i wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to remarque’s writing after having read all quiet on the western front, so i picked up the second book in the series. all quiet on the western front is harrowing in its descriptions of emotional and physical terror at war, the way back is more quiet yet still packs a punch in its discussions of shell shock and the moral conflicts surrounding patriotism after having lived through the time at the front as a soldier. although most of this book is devastating, there are also glimpses of hope every now and then - when walking through nature, feeling sunshine on your face, when finding solace in the perpetual flow of life.

‘der saft steigt in den stämmen, mit schwachem knall platzen die knospen, und das dunkel ist voll vom geräusch des wachsens. die nacht ist im zimmer und der mond. das leben ist im zimmer.’

Щиро про те, що очікує тих, хто повертається із війни. Про травми, котрі ніхто не збирається лікувати. Про байдужість инших. Про те, як війна ділить світ на до і після. Як розділяє тим, як відчужує солдатів від иншого світу. І як важко потім намагатися повернутися і чому не у всіх виходить.

The follow-up to 'All Quiet on the Western Front'.

Not quite as brilliant as the predecessor, but pretty darn close.

A poignant portrait of a lost generation.

Ремарк це письменник, який хоче викликати співчуття до агресора. Колись воно в мене було. Зараз абсолютно відсутнє. Агресор заслуговує на всі страждання і навіть більше.
Але ця книга в мене була і я вирішила її прочитати, бо тут не про війну, а про те, що відбувається коли війна завершується. Головні герої- діти, яких забрали зі школи і відправили на фронт. І от вони повертаються, коли оголошують мир … тут про те, як важко адаптуватись, на скільки суспільство не вміє приймати людей, які повернулись з війни і взагалі дуже важка морально книга(

Dönüş Yolu, Batı Cephesinde Yeni Bir Şey Yok’un devamı olan, Üç Arkadaş ile tamamlanacak bir üçlemenin ikinci kitabı. Dönüş Yolu, I. Dünya Savaşı’nın son zamanlarında başlıyor; cephedeki askerlerin barış esnasında ve sonrasında yurtlarına döndüklerinde yaşadıklarını konu alıyor. Batı Cephesinde…. romanın kahramanı Paul Baumer’in vurulması ve bir nevi huzur içinde ölümüyle sona eriyor. Okuyucu, ateşkesin hemen öncesinde, Ekim 1918’de ölen kahraman için üzülüyor fakat Baumer, savaş sonrası yaşamın hiç de kolay olmayacağının bilincinde olduğu için ölümle kucaklaşıyor resmen. Dönüş Yolu’nu bize, Baumer ile aynı lise sıralarındayken askere alınmış, aynı bölükte savaşmış, onunla benzer geçmişe ve gelecek kaygılarına sahip Ernst Birkholz anlatıyor. Savaştan mağlup çıkmış, İmparatoru kaçmış, devrimin gerçekleştiği ve yoksulluk içindeki Almanya; devrim bürokratik karmaşanın içinde Siyasi Eğilimlerin mücadelesine dönüşmüş. Yıllardır cephede olan, gençlikleri ellerinden alınmış bir avuç asker bu şartlar altında ülkelerine geri dönüyorlar. Toplum onlardan bu ‘barış’ dönemine hemen adapte olmalarını bekliyor ama onlar aldatılmış ve yabancılaşmış hissediyorlar.
Dönüş Yolu muhteşem bir hikaye; akıcı ve sade. Her zamanki gibi popüler olanın, yani Batı Cephesinde Yeni Bir Şey Yok’un, gölgesinde kalmış. Oysa savaşı tüm açılarıyla ve yıkımıyla ele alan kitap bence Dönüş Yolu. Cepheden dönen askerlere ve dolayısıyla okuyucuya, ‘keşke ölseydim’ duygusunu yaşatacak kadar gerçekçi bir hikaye. Maalesef kitabın baskısı yoktu ve PDF bulup okudum. Everest Yayınları yeniden basarsa hiç düşünmeden alırım. Kütüphanemde olmasını istediğim bir eser çünkü.

