Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

18 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Ok this was better than I thought it would be. I read this after I heard about the movie and I don't regret it. Paul is a younger German soldier on the front lines of WW1 who struggles to understand the horrors of war and the trenches. The story is centered around Paul and his 7 classmates. This book, while very serious and somber, reads like a diary. Everything feels past tense but also like it happened a few hours ago not a few years ago. There's almost no dialogue and huge chunks of exposition or philosophical thoughts. This combined with the long chapters made it a difficult read. It's very slow and there isn't a ton of action. It's definitely geared towards history nerds and as someone who likes history but prefers english this was a hard read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cursing, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Violence, War, Murder, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Child death, Vomit, and Abandonment

kendyllgull's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, War, Violence, Medical content, Body horror, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Excrement

Moderate: Sexual content

sophtanda's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Alcohol, and Blood

Moderate: Excrement, Colonisation, Grief, Medical content, and Cancer

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Sexual content

heuteschongekurtet's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, War, Alcohol, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Cursing, Cancer, Genocide, and Sexism

saraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

One of the best pieces of war literature I've ever read. Deeply moving, reflective, leaves you with a strong sense of injustice – as any good war novel should.
I feel like the author went for an explicitly didascalic approach, unambiguously denouncing the horrors of the war through the first person account of the young protagonist's personal experiences and reflections.
The strong accent on the loss of youthful dreams and teenage convictions makes it, in a way, a hybrid between a war novel and a bildungsroman.
The style was poetic at times, especially when reporting the protagonist's considerations, then moving to a kind of matter-of-factly journalistic style when describing the soldiers' routine and daily sufferings.
Last but not least, it's the first – and so far the only – war novel I read that managed to give a realistic account of a teenage boy's perspective on women and sexual attraction without falling into misogyny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Death, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, and Racial slurs

izzallgood's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Cancer

Minor: Excrement

A really thought-provoking book, with rich, devastating imagery and equally deep and devastating reflection from the protagonist throughout. A deeply human, moving and raw experience. I found myself shocked at how well I was able to relate to these enormous emotions, despite never having experienced anything remotely close to what is described throughout - this is a testament to how authentic and human the writing is. I felt as Paul felt as he felt it. One of the best books I’ve read.

livruther's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

beautifully written + very honest

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Excrement, War, Gun violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual content

diddlydoo333's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, War, Gore, Blood, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Physical abuse, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Excrement, Body horror, Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Confinement, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Gore, Genocide, Alcohol, Blood, and Mental illness

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Sexism, Sexual content, Cancer, Ableism, and Child death

clara_mai's review against another edition

5.0

 Erich Maria Remarque erzählt auf gleichzeitig schöne und schreckliche, in jedem Fall eindringliche Weise davon, was der erste Weltkrieg mit den Soldaten machte. Er beschreibt wie der Krieg sinnlos das Leben junger Menschen zerstört, auch wenn sie ihn überleben. Wie in der Widmung des Buches steht: Dieses Buch soll weder eine Anklage noch ein Bekenntnis sein. Es soll nur den Versuch machen, über eine Generation zu berichten, die vom Kriege zerstört wurde – auch wenn sie seinen Granaten entkam. Hier noch ein paar weitere Zitate:

Wir haben alles Gefühl füreinander verloren, wir kennen uns kaum noch, wenn das Bild des andern in unseren gejagten Blick fällt.

Wir sind verlassen wie Kinder und erfahren wie alte Leute, wir sind roh und traurig und oberflächlich - ich glaube wir sind verloren.

Abends stehen sie wieder am Gitter und der Wind kommt von den Birkenwäldern zu ihnen. Die Sterne sind kalt.

Unsere Gedanken sind Lehm, sie werden geknetet vom Wechsel der Tage

Unsere Hände sind Erde, unsere Körper Lehm und unsere Augen Regentümpel. Wir wissen nicht, ob wir noch leben.

Da das Buch 1929 veröffentlicht wurde, enthält es ein paar veraltete Begriffe, das möchte ich erwähnen. Die Art, wie vom Protagonisten und den anderen Soldaten über Frauen gesprochen wird, ist nicht immer angenehm - meistens einfach sexualisiert - aber so wahrscheinlich authentisch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Grief, Death, Medical trauma, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Cancer

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book expresses a human aspect to war; giving faces, names, occupations, and families to the young German soldiers of WWI. Their deaths are all impactful, none more than Kat, but the need to keep fighting both the war itself and the internal struggles Paul feels brush the trauma of those deaths out of view without trivializing it. The switch at the end from a first person, personalized account, to a third person omniscient narrator finishes that action by showing the outcome of all of those traumas washing over him like a wave as the rumors of the wars near end reach him. This novel begs the questions of what happens when war is over, when all you've known in your adult life is war; what happens when everyone you hold dear, who knows you as you are and not how you were is gone; and what does it mean to feel alive? War is not something that can value life of any sort, in any way, and this book captures that essence of loss perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Grief, Vomit, Excrement, Suicide, Violence, and War