All Quiet On The Western Front Part 1

    All quite on the western front has numerously been dubbed "the greatest war novel of all time" and as a classic, it holds up.The story is about a fictional soldier, Paul Baumer, who signed up with his classmates in the German army during world war 1. Story is a lose term for this book, it has superb narrative but the system of events is stripped down. This isn't meant to explain any specific battle or real event, but how the book is told makes it so well regarded.

   This is a perfectly minimalistic read, as it does so much with so little. Some may find the first person narrative not very believable as Baumer acts as a spectator more than a regular participant in the action. By doing this however, it creates a feeling of a loss of humanity as this book is near exclusively meant to see the horrors of war on more levels than just the descriptions. The book is simply scenario after scenario but what it does is keep giving you awful realities (that to this day may be overshadowed by films like Saving Private Ryan) one after another, which I developed a sense of normality for eventually. Every now and then this concept breaks when recruits just can't take it anymore and crack under the stress. Once you find this, you will find an amazing contrast and heartbreak.

   Reading this book can be done in different ways. Because of the book's stripped down nature and lack of much story, I was able to skim through and soak in the detail. There isn't much need to know all of the characters by heart since they eventually tend to blend together, but there is a sense of comradeship. No matter, you will be transported from where you are reading, straight to the front lines, if you carefully read through it, you can truly be in the eyes of the character, but if you skim through it like I did, it can be treated as if it's one long, horrific flashback.