Събитията от началото на миналия век, може би, не са най-грозните белези в историята на човечеството. Вероятно преди Голямата война, преди Голямата депресия, преди Холокоста е имало и по-мащабни или по-кървави събития, но не са достатъчно добре документирани за да дадат пълната представа за своята чудовищност.

Затова харесвам творбите на Ерих Мария Ремарк – дават почти картинна представа за съвремието му. Още повече, че Ремарк не пише суховати научни доклади, а създава интимен разказ за индивида, удавен в бурята от социални и политически течения. И ако „На Западния фронт нищо ново“ забива читателя сред калните окопи и го оглушава с картечна стрелба, то „Обратният път“ го поставя зашеметен и изгубен в поствоенна и гладна Германия.

За мен лично, „Обратният път“ е по-въздействащата книга.Още...

When I heard that "All Quiet on the Western Front" (AQOTWF) was the beginning of a trilogy last year even before reading this well known story, I wanted to read all three in a row. My reading plan for 2018 has several series that are on my list. Having read AQOTWF, I was wondering how Remarque would handle the next two books especially given the ending of the first, but as Frances Hodgson Burnett talked about how she expanded on her short story which blossomed into "A Little Princess" by character becoming known which were in the first but some mentioned others did not tap Remarque on the shoulder until his second story. Having lived in these times, Remarque brings something more poignant and resounding because this was historical fiction which so much reality. You can see the mistakes of the future coming because we know them but living it as he did he saw and experienced it, it is wonderful when modern writers can bring forth a great historical fiction novel but I get chills when I read books from the past especially when they are writing of events of their times. I was loving this sad and hopeful story but it became an ultimate favorite when 3/4 or more into the novel, my heart broke and I cried. When a book gets me to cry it is something grand because I am not one to cry at anything unless it really touches my core. Can these soldiers find peace after the war is over or is the war inside them forever? My last couple highlights are worth the look see, I attempted to submit to Good reads but they would not take but are in my highlights section. I will read book three next, Three Comrades.

"The Road Back" is a sequel to "All Quiet on the Western Front."
The end of the war is near. Ernst Birkholz is the narrator throughout the Novel.

The men all are struggling to survive the Trenches and get on with what remains of their lives. The road, however, is not bright for any of the survivors: Baumer, Kat, Haie, Brandt and Muller are among the survivors and war buddies of Ernst.

After the Armistice is signed in November 1918, the men must walk back from the Trenches in France to Germany. The Army does not provide transport; Germany has badly lost the War.

All of the survivors are suffering from, a common term now, PTSD.

Mr. Remarque has written a masterpiece in his interpretation of life for these young Germans struggling to survive the war, but also struggling to survive the peace in a devastated Germany.

This is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. If you have read that I recommend that you be sure to read this. The two go hand in hand.

The story begins in Flanders with men still fighting and dying and being maimed, whilst the talk of peace ripples along the front line with a mixture of hope and disbelief.

Those who 'survive' slowly make their way home only to discover that nothing is as they remember because they themselves have been forever changed by the horrors of war.

There is a real insight into the both the PTSD and the state of Germany as it collapses in the aftermath. I learned a lot of this time period from one who was there.

The author's writing at times is sharp and jarring, and at others flows like pure water; as if Remarque himself was slipping between the hallucinatory world of the war and what it had done to him, and the romantic, idealistic educated young man he once was, as he wrote of these young comrades home from one hell into another kind of hell.

There were many parts of this book where I just wanted to weep at the psychological damage done to these men and the walking wounded of a returned generation.

Many scenes stand out in my mind but one in particular, a scene from later in the book: a march of returned soldiers who have come home only to find poverty, penury, and a world no longer valuing them or the sacrifice they made. At the front of the march are men with one arm missing carrying the banners. Then comes the blind with eyes shot out. Then those who have a little sight but their faces are damaged and many have deformed or no jaws/mouth, noses. Next comes those who had 1 leg amputated shuffling along on crutches, followed by those with both legs lost, pushed along in wicker wheeled chairs. And finally, men who are just a mere torso pushed along on trolleys like the type used to move carcasses of meat in an abattoir.

'awful misery, without much hope, prisoners of the destiny that others made for them.'

