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jennog's review against another edition
4.0
Eloquently written, but not all of the stories were memorable. My favorite was probably the story titled “Annette’s Love Story”.
novelesque_life's review
4.0
RATING: 4 STARS
2018; NYU Press
I loved Remarque's [b:All Quiet on the Western Front|355697|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441227765l/355697._SY75_.jpg|2662852] and many of the writings of World War I soldiers (and others who has participated in the Great War). There is a raw honesty that came from that time that really gave the war realism and cut through some of the propaganda. Many of the works I have read come from Britain, France, USA and Canada. In reading Remarque, you see the other side of the war, from Germany's point of view. The biggest "aha" moment while reading the novel was the lack of differences and the pain from all sides that left men and women ravaged. In this short story collection, we see how the war affected the men fighting in the war, but also the family left behind. Each story gives another heartbreaking story. Remarque has a way of painting his characters so realistic and interesting. After each story I wanted to know more on what would happen next. Whether a soldiers comes home or not, there seems to be a big change for all. Remarque shows how difficult it is trying to fit back into a world that has changed so much. Especially in a country that had been defeated. This collection really spoke to me, and I am definitely adding more Remarque to my TBR list.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss/NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
2018; NYU Press
I loved Remarque's [b:All Quiet on the Western Front|355697|All Quiet on the Western Front|Erich Maria Remarque|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1441227765l/355697._SY75_.jpg|2662852] and many of the writings of World War I soldiers (and others who has participated in the Great War). There is a raw honesty that came from that time that really gave the war realism and cut through some of the propaganda. Many of the works I have read come from Britain, France, USA and Canada. In reading Remarque, you see the other side of the war, from Germany's point of view. The biggest "aha" moment while reading the novel was the lack of differences and the pain from all sides that left men and women ravaged. In this short story collection, we see how the war affected the men fighting in the war, but also the family left behind. Each story gives another heartbreaking story. Remarque has a way of painting his characters so realistic and interesting. After each story I wanted to know more on what would happen next. Whether a soldiers comes home or not, there seems to be a big change for all. Remarque shows how difficult it is trying to fit back into a world that has changed so much. Especially in a country that had been defeated. This collection really spoke to me, and I am definitely adding more Remarque to my TBR list.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss/NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
moominbit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
katika's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
beatrizmallow's review against another edition
4.0
*I received this book as free copy from NetGalley*
I requested this book because in 2016 I read (and loved) Remarque's mos well known novel All Quiet on the Western Front. This is a collection of short stories dealing with war and its consequences. The collection has a very interesting and lengthy introduction that contextualizes the stories very well. The stories have the same simple but effective style that his novel and I enjoyed it a lot.
If you liked Remarque's other works this will be up your street and if you haven't I think this collection will be a very good introduction to his themes and his style.
I requested this book because in 2016 I read (and loved) Remarque's mos well known novel All Quiet on the Western Front. This is a collection of short stories dealing with war and its consequences. The collection has a very interesting and lengthy introduction that contextualizes the stories very well. The stories have the same simple but effective style that his novel and I enjoyed it a lot.
If you liked Remarque's other works this will be up your street and if you haven't I think this collection will be a very good introduction to his themes and his style.
camillalice's review against another edition
4.0
When I read All Quiet on the Western Front, I found it so powerful I gave it 5 stars. Strangely, I wasn't aware Erich Maria Remarque had written anything else, when he was actually quite a prolific writer! When I saw this one on NetGalley, I had to request it.
It's a very short book at 192 pages, especially since the first third of the book is an interesting introduction about Remarque and his writing, but, like All Quiet, all eight stories go right to your heart. All the stories are linked to WW1, either taking place during the war or after it, and show the mental, physical or spiritual suffering of the soldiers and their loved ones. It is incredibly sad, the writing is beautiful, and Remarque manages to say so much with very few words. A recommended read!
