism.

[Falagar]

I think I've read about half of it, in my Norwegian class (about two years ago now). Don't know why we stopped...

It was, as many of you have mentioned, a very good book: it described the horrors of war without romancing it ( making 'heroes' and 'villains').

[Raistlin]

that book was so good. i had read it in one night it was that good