All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque, A.W. Wheen

[sinful willow]

From <t:1710028800:D> to <t:1715731200:D> | Leader(s): @thick sequoia

Book Link
Cover: https://cdn.thestorygraph.com/p840ttf3jd4ved796jku4glm1msh

ID: 65dd94d399ae42f0049d6f21
Announcement: #buddy-reads message

[sinful willow]

@thick sequoia,@patent storm,@shy jolt,@crimson moat,@hollow trench,@twilit pecan,@foggy swallow,@celest basin,@hard sigil,@civic stump,@upper wigeon,@feral wedge,@orchid tiger

[sinful willow]

hi everyone, thanks for joining this buddy read for all quiet on the western front.
the buddy read starts on the 10th of march and ends on the 15th of may, so we’ll have about 2 months to read this book. feel free to ask for an extension if by the 15th you are not finished yet.

all quiet on the western front is set in ww1 germany, where (according to wikipedia) the central forces of germany, austria-hungary, the ottoman empire & bulgaria (and other parties) fought against the allied powers of france, the uk, russia, japan, italy & the us.

the author of this book, erich maria remarque, was a german veteran who fought in ww1, and this book was banned in nazi germany for its anti-war messaging, which was deemed by the nazis as ‘unpatriotic’. remarque then moved to switzerland and the us, where he became a naturalised citizen. it was also banned in other countries such as australia, france, and italy because of its violent and graphic nature.

speaking of which, you can look at the content/trigger warnings for this book through its storygraph link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/354a0ed4-0e44-45eb-93d3-11e88d91e46e

here are some discussion questions to start off with:

1. are you familiar with ww1 history?
2. why did you choose to read this book, and what are you expecting from reading it?
3. have you seen the netflix film adaptation?

i would also like to remind you to please attach the chapter number before sending in your text when discussing the plot of the novel, so it looks something like this: chapter one ||omg.|| and please remember to cover your discussion to prevent spoilers!

thanks, and i’m really looking forward to reading this book with all of you!

[twilit pecan]

1. sort of but I forgot things.
2. it's a classic. I hope I can learn something about war from it.
3. nope.

[thick sequoia]

i actually wanted to read this because of how devastating the netflix film was

[hollow trench]

1. I'm familiar but by no means an expert.

2. I've heard of it and I do love history. WWI isn't something I know much about, so it'll be nice to learn more. I do know what All Is Quiet on the Western Front means.

3. No, I haven't

[thick sequoia]

ooh, can you tell me what all is quiet on the western front means??

[hollow trench]

I feel like it's a spoiler

[upper wigeon]

1: I am very familiar with this area of history
2: it’s been on my list and I’ve wondered about it for awhile.
3: have not seen a film adaptation

[hollow trench]

But it's a term that now means stagnation or nothing changing. It was coined from this book, which did become a movie in the 30s too

[thick sequoia]

ahhhh i see. okay i’ll just have to wait until i read to understand

[shy jolt]

1. YESS I'm a huge history nerd nd am actually writing my thesis currently on post ww1 relations in Germany nd the rise of the nazis hehe
2. I love the og movie about this, its absolutely amazing nd is easily one of my favourite movies of all time so I just gotta read the book too! I'm gonna be listening to it on audio probably!
3. not yet but I wanna, I think I'm just worried they'll butcher it nd it'll be toned down, since the og movie was so impactful

[thick sequoia]

omg your thesis sounds interesting!!! i did the same thing for my thesis back in college, but with the russians (how the economic situation in tsarist russia led to the communist revolution & the downfall of the tsar)

i haven’t seen the og film so can’t comment on that, but the netflix film like scared me to death honestly when i saw it.

[shy jolt]

your thesis sounds cool af too omg!!! also if the netflix one scared you i defo wouldnt check out the og LOL its a lot more graphic nd just. ig horrific nd just harrowing? for a lot of the scenes they actually had vets on set for it to add to the realism!!! movie spoilers, i dont know if this is in the book or not but ||apparently the scene where theres like someones hands on the barbed wire nd everything else has just been blown to pieces was something an actual veteran saw, nd it was included because of how much it scarred him nd impacted him while he was there!||

[thick sequoia]

i have to be honest i was looking away for 80% of the movie. i cannot stand gore so i don’t remember if the scene || with the barbed wire actually happened ||

i was looking up the history of this book as well and i found it pretty cool that it was written by a vet!!

[shy jolt]

your brains just protecting you its a brutal scene tbh nd the movie as a whole is v upsetting but so so necessary imo, esp for history nerds. really makes everything a lot more real

[thick sequoia]

there’s one scene where || a guy gets ran over by a tank || (idk if this happened in the book) and i like had to swallow down my vomit

and yes!!! because sometimes i tend to forget that these are real people that these real events happened to..

they just become statistics and i forget that each person had a favourite song they like to sing and their own ideologies etc.

[shy jolt]

i love that fact!!! have you read "Johnny got his gun" by any chance? its a similar vein (anti-war nd very brutal) but less like... outward gore? its more like... philosophical but still as harrowing imo

[thick sequoia]

i have not!! will look it up. i love everything anti-war. i don’t see the point of it at all.

i’ve just added it to my tbr! i’m on a book buying ban until april so will probably get to reading it in may

[shy jolt]

i read it recently for the prompt in the winter bingo thats like... song based on a book nd honestly its BRUTAL you will finish the book wanting to cry nd just scream at global leaders

[thick sequoia]

there is a song based on it?

