We are at rest five miles behind the front. So begins the narrative of Paul Baumer, the tragic hero of Remarque’s remarkable novel of a group of German schoolboys sweet-talked by their teacher into joining the Iron Youth of the German Army during World War I. As the war drags on in the trenches of the Western front, they lose all preconceptions of enemy, good, bad, right, wrong and so on. They are more concerned about eating their fill of beef and beans, and staying alive. The words of Paul ’’I am 20 years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear ...’’ touch your heart.
Remarque emphasizes the difference between pre-conceived notions of war, such as courage, heroism and armies marching in parade, the reality of dirt, suffering and strife. One of the rare books to talk of the war from the German perspective, it nevertheless handles war as a human tragedy and avoids the hero worship and jingoism so common in war novels by the acclaimed western authors. An example is the scene where Paul shoots a French soldier, and then valiantly tries to save the wounded man from death, while lying in the same trench.
No single line in the book will make you cry, but each chapter succeeds in adding a little more pathos to your heart! It is a book that will be enjoyed by anyone with a heart, regardless of their sex!