Remarque is of course famous for this classic WWI novel; also wrote this excellent novel about life between the wars.
“The Road Back” has a similar feel but in a different setting - moreso focused on immediate post-war years in Germany. The novel starts in the trenches as the war winds down in 1918, and follows the protagonists as they try to cope with postwar life.
In some ways quite
modern in terms of soldiers adjusting to being back home (many of the issues sound familiar in accounts of contemporary struggles); in other ways quite
specific to post-WWI Germany – so that was a good combination.
The immediate disappointment that "back home" - so eagerly anticipated - was really a place where "Life has moved on . . . it is leaving us behind almost as if we were already superfluous."
Hard to imagine how that must have felt, especially for the few survivors that had been in the war from 1914 on. Remarque does a good job working with the behaviors of this group - who had left civilization pretty far behind in some ways.
Hard to imagine how that must have felt, especially for the few survivors that had been in the war from 1914 on. Remarque does a good job working with the behaviors of this group - who had left civilization pretty far behind in some ways.
Interesting discussion of the readiness of the German population - including many disaffected vets - to look for solutions in socialism etc. (this was written before the rise of the Nazis).
Gift from PJr and Nedda for birthday #57. Nice.
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