Note - thanks to NetGalley and NYU Press for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
It's a very short book at 192 pages, especially since the first third of the book is an interesting introduction about Remarque and his writing, but, like All Quiet, all eight stories go right to your heart. All the stories are linked to WW1, either taking place during the war or after it, and show the mental, physical or spiritual suffering of the soldiers and their loved ones. It is incredibly sad, the writing is beautiful, and Remarque manages to say so much with very few words. A recommended read!
Note - thanks to NetGalley and NYU Press for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
abookishtype's review against another edition
3.0
With some writers, it’s hard to separate the biography from the work. In Eight Stories: Tales of War and Loss, by Erich Maria Remarque, the brief stories and vignettes read almost like therapy. Almost all of them are set after World War I and feature German ex-soldiers. Each of them takes a different look at what life is like for those soldiers, from the deeply traumatized to the philosophical to the betrayed. This cross section offers a glimpse at what men might have felt after losing a terrible conflict, in the years before Nazism took hold...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
amalia1985's review against another edition
5.0
‘’Only one cemetery for so many. Everywhere, in scores of places, lie the others. The white wooden crosses of the French, the black ones of the Germans.’’
With All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque did the unthinkable. He made millions of readers understand and sympathise with a soldier of the Enemy, an enemy that brought Europe to its knees and caused bloodshed and chaos. The First World War was an unconceived nightmare, a notion beyond any comprehension. Remarque- a fervent fighter against Fascism- created Paul Bäumer, a character that embodies all the despair, the disillusion and, ultimately, the apathy in front of the inevitable outcome of a war that is the very definition of bedlam. Bäumer became a symbol for the despairing soldier who has no idea what he’s fighting for anymore and All Quiet on the Western Front became the pioneer of the anti-war novel, the cry of agony over a world that has gone utterly and irreversibly mad. This collection of eight stories inspired by the futility and madness of war and centered around the people’s perception of the conflict is a masterpiece on its own.
‘’And for the first time I understood that it was against men I was fighting.’’
The Enemy: A German soldier realises that he fights over falsehoods, against fellow human beings who are no different than him and his fallen comrades…
‘’It is the silence. The dreadful silence of Verdun. The silence after the battle. A silence without parallel in the world.’’
Silence: The eerie, haunting description of the silence over the battlefield, where young men have sacrificed their lives over ashes and terror.
‘’But they have left out one thing: Never again. That is missing.’’
Where Karl Had Fought: Sergeant Broeger returns to the battlefield, 10 years after the war has ended. Memories of the deaths of his comrades, of the town that is no longer there haunt him still…
‘’...children, as yet they do not know anything…’’
Josef’s Wife:The wife of a soldier who suffers from PTSD struggles to support her family and help her husband see the end of the darkness in his mind. A moving, beautiful story, my favourite in the collection.
‘’Bring me something pretty from Paris!’’
Annette’s Love Story: The story of a woman who realises the depth of her feelings when it’s too late. Here you will read one of the most tragically poetic passages about the life of the ones who have stayed behind, waiting…
‘’When the warden told them they were free, they did not believe it at first.’’
The Strange Fate of Johann Bartok: A fortunate (if one can use this word in such a context…) soldier passes through Hell only to be betrayed by the people closest to him. I felt an indescribable sadness as I was reading this story…
‘’Those were wonderful nights. The air was warm, with a strong scent of flowers, much stronger than by day.’’
On The Road: Two former soldiers become vagabonds, trying to find a new meaning in an empty life.
‘’In October, when the leaves were falling, the dying started.’’
I Dreamt Last Night: A devastating moment in a war hospital. A story difficult to classify, immensely beautiful, albeit tragic.
These stories are a tender, melancholic ode to the humanity that can be born in the midst and the aftermath of a terrible war. To the ones who fight without knowing why, who struggle to form a new life out of ruins and death. To those who stay behind, waiting for the loved ones in an agonizing maelstrom of their own. Yet, hope is present. Perseverance and the unbeatable instinct of survival guide the way, along with regret and guilt over the victims of a meaningless fight, over the ultimate demise of all that is humane and hopeful and kind. When you are dictated to kill a fellow human being because a tyrant chases his nightmarish moment of glory. A mournful cry over the history that will repeat itself a few years later...Can anything remotely human survive the blackest pages in the course of mankind? Through these stories, Remarque answers ‘’yes’’.
