Classic Book - Beautifully Read!

I discovered this book in the school library 50 years ago and read it without knowing that it was a classic. I returned to it over the years and most recently having seen the Netflix version which butchers the plot and fails to understand the anti war sentiment of the original.
This version is well read and the book itself is, as it always was, a damning indictment on war. The whole point of the book which is missed in the recent film is the banality of young men enthused by old men into going to war and the subsequent inability of both the old and the young to deal with the reality of it. In the film Paul dies in an absurd attack launched on the 11th November 2018 by a deranged, shaven headed Prussian general. In the book Paul dies on a day when there is so little going on that the official communique is, "All Quiet on the Western Front."
This is a powerful, absorbing book which was written by one who was there and the Nazis burned it - all good reasons for giving it a listen!

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3 people found this helpful

must read

a very human story about a person's experience of the first world war. it's a huge eye opener on what happens when we forget that we are all just humans with the same fears and vulnerabilities and that a lot more can be achieved through unity and compassion to avoid unnecessary loss of life.

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1 person found this helpful

a classic

a classic down to earth story of the first world war. well worth its time.

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When Will They Ever Learn?

This is a remarkable book and very well read by Tom Lawrence. The novel centres around Paul, a nineteen year old volunteer in the war of 1914 to 1918. It is brutally honest in it’s account. There is no glorification of war in this novel. It is honest and devastating, just as all wars are. Over 100 years later, our great masters have not learned any lessons. When will they ever learn?

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Lost Generation

I'd previously read Birdsong so this seemed like a natural progression, and I wasn't disappointed by the choice. I didn't realise it was from a German perspective till I was a fair but into it, it's not made apparent at the start. The narrator seems about the right age or thereabouts as the main character and does a good job with it.
It's very good.

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Very moving

A very moving and sometimes violently explicit account of war and comradeship during a bitter struggle in European history. Not only the accounts of how men and women were involved in the Great War but also the part animals played. Not for the over squeamish

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Chilling.

Horrible, horrible war story told from an often unheard voice. Should be an essential read.

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Lest we forget

The finest anti war novel ever written brilliantly read by Tom Lawrence a must read.

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A classic

A watched the movie years ago and recently decided to give the book a go. I was truly glad I did. The book illustrates the true horror of the trench warfare of WWI through the eyes of a young German soldier. His innocence and naivety are steadily stripped away as one by one his comrades in arms are slaughtered until only he remains. A great listen.

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A perspective that might help today’s young people suffering with their mental health?

A heartbreaking work beautifully narrated. A truly profound experience that made me think about the miseries people are suffering in places of conflict right now.

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