[shy jolt]

hell yeah!!! you'll have to lmk your thoughts when you do end up reading it, id love to just sob with someone about it HAHA

[thick sequoia]

i wake up everyday and want to scream at global readers

[shy jolt]

yep! its One by metallica! i love metallica so as soon as i saw it and that it was anti war i was like ADD TO CART LMAOO

[shy jolt]

HAHAHA MOOOOD

[thick sequoia]

there’s this play i want to read because liam gallagher i think took a line from it and put it in his song flick of the finger https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/aaabeb29-34d0-48f1-9fde-aa8741b925a0 but i for the life of me cannot read plays this song is anti-war as well i would expect

[thick sequoia]

I LOVE THAT lmaooo

[thick sequoia]

https://tenor.com/view/thumbsup-sheep-shaun-gif-7254475

[celest basin]

g same

Omg*

[thick sequoia]

let’s see if the film did the book justice then

[hard sigil]

I've seen the film and also the some part of Wendigoon's video about it. The book is on my TBR list.

[patent storm]

1. I'm more familiar with WW2 comparitively but I know a little bit on the British side of how we were involved in the conflict.
2. I actually really enjoy/am interested in historical novels, I've been meaning to read this one because of how often it's cited for being good.
3. Not yet!

[placid scarab]

Thought that said 10 march to 15 march and was mentally preparing for five days of speed reading

[thick sequoia]

oh my god nooo i’m not that evil

[hard sigil]

@placid scarab your name does not disappoint lol

[placid scarab]

Thank u came up with it myself

[hard sigil]

Make it march 10 to march 11. Make us work for it

[thick sequoia]

no, march 10 1 pm to march 10 1.01 pm

no extensions allowed

[placid scarab]

Make our eyes sweat

[thick sequoia]

LMFAO

i’m gonna start this once i finish my current read

[hard sigil]

1 minute is doable.

[thick sequoia]

skim read x100,000 speed

[hard sigil]

In fact to esay how about 1.00.00pm to 1.00.20pm

[thick sequoia]

HAHAHA

1.00.00 to 1.00.01

[hard sigil]

Ok now that's pushing it

[thick sequoia]

no extensions, remember that

[placid scarab]

i will surgically insert this book into my brain in 0.1 seconds

[hard sigil]

Using the Neural link. That how you get cloned by Elon

[placid scarab]

Do people actually want that

[thick sequoia]

this kind of technology scares me, to be honest

[hard sigil]

People love convenience

[placid scarab]

Like doesn't it seem suspicious a billionaire wants electronic access to my brain

[placid scarab]

SAME enough we just want world peace

[thick sequoia]

ikr like why not invest that money into world hunger or poverty or something

[hard sigil]

Coud be fun..all humanity coud merge into a singular eldritch techno demon

[thick sequoia]

[hard sigil]

Neon gensis styles

[placid scarab]

Like that alien from rick and morty

[placid scarab]

I just want independent thoughts 😭

[hard sigil]

No you'll become part of the hive mind. Don't be selfish join "the flesh engine"

[placid scarab]

Revolution against the hive free the thought process

[hard sigil]

Someone's gettig a little too self for their own good. You reject the flesh and embrace the mind.

That would be fixed...soon

....very soon

[placid scarab]

Ill never give up my ability to think

U want to turn me into a hive for the amazon empire

F U BEZOS AND UR BILLIONAIRE BASTARDS

[thick sequoia]

https://tenor.com/view/celestev69-laugh-mayfield-beztoes-gif-24182659

speaking of bezos i finally deleted my goodreads account and i’m 99.9% lighter spiritually

[placid scarab]

FREEDOM!!!

[hard sigil]

Embrace the flesh

Embrace the flesh

......EMBRACE THE FLESH.....

EMBRACE THE FLESH!!!!

[placid scarab]

NOO THE CAPITALIST IS TAKING ME

[hard sigil]

Yes you'll learn to love the flesh engine

[thick sequoia]

https://tenor.com/view/animatedtext-animated-capitalism-ivykik-slave-gif-19044353

[placid scarab]

Ur our only hope destroy eat the rich

[thick sequoia]

WAIT

I SENT THAT BY ACCIDENT

IFK WHO THEY ARE LOL

[placid scarab]

I-

[thick sequoia]

i thought somebody else sent it omg when i saw it

[placid scarab]

I am the flesh engine

[thick sequoia]

turns tabled have

[placid scarab]

Now i must work in a tesla factory and refer to twitter as X

[thick sequoia]

i have to ask

how do you even pronounce X

like idk

[placid scarab]

Literally that ex

[thick sequoia]

i know it’s the letter but it’s like weird

< hey guys check out my new post on ex >

[placid scarab]

Tell that to musk

[thick sequoia]

he will probably hate crime me

[placid scarab]

Guy needs someone to loudly tell what is and isnt a good idea

[thick sequoia]

maybe he can use all that money for a brain transplant

[placid scarab]

Maybe

[hard sigil]

@placid scarab welcome to the flesh isn't the pain so exquisite.

