All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque, is a novel that narrates the story of a WWI soldier named Paul Bäumer. One thing I find interesting about the author is that he was in combat during World War I himself. This could mean that the war novel he wrote was based on his experience and the things he lived on the front lines. Also, I consider that the author is a very skilled writer. He managed to describe everything in a way that the reader could feel part of the story and sense the emotions and tension of what was written.
Now, let’s talk about my thoughts on the book itself. I’m not a reader who usually reads history novels. The reason why I liked this one is because of how well-written it is. The history was narrated realistically. It described how the lifestyle of people was back in the times of WWI. It focuses on the people who were living on the front lines. The characters had interesting and relevant backgrounds for the story. This was useful to explain why the characters felt what they felt and did what they did. An example of a scene where we can appreciate the human behaviour of Paul is the one in which he kills an enemy soldier and realizes that he’s a human, a human just like him and his friends.
As soon as I finished reading the novel, I had the awful feeling of wanting a longer story. I enjoyed this book a lot. It made the study of WWI easier for me. As mentioned in the first paragraph, I’m not the kind of person who is interested in history. Somehow, this novel captured my undivided attention. I would recommend this book to my friends. It gives you an accurate idea of how terrible WWI was for everyone. WWI’s impact was so devastating that we can see it in some aspects of today’s society and lifestyle.