Paperback, 253 pages
French language
Published June 14, 1973 by Livre de Poche.
" Quand nous partons, nous ne sommes que de vulgaires soldats, maussades ou de bonne humeur et, quand nous arrivons dans la zone où commence le front, nous sommes devenus des hommes-bêtes. " Témoignage d'un simple soldat allemand de la guerre 1914-1918, A l'Ouest, rien de nouveau, roman pacifiste, réaliste et bouleversant, connut, dès sa parution en 1928, un succès mondial retentissant et reste l'un des ouvrages les plus remarquables sur la monstruosité de la guerre.
Erich must have been to war, there is no other way he could have done such a good job describing the horrors, joys, banalities, and excitement of rest war. There is no other way he could have known how a person becomes completely changed by it, hollowed out by it, and yet must continue on. If he hasn't, he is an even better writer still.
Good lordt. What a book. I’m some ways it’s hard to believe this is 95 years old. In other ways it’s easy to believe. Nothing had changed. Humans are humans. War is horrible. Aside from the setting or technology this book could’ve been written about prehistoric tribal warfare or the seemingly inevitable WWIII.
Not sure why I haven’t heard more about this other than “there’s a movie adaptation”. This should be required reading in school.