[placid scarab]

Yes overlord it is most exquisite

[hard sigil]

Hahaha. Ok i have to stop I've ran out of schizo ramblings

[next root]

Hahaha. Ok
i have to stop I've ran out
of schizo ramblings

- .voidworshipper

[placid scarab]

Me to also nice haiku

[thick sequoia]

read a romance book before this so i don’t come into it too depressed

[next root]

ch. 1 ||is he
actually smoking 40
cigarettes a day||

- miserylovesjana

[thick sequoia]

a quote from chapter 1..

ch. 1 || it’s so sad that behm didn’t really want to join the war but was the first one to be killed ||

still in chapter 1

okay here are my general thoughts about chapter 1, || i want to cry lol. idk i’m so emotional sorry hahahaha, but everything paul says about the war and how it’s his generation that’s being screwed over and how they looked up to the older generation before they saw the realities of war (literally just death in the worst ways possible) breaks my heart, especially with how young these boys are.. at 19 you’re still a child, i feel, and it’s so sad to me that the boys are mostly around that age. it’s not as gory as i thought it would be so far, but it is sadder and more emotional than i thought it would be. ||

|| there are other things i want to speak about, like the boys being told that loyalty to their country is the most important thing etc, which i think is sad. i don’t know. i mean, the concept of nations i guess has always been odd to me. I MEAN, i totally understand why there are borders etc but yeah, it’s just sad to see boys dying because of a patriotic ideology.. ||

i’m just sitting now and not knowing if i have the heart to move on to chapter 2 now, or to take a break

[placid scarab]

Ch 1 || this chapter has brought a lot of mixed feelings from me which i bet this book will continue to do so. Starting with a positive of having more than enough rations to go around and then realising that it's because 80 men died. The soldiers seem more focused on the rations and i honestly can't blame them and we get another scene like it when Kemmerich is on his death bed and Müller is more focused on the boots . Focusing on what little benefit you can get from tragic events is the way to keep sane. ||

Ch 1 || there is also talk of hierarchy in the trenches beyond just military rank but of benefits that are given to some and not to others. Soldiers are always given the short end of the stick while commander and higher ranks have better utilities. Cleaner women in brothels (can write an essay about that sentence alone), better food and use of drugs like morphia. Even in war the lower classes have to fight for what the upper class believes themselves entitled to ||

Ch 1 last point || the older generations will always sacrifice the youth for trouble the youth had no part in. The term Iron Youth gives these impressionable children a sense of pride so they are much more easily convinced and those who see beyond glamour words and false ideas are shunned and peer pressured into giving up their lives. WW1 is not the only time such things have happened to this day you see people like kantorek lie to the youth and send them to war while they sit behind desks at the safety of their homes. And when the youth find out how wrong the older generation is it is already too late. ||

[thick sequoia]

yes, to be honest || i wasn't necessarily surprised when i learned of the hierarchy in the military. it seemed like that sort of place, but still it baffles me lol ||

[placid scarab]

Just remembered this and had to rant || the parents being so okay with sending their chidlren to war grinds my gears i know it was a lot lf factors that made them accept but sacrificing your child for a country seems insane to me. Especially when that country is willing to use ur kid. ||

[thick sequoia]

|| and i hated kemmerich's death so much. especially when paul said he ought to have the whole world go by his bedside and say he's 19 and he shouldn't be dying. i almost cried at that part. ||

[placid scarab]

Annoyed me WE ARE IN WAR give the soldier some morphai.

[thick sequoia]

EXACTLY

[thick sequoia]

ikr, and || those foot soldiers are doing more than these commanders ||

[placid scarab]

The complete acceptance pulled at my heart strings for them this wasnt a tragedy but just another day.

[thick sequoia]

this is annoying as well. || i think the children were also brainwashed, which might mean that they would just go off to fight without their parents' permissions, but still. and also i know some parents take pride in their children being in the military ||

[placid scarab]

Doing more than the country leaders that put them there in the first place. We should go back to the old days where kings HAD to be at the front line bet world peace would be achieved so much quicker.

[thick sequoia]

EXACTLY

i agree with what ||kropp said about the war||

this entire situation reminds me of this

these song lyrics

[placid scarab]

Having the entire town shun your kid and family because they didn't send a soldier probably weighed heavy on their conscience

[thick sequoia]

YES

[placid scarab]

Word for word

[placid scarab]

And you know what i can't blame the families either because i would be PISSED if my kid went of to war and the neighbours also eligible for war kid is sitting safe at home.

[thick sequoia]

no, yeah, that's true. was conscription mandatory in germany at that time? because all i'm getting from the book so far is that || the older generation basically just pushed these young boys to war through propaganda and dying-for-your-country ideologies||

i have to read up on ww1 history

[placid scarab]

I think if you didn't join they would attach a white feather to your hat to everyone knows (though that could be WW2) but tbh how much mandatory enlistment do you need when even your own parents think you're a coward.

[placid scarab]

Me too tbh

[thick sequoia]

thats so sad, jesus

[placid scarab]

Seriously depressing

[thick sequoia]

this is stupid but does ww1 have anything to do with the bosnian/serb/kosovo war (sorry if i'm wrong about the name, i know absolutely nothing about yugoslavia and that region's history)

[hard sigil]

WWI was the first modern war. I think people didn't really understand what they were getting in for. They had romantic notions of war, but, reality smacked them hard in the face. It's quite depressing

[hard sigil]

Arguing over the boots of an almost dead man is so absurd it's almost funny.

[placid scarab]

|| him saying he wants to get up early to ensure the boots aren't gone before he gets to them like YOUR COMRADE IS DYING ||

[hard sigil]

That's just a coping mechanism. War does messed up things to a man's mind. I really hope I don't get drafted in any war. I don't wanna become that cold

[placid scarab]

I hope u don't get drafted either

[hard sigil]

Plus I'm too sexy to die in a war

[placid scarab]

Can't have handsome hold rifles it clashes

[hard sigil]

You're a man ain't you. We're gonna die together lol

[placid scarab]

XX chromosomes

Im safe lol

[hard sigil]

Someone who gets it

[hard sigil]

You don't know you could get drafted in a mis-guided atempt at gender equality.