‘’I knew once more that beyond and above war and destruction there was something else, and that it would return again.’’
Many thanks to New York University Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com
With All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque did the unthinkable. He made millions of readers understand and sympathise with a soldier of the Enemy, an enemy that brought Europe to its knees and caused bloodshed and chaos. The First World War was an unconceived nightmare, a notion beyond any comprehension. Remarque- a fervent fighter against Fascism- created Paul Bäumer, a character that embodies all the despair, the disillusion and, ultimately, the apathy in front of the inevitable outcome of a war that is the very definition of bedlam. Bäumer became a symbol for the despairing soldier who has no idea what he’s fighting for anymore and All Quiet on the Western Front became the pioneer of the anti-war novel, the cry of agony over a world that has gone utterly and irreversibly mad. This collection of eight stories inspired by the futility and madness of war and centered around the people’s perception of the conflict is a masterpiece on its own.
‘’And for the first time I understood that it was against men I was fighting.’’
The Enemy: A German soldier realises that he fights over falsehoods, against fellow human beings who are no different than him and his fallen comrades…
‘’It is the silence. The dreadful silence of Verdun. The silence after the battle. A silence without parallel in the world.’’
Silence: The eerie, haunting description of the silence over the battlefield, where young men have sacrificed their lives over ashes and terror.
‘’But they have left out one thing: Never again. That is missing.’’
Where Karl Had Fought: Sergeant Broeger returns to the battlefield, 10 years after the war has ended. Memories of the deaths of his comrades, of the town that is no longer there haunt him still…
‘’...children, as yet they do not know anything…’’
Josef’s Wife:The wife of a soldier who suffers from PTSD struggles to support her family and help her husband see the end of the darkness in his mind. A moving, beautiful story, my favourite in the collection.
‘’Bring me something pretty from Paris!’’
Annette’s Love Story: The story of a woman who realises the depth of her feelings when it’s too late. Here you will read one of the most tragically poetic passages about the life of the ones who have stayed behind, waiting…
‘’When the warden told them they were free, they did not believe it at first.’’
The Strange Fate of Johann Bartok: A fortunate (if one can use this word in such a context…) soldier passes through Hell only to be betrayed by the people closest to him. I felt an indescribable sadness as I was reading this story…
‘’Those were wonderful nights. The air was warm, with a strong scent of flowers, much stronger than by day.’’
On The Road: Two former soldiers become vagabonds, trying to find a new meaning in an empty life.
‘’In October, when the leaves were falling, the dying started.’’
I Dreamt Last Night: A devastating moment in a war hospital. A story difficult to classify, immensely beautiful, albeit tragic.
These stories are a tender, melancholic ode to the humanity that can be born in the midst and the aftermath of a terrible war. To the ones who fight without knowing why, who struggle to form a new life out of ruins and death. To those who stay behind, waiting for the loved ones in an agonizing maelstrom of their own. Yet, hope is present. Perseverance and the unbeatable instinct of survival guide the way, along with regret and guilt over the victims of a meaningless fight, over the ultimate demise of all that is humane and hopeful and kind. When you are dictated to kill a fellow human being because a tyrant chases his nightmarish moment of glory. A mournful cry over the history that will repeat itself a few years later...Can anything remotely human survive the blackest pages in the course of mankind? Through these stories, Remarque answers ‘’yes’’.
‘’I knew once more that beyond and above war and destruction there was something else, and that it would return again.’’
Many thanks to New York University Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com
balancinghistorybooks's review against another edition
4.0
All Quiet on the Western Front is one of my favourite books, and when I spotted the forthcoming collection of eight of Erich Maria Remarque's short stories, I was most excited. This collection includes a series of melancholy tales of war, all of which are beautifully evoked, and quite touching. Just what I was expecting, and well worth a read.