The journal I keep of quotes from books I read is full of wisdom and truth when writing from this book.

" We were making war against ourselves without knowing it! Every shot that struck home, struck one of us."

"The youth of the world rose up in every land, believing that it was fighting for freedom. And in every land, they were duped and misused."

This is a book I would like a copy of to keep on my bookshelf and hope others will read.

'all learning, all culture, all science is nothing but hideous mockery, so long as mankind makes war in the name of God and humanity with gas, iron, explosive and fire.' We need to remember and learn from the testimony of these fallen, or suffer it all over again.

A worthwhile sequel to AQOTWF

THE ROAD BACK by Erich Maria Remarque

A top-notch sequel to the same author’s “All Quiet On the Western Front;” it’s still considered a sequel, even though the protagonist from the first novel in the series, Paul Bäumer, was killed at the end, as Paul and several other characters (such as Kat) are still referenced here.

While this novel is mainly about the transition from WWI to peacetime for these youthful soldiers (led by new protagonist Ernst) of a freshly defeated Germany, there are still plenty of harrowing battle scenes, between the opening chapter, flashback scenes, and hallucinations (PTSD, decades before the acronym was officially coined).

And even with the war being over, and not even counting the aforementioned PTSD (or “shell-shock” as they called it back then), the protagonist and his comrades find that peacetime has its own horrors, miseries, and difficulties (especially in a defeated nation).

RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS (and noteworthy passages):

—p. 9: “Till now, the years of war had succeeded each other, year laid upon year, one year of hopelessness treading fast upon another, and when a man reckoned the time, his amazement was almost as great to discover it had been so long, as that it had been only so long.” The cruel paradox.

“We have even three old-timers still from ’fourteen—Bethke, Wessling and Kosole, who know everything and often speak of the first months as though that were away back in the olden days of the gods and the heroes.” In four years of war, an eternity indeed for the soldiers who’ve survived it that long.

—p. 10: “And suddenly I know what it is that has thrown us all into such a state of alarm. It has merely become still. Absolutely still. Not a machine gun, not a shot, not an explosion; no shriek of shells; nothing, absolutely nothing, no shot, no cry. It is simply still, utterly still. We look at one another; we cannot understand it. This is the first time it has been so quiet since we have been at the Front.” Deafening silence, eh?

—p. 11: “All at once—in the whirl of our excitement we had hardly observed it—the silence is at an end; once more, dully menacing, comes the noise of gunfire, and already from afar, like the bill of a woodpecker, sounds the knock-knocking of a machine gun. We grow calm and are almost glad to hear again the familiar, trusty noises of death.” The comfort of familiar misery.

—p. 13: Jeez-Louise, the WWI German Army handgun was a Luger semiautomatic pistol, NOT a “revolver!”

—p. 17: “Now it is over and will stay behind here; when we set out, it will drop behind us, step by step, and in an hour be gone as if it had never been. —Who can realize it? There we stand and should laugh and shout for joy—and yet we have now a sick feeling in the pit of our stomachs, as one who swallows a throat swab and would vomit.” Kinda like being released from prison after a long sentence?

—p. 18: Wow, a reference to Bäumer (protagonist and first-person narrator of “All Quiet On the Western Front”) and Kat (R.I.P.).

—pp. 33-34: “Breyer came to our company as a volunteer and was afterwards given a commission. It is not only with Trosske, Homeyer, Bröger and me that he talks familiarly—that goes without saying, of course, we were former schoolfellows—but, when no other officer is about, he is the same with all his old mates in the ranks. And his credit stands high in consequence.” Just like in my own country’s military, the prior-enlisted officers have the best credibility with their troops.

—p. 103: “Wolf accompanies me to the house, but he must stay outside—my aunt dislikes dogs of any sort. I ring.” Ugh, what a bitch; maybe she’s an ancestor of Ruth Graham or one of the other Slate.Com scumbags.

—p. 134: “tittlebacks,” same species as sticklebacks?

—p. 140: “Any soldier knows that a company commander may have the best of intentions, but if his noncoms. are against him he is powerless to effect anything. So, too, even the most progressive minister must shipwreck if he has a block of reactionary bureaucrats against him. And in Germany