[placid scarab]

Seriously why is when gender equality topics arise its always either war drafts or 'equal fights` like just give me some power in government and stop sexual assault is that too much to ask

[hard sigil]

Apparently.

Do you think war drafts are necessary?

[placid scarab]

Also women weren't useless in war they took over the jobs that men couldn't do cause they were too busy fighting and i think that ironically helped because after the war some women continued to work

[placid scarab]

Honestly it depends if a country needs a large amount of soldiers quickly then yes but otherwise no leave the men alone

[hard sigil]

That's true as well. The soviets had female soldiers as well. But i don't wanna give the reds too much credit

[placid scarab]

Also it always targets the working class the rich can just buy their way out

[hard sigil]

That's not exactly true but i see your point. The soldiers in WWII came from all walks of life

But Vietnam was a different case

[hard sigil]

Rich draft dodging cowards

[placid scarab]

Tbh if i had millions of dollars my son would also dodge the draft

[hard sigil]

Same here. I'm in Africa as well and the last thing you want your son to be in is an African war.

[placid scarab]

Where abouts in Africa

[hard sigil]

I'm that Nigerian prince you've heard so much about

[tepid rain]

Hey y'all
So sorry to interrupt but if we're not on topic with the book, can we take it somewhere else LOL like #casual-chat

[hard sigil]

How do i add the spoiler tag to images?

[tepid rain]

Once you set it up to send in a message, you can click on it and a popup will show up that gives you the option to add spoilers

The option is the same on desktop BUT it might be an eye emoji instead of the text

[hard sigil]

This right here breaks my heart

[thick sequoia]

yeah. this really hurt

[thick sequoia]

ch. 4 || crying at the horses ||

ch. 4

[thick sequoia]

i'm sorry but i'd like to remind you to please attach the chapter number when discussing the book or sending in spoilers 😊

ch. 4 || the graveyard being bombed and all the corpses coming out of their coffins again is so, so, so vile ||

[placid scarab]

The fact he was able to console him at least a little bit was impressive because what do you even say in such a situation. 😭

Ch 2 || the comparison between war for the young and war for the old Kantorek would say that we stood on the threshold of life. And so it would seem. We had as yet taken no root. The war swept us away. For the others, the older men, it is but an interruption. these young men know nothing apart from simple childhood and then horrible wartime. The 180° their lives took is enough to cause a man to go mad. Paul says they have no roots and it's so sad to think soldiers had to die before they could plant anything. No time for love or family or children. They're too young for that but old enough to die. ||

|| Also it's more sad because the older soldiers have something or someone waiting for them while the younger soldiers can only dream of one day having that. ||

Ch 2 || We have lost all sense of other considerations, because they are artificial. Only the facts are real and important for us. And good boots are scarce. this passage hit me hard. In normal times you would have the luxury of considering where your friend wants the boots to go. Not in war. Focusing only on the facts:
1- your friend is dying and has boots.
2- you need new boots.
3- you can get the boots when he's finally passed.
No time for guilt because when necessity becomes urgent. ||

Ch 2 || reading this chapter you can tell the difference between how the soldiers viewed the war and how they view it now. These kids probably went into this thinking it was some hero quest and they would soon be paraded as conquers or winners. And a whole bunch of adults let them go about childish fantasy when they could have shown them the truth. And now here are the kids knowing better but with no way out without consequences. ||

[thick sequoia]

|| this is why i feel for the boys so much. like they're fed this delusion of the glory of war etc, but really it's not anything like it. ||

ch. 6

|| the blast of the hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs; crouching like cats we run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into god only knows what devils; this wave that multiplies our strength with fear and madness and greed of life, seeking and fighting for nothing but our deliverance. if your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him. ||

this broke me, || especially the father line. ||

[thick sequoia]

im not happy with this at all

[thick sequoia]

ch. 7

|| it's all rot that they put in the warnews about the good humour of the troops, how they are arranging dances almost before they are out in the front-line. we don't act like that because we are in good humour: we are in a good humour because otherwise we should go to pieces. ||

[thick sequoia]

ch. 7

|| in this chapter, paul returns home, and on the train platform a red-cross nurse tries to give him something to drink. i kind of laughed at this part:

i turn away, she smiles at me too foolishly, so obsessed with her own importance: "just look, i am giving a soldier coffee!"—she calls me "comrade," but i will have none of it. ||

|| i can't really articulate why i found this part funny. maybe because you, as the reader, kind of travel from a dying front line and intestines everywhere to a civilian train platform all of a sudden. and from all that happened, some girl comes and offers you a drink and acts like she's doing the country a big favour||

|| to be honest i do think paul would have acted the same way if he had not seen the realities of war. but it's still funny. like a chuckle kind of funny because of how absurd it is ||

[thick sequoia]

ch. 9

|| "*it's queer, when one thinks about it," goes on kropp, "we are here to protect our fatherland. and the french are over there to protect their fatherland. now who's in the right?" *||

ch. 9

|| the conversation between kropp and tjaden is so funny ||

|| it's a funny conversation but it's one that is so important to have, lol. especially what kat says about the ruling class being the ones inciting this war, and having the 'normal' citizens of the country; labourers, workmen, etc die gruesome deaths for them and their stupid reasons ||

ch. 9 spoilers, || the conversation i was talking about and kat's point ||

[thick sequoia]

ch. 9 ||the conversation paul is having with the dead man ||

[dusky juniper]

1. All that I learnt in class
2. It seemed interesting and I hope it's a good read.
3. Nope

[thick sequoia]

ch. 11

|| i had to stop reading and go on a walk after this ||

[next root]

ch. 10 || i had
to stop reading and go on
a walk after this ||

- janaaa888

[thick sequoia]

:((

this feels like a spit on my face

my final thoughts [don't open unless you've finished]—

|| i did not expect this book to be as philosophical as it is. in the film, which was all i knew about all quiet on the western front, i thought that the whole point of it is to show the reality of war through violence and gore, & young boys being killed in ways i didn't know was possible, and to show how pointless and just evil war really is through the violent portrayal of these deaths. so, coming into this book, that's what i expected.

i'm glad that it ended up not being that way and that remarque made the point against war through the emotional and philosophical sense. to be honest i'm so overwhelmed by paul's death [i had genuinely forgotten that he died in this story, i thought the last chapter would be him coming back to civilian life in germany and that it would be a happy ending, so him dying really felt like i was being spat on by this book and its title] so my thoughts are not as organised as i would like them to be, but my view on war has changed. not by a lot because i've always been anti-war, but this book really opened me up even more to how horrible it really is.

the conversation that these boys had on the front lines really hit home as well. in the end, in these wars, it will always be the normal, just normal people who have no other agenda but to live and let live that get dragged into these conflicts and die, and the 'big' men who arrange for these wars to happen sit in golden-clad ballrooms and have tables sprawling with food while these young boys starve and die in really gruesome ways. my thoughts on war differ of course though when the 'war' is colonialism settlement and its buddies, or a group of people trying to liberate themselves from violent colonisers.||

||i'm glad i read this book!! it took me a while because of how deep the content is but i'm glad i dedicated the time to it||

[shy jolt]

i started this last night! im now reading it on my kindle rather than listening to it since i just really want to be able to take this in

not last night, i started it the other day lmao ignore me idk why i said that lmao, either way im enjoying it a lot. i forgot how... almost light the story is at the start? but more light as in its clear its a coping mechanism i also love kat, i loved him in the movie nd i love him in the book hes an amazing character LOL. im on chapter 4 now i think?

[thick sequoia]

i love kat as well!! he's probably my favourite character. somehow paul doesn't rank very high on my character ranking for this book

[placid scarab]

How quickly do you read?! Im still on chapter 4 😭

[thick sequoia]

lol my 'full time job' is a stay at home daughter / pseudo mum to my younger sisters until they leave for college, so i don't really have a lot to do but read.. i've also always been a fast reader since i started so yeah

[thick sequoia]

i'm gonna do a re-watch of the movie while i read my cr

[next root]

i'm gonna do a
re-watch of the movie while
i read my cr

- janaaa888

[thick sequoia]

thx haikyu

[shy jolt]

tbf he doesnt rank very high on mine either HAHA i think a lot of the time im focused on the others

[thick sequoia]

i think for me it would have to be kat, kropp, tjaden and then maybe paul

[patent storm]

1. I'm more versed in WW2 but I still know a fair bit.
2. I typically really enjoy history and this has been on my TBR for years. Expecting misery!
3. No, but I might watch it

I finished today and I can confidently say that this book was both harrowing and fascinating. The only thing that docked any points for me is that for whatever reason I had a hard time warming up to the writing style. Other than that, what an important book. The weight of the words alone so often made me feel a lump in my throat.

||During World War I, historian Phillip Knightley has stated “more deliberate lies were told than in any other period of history, and the whole apparatus of the state went into action to suppress the truth”.||
||When war broke out in 1914, it did so to flag waving and patriotism. Men were promised honour, glory and a conflict quickly over. The concept of gathering up your pals, enlisting and being back before the year was over. These were times of great social inequality and disenfranchised boys from the poorest, most hopeless communities could for the first time be useful. The army offered food, clothing, camaraderie and the respect of the nation. The lure of these things should not be underestimated. Their king and country depended upon them.||

||Enlistment became a tribal, collective endeavour - many battalions were made up of men from the same villages. They joined together and a great many died together. The propaganda posters told young men that they could be part of something special, to serve their country in righteousness. Many posters appealed to individuals personally, they preyed on the insecurities men might feel if they did not join up. Masculinity was questioned, fitness to be a father, to be a citizen. Not to join was cowardice – a treacherous act which would bring shame upon their family and nation. I'm of course talking about a British perspective but reading All Quiet On The Western Front really put it into perspective for me that the indoctrination really was inescapable on both sides.||

|| https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/article6067307.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/WW1-volunteers.jpg ||

||Paul is such a likeable perspective to follow, he's surrounded by boys that he went to school with (where he was straight up coerced to enrol by his teacher- ironic justice got him back with a vengeance for his hypocrisy and the teacher was conscripted). This book is made of moments that just nestle in the brain and refuse to leave - the horses, the graveyard, the Russians, the Frenchman in the shell-hole, the girls at the river, Kat... It's so easy to picture these vignettes. What stood out to me as the most memorable chapter was during Paul's first visit home on leave where he realizes that he feels like he no longer belongs in his village. He's frustrated at his father's 'irritating and irrelevant' questions about life on the front, almost wanting to parade him around in his military fatigues. Meanwhile his mother is dying of cancer and his relationship with her continually made me choke up.||

||After all of it, after the military hospital with Albert, after losing so many of his friends, it's the final death of Kat that causes Paul to lose the will to live. Kat is just on his back and he slips away from the splinter. The last paragraph just... for such a short book, it packs such a punch. I didn't know what to expect or if I'd even like this but I'm so glad that I read it. ||

||“But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?”||

[thick sequoia]

|| the how could you be my enemy question that was asked really hurt me, especially after the conversations they had about class, and the classism of war itself, like at the end of the day these—both sides—boys are just boys who've barely graduated school and don't have a lot of money. borders and flags and loyalty to gott und fatherland aside, these [being from a lower societal and economical class] unite them more than anything, and seeing them come to realise it hurt me. because i did not see it like that at first, i barely know anything about ww1 haha.

i sound like a communist right now because this was one of the points made by lenin i think, that borders and countries were yet another weapon used by the bourgeoisie to snuff out the working class, and at first i did not see his point as being true but it struck out to me when i read all quiet on the western front.

especially when they asked each other if they have been personally offended by the french, and then they spoke about how the french soldiers are more likely blacksmiths etc like themselves. ||

thanks for writing the review, vaude!

[patent storm]

|| I don't think it makes you sound like a communist because it's a very apt thing to say about how those of a lower class are the most vulnerable to enlistment! But yeah it's generally just heartbreaking on all accounts, there are so many instances of humanity shown on the front during both wars. I mean there was the Christmas Day miracle where English and German soldiers had a cease fire for the day, played football against one another and even exchanged gifts.||

[thick sequoia]

|| the christmas day miracle was so cute. i first learned of it from a film and i was glad when i googled it and it turned out to be true.

these boys did not want to fight and kill, i want to give them all a big big big hug ||

[thick sequoia]

hi @everyone, here are the discussion questions. feel free to answer and discuss however many you like. also, please remember to send in your progress and thoughts on the book as you read!! hope you're all doing well don't open the discussion questions if you're not done with the book

[shy jolt]

I've finished I've gotta get ready for class so I'll answer them when I get back later on but oh my god icl I'm still processing the entire book, let alone the end

5 stars absolutely amazing I loved every second of this

even though I knew the end from the movie, ||Paul's death still killed me just like it did when I watched the movie for the first time||

[thick sequoia]

it took me a few days to fully process this book like the only book i could stomach after this was a happy sports romance

and dont worry about the questions!

[thick sequoia]

i forgot || he died || so that took me by storm

[shy jolt]

honestly if ||I'd forgotten about it|| I think it would've actually been the end of me considering how much it hit me actually remembering that so I applaud you

[thick sequoia]

HAHA it was definitely the end of me like i broke

[shy jolt]

im gonna answer some of the discussion questions now, i think ive successfully processed my grief

im just gonna freestyle this p much so here we go

1. ||It's interesting because you can really see Paul's faith in the adult world break down further and further throughout the novel. like from the start its clear hes lost faith in it, but as the book goes on it seems to get worse. like when he kills the French solider in the trench and begins to imagine the mans wife and everything about him out of guilt. I think the death of this man is what truly breaks Paul imo.||

2. ||icl i love this part in the book. it was right at the start but it stuck with me a lot. i think its so interesting, but also so true because of how fucked up everything is. like Muller says, they were nice boots amd Kemmerich wont need them anymore if hes dead. the fact Paul eventually gets them too after Muller's death is quite Poignant too. him promising them to Tjaden after he dies really brings it back round, though the fact Tjaden dies before he does is also sad...||

3. ||screaming crying throwing up. still. its been a week nd im still distraught icl. i think Kat's death hit me the most, because of how close to being somewhat safe he actually was. that and pauls own reaction nd clear anguish really struck a cord with me because of how insistent he is that no, kat is alive, when he clearly isnt anymore. Paul's own death also hit me harder than i thought it would tbh? paul wasnt my favourite character, but by the end i found i kinda loved him in a way? like we've been through all of this with him, and now hes gone. the fact he seems somewhat at peace too was nice. i was glad of that at the very least.||

[thick sequoia]

i feel you about || paul ||

like he || isn’t my fav character either but because we get the story through his pov and he’s shown such growth etc i love him ||

[shy jolt]

||his growth honestly really made the book for me, i think it humanised him so much!||

[shy jolt]

currently watching the 2022 movie with my mum! she has no idea what shes getting in for

[thick sequoia]

HAHAHAHAHAHA OH YOUR POOR MUM

i rewatched the film twice since reading the book

i kind of wish the philosophical stuff they talked about in the book were included in the film

[shy jolt]

agreed!! i feel like it would be so much harder hitting if they had

[next root]

agreed!! i feel like
it would be so much harder
hitting if they had

- Zander || 24/50

[shy jolt]

thanks haiku bot

[thick sequoia]

yep and it would serve the anti-war point of the book even more

[thick sequoia]

https://tenor.com/view/stassi-vanderpump-rules-haiku-poem-sarcasm-gif-5234335

[shy jolt]

LMAOOOO

[shy jolt]

the 2022 one really just feels like your average ww1 film which is sad

[thick sequoia]

THATS TRUE

like dunkirk

there is no substance to it

^not dunkirk, but the aqotwf 2022 film adaptation

there is an earlier film adaptation, i think

1930 & 1970s

[shy jolt]

yess ive seen the original one (the 1930s one) nd its honestly sooo much better, theres way more substance to it

which is ironic since anti-war feeling is so much more prominent nd accepted now i feel than it was back then.

[thick sequoia]

really?! might give it a watch then!

[shy jolt]

its sooo brutal but honestly incredible i really recommend it!!!

the 2022 one is shit in comparison tbh

[thick sequoia]

LOLOLOL

ok ill definitely give it a watch

[shy jolt]

i think my mums getting sick of me, im just getting so frustrated about what theyve changed nd removed

im just glad they didnt ||take out the part where he's in the shell hole with the french solider and he stabs him. ||its one of the few parts they didnt fuck up in my opinion

[thick sequoia]

YES

that part was beautiful

[shy jolt]

they translated that part extremely well, its obviously not the same nd tbh i wouldnt want it to be but they do a really good job at it

[shy jolt]

just finished the movie nd honestly im so angry at how they buggered that up. i think ||paul's death|| is the only one that didnt make me angry lmao

[thick sequoia]

|| his death stays the same ||

[shy jolt]

||its still just as heartbreaking ||

[thick sequoia]

EXACTLY.

i’ll update if i ever get around to watching the 1930 one. do you know if it’s on netflix? can’t check right now

[shy jolt]

yesss definitely do!!!

hit send too soon LOL but its not on netflix unfortunately, just the 2022 one. i cant find it on youtube but the 1970 one is on there, nd then the 1930 one in available to rent on amazon!

im not sure where abouts you are, but on british-amazon its only £3.99 to rent and then 5.99 to buy!

[thick sequoia]

kkay thanks zander youve been lots of help!

[thick sequoia]

hm let’s see how much it is

same same i think?

i think it’s in CAD since i have a canadian amazon account

[next root]

i think it’s in CAD
since i have a canadian
amazon account

- Jana

[shy jolt]

yesss that ones it!!

the difference between the rent price nd buying price is crazy

[thick sequoia]

IKR LMFAO

i shall see if i want to whip out $4.99

[shy jolt]

of course!!! i really hope you enjoy it, its truly an incredible movie. theres parts that are very... well obviously made in 1930 but its SO much more accurate to the book and a lot of the people who were on set nd working on the movie were also veterans. its absolutely amazing!

[thick sequoia]

raising my eyebrows at obviously made in 1930
(is it racist or is it bad effects?)

[shy jolt]

bad effects i promise HAHA

if theres anything sus i dont remember it at least

[thick sequoia]

HAHHAHAHA WELL if you dont remember maybe it wasnt bad enough to be memorable or just did not exist

[hollow trench]

Okay, I'm curious. There's a BBC radio dramatization of the book and I'm wondering if that counts?

[thick sequoia]

sorry i’m not too familiar with what that is. can you give me an example?

[patent storm]

Kinda like an audiobook

But like a radio play!

[thick sequoia]

i would say it should count…? i’m honestly not too sure. hold on

[thick sequoia]

@hollow trench is the radio dramatisation more like a word-per-word audiobook or like a film where some things get excluded etc?

[thick sequoia]

hello hello, just popping in to give a book rec about ww1 as well but this time from the pov of the brits & has gays sprinkled in it: in memoriam by alice winn.

[twilit pecan]

I'm starting this

[patent storm]

I actually forgot about this BR and I can't wait to hear your thoughts

[twilit pecan]

Chapter 1
||I guess I haven't start caring about these characters yet, so I'm not very impacted by Behm's death or Kemmerich's condition. It seems the narrator is the tactful one among his friends -- he drops hints to Müller and manages to bribe the orderly to give morphia to Kemmerich. It's remarkable that the book starts with a happy moment of double ration, but it's deplorable that they are resorted to rejoice in the most simple things in live. I need to change my mindset about death as in most situations I'm calm with it since it's an inevitable thing despite heart-rending. Causuality number is not only a stat but shows real people dying, and whether it happened in the past and can't be had otherwise, I should still lament for it. I think the generations sent into war will return broken and isolated because not only the older gens see more of the glorious side of it and haven't been in the field personally but also the younger gens will never comprehend the trauma, having never fight in the war themselves. Yet we do have war so constantly. Is it because it's rewarding to the winning side and can solve inner conflict by enemilizing people from outside of the system?We have so many veterans and media telling us that war is bad to all but the ones that's on the top of the power hierarchy, but why do we never stop fantasizing it? I know it's hard to go against the inner patriotism as we rely on the ideology of our nations so much, but do we want our opponents suffer so much that we can ignore the afflictions we are inflicting on ourselves?||

[fair jungle]

I'm also starting today!

Up to Ch4 || gosh all those young boys going to war is so devastating. The narrator feels a bit alloof/unreachable to me so far, I wonder if that will change. He just sounds detached to me, but I guess that also mimicks the coldness of war pretty well. Especially that scene where they were attacked with the gas was so horrible, how they wanted to help that young recruit by ending his suffering but couldn't because of the others. Poor kid. Breaks my heart. ||

[twilit pecan]

Chapter 3
||The non linear narrative throws me off a little bit and the names aren't helping lol. It makes sense though, it's written in present sense and is Paul recalling his experience. I'll just go with it. Kemmerich's death is so sad, but we only have the war to blame. ||
||> Revenge is black-pudding.||
||I was searching something and I came across an artile talking about what Kemmerich's boots are symbolic for. Why is everything a symbol. ||

[twilit pecan]

Chapter 4
||I wonder if the present tense is aiming to show that the impact and memory of war never leave the narrator. I feel like when Paul's in the front time, when he's describing the bombs and the need to find a cover to survive, the language is less calculated and poetic. Especially in the comparison with the lyrical meditation on the relationship of soldiers and earth.
The narrator emphasizes that he didn't helmet the younger boy's hide for farce -- the action itself is ridiculous in nature -- but the background of the front line makes it necessary. I think it's an interesting incident as the narrator himself is very aware of the situation and his action, which can induce unusual reactions from the readers.||

[fair jungle]

This book is very easy to read, I expected the language to be a bit more difficult as the book is quite old

[thick sequoia]

me too! it was a pleasant surprise

[thick sequoia]

@everyone

hi lovely people, this br ends in 8 days i will not be doing extensions because it went on for 3 months. i only have myself, vaude, and zander marked as having read this book . let me know if i missed anyone. thank you for joining this br.

[fair jungle]

I'll be finishing later today, I only have 2 chapters left 😄

[next root]

I'll be finishing
later today, I only
have 2 chapters left 😄

- celine8884

[thick sequoia]

[fair jungle]

I finished! There's a lot I could say, I definitely have a lot of feelings about the book. I guess the most fitting would be that there's nothing quite like the feeling of having your heart ripped out by an amazing piece of literature. 5/5

[thick sequoia]

i'm glad you liked it!!! and yeah this book hurts

[fair jungle]

It was very beautiful. I'm happy I joined the BR.

[twilit pecan]

I'm almost half way through it

[orchid tiger]

I am starting this today if I am abel to if not tormoorw

[next root]

I am starting this
today if I am abel
to if not tormoorw

- littlesuperme

[twilit pecan]

chapter 7
||and I still haven't figured out if Kropp and Albert are the same man. ||

[thick sequoia]

i don’t think they were!

i don’t remember lol

[twilit pecan]

yep it propels me to finish the book in a way

[thick sequoia]

that’s awesome

[crimson moat]

Starting this now

What language was this originally in?

[thick sequoia]

german!

this book was actually banned in nazi germany, because the nazis saw it as anti-war and not patriotic to fatherland germany.

[crimson moat]

Chapter 1 ||40 cigarettes a day ||

[crimson moat]

interesting

[thick sequoia]

germany is never on the right side of history

[crimson moat]

I really wouldn't say that's true
Ofcourse they were in WW2 but not to get political but history is still happening

[thick sequoia]

yeah history affects everything going on today.

and that was an exaggeration joke i thought the emoji would make it clear

[crimson moat]

Oh okay I'm tired so my ability to read between the line is reduced

[thick sequoia]

that’s okay! no worries

[orchid tiger]

One of the reasons I love historical books

[orchid tiger]

|| This thought is really intruquing to read. I dont often read too much into the pov and such so I am intrested in how you could get so much thoughts from that simple thing||

[orchid tiger]

So O just kinda finnsihed this all and was so in the flow that there was no breaks were I thought to say anything. I will make sire to write a proper rewiev. No worries if I dont get points as I littary did bot stop at any point

[twilit pecan]

can't wait to read your review

[thick sequoia]

noo, you will get points no worries!

i get that! it’s very easy to do with this book as it’s very fast paced and once you think you are done digesting one event something else comes up. don’t worry about it avialia.

[orchid tiger]

I will write it as soon as I have mental space for it

[thick sequoia]

that’s okay, take as much time as you need

[crimson moat]

Finished chapter 4 ||it is really depressing so far but I'm having a hard time understanding what's happening sometimes like it feels chaotic. I guess it's kinda the point maybe since there is nothing clean and consistent about war||

[twilit pecan]

Chapter 10
||It feels like I've passed a turning point, and I get weird vibes from it now. Idek but if I may I'll describe the vibe as potato-y. The leave and the feast somehow defeated the primitive instincts, the driving force of surviving, in Paul, or maybe it's because he couldn't go on being more of a brute than man anymore. The main thing I get from the book so far is the comradery. ||
||Interestingly enough, it gets me to question what makes the development of such a form of camaraderie possible. Is it being in an absolutely dire and dehumanizing environment like the battlefield? Is it the experience of looking out for each other even though oneself is in extreme danger? Or is it the knowledge that they are the only people they can bond with for the rest of their life, having the war toppled them over and severed other earthly connections?||
||I have a gut feeling that all the pretty things Paul cherished will fade.||
||btw I found that on the train Paul gets to interact with Red Cross sisters again, yet he acts and thinks very differently this time. I did think that during his leave, the sister was the first person not fighting in the fields he ran into, and she signifies the beginning of him realizing that they (him and the people back home) are living in two worlds. He wasn't particularly mad at her but anyone who'd be in her place. ||

[twilit pecan]

I'll finish this tomorrow

[twilit pecan]

finished!
||I really liked the last two paragraphs. It switches to third person narrative and announced the death of Paul. He did not wait long enough to see the armistice -- the end of the war hasn't come yet -- but instead he met his death -- the peaceful end of his life. To him the war is never ended and took over his whole adult life.||

[thick sequoia]

yeah this really broke my heart

im just at work right now, so i will send in the br report in a while. thanks for joining this br everyone, i'm really glad it happened because this book is definitely one for discussion. @everyone

[crimson moat]

I still need to finish it but will do it today

[thick sequoia]

oh okay! i'll wait for you amanda

[orchid tiger]

I will hopefully get time to write my thoughts today

[thick sequoia]

thats okay, avialia!! no worries

[crimson moat]

I finished ||Im not really sure how I feel about this book. It was very sad but also kinda boring like there wasn't really anything besides just sad war. I guess that is what the book was going for since I think it was supposed to de-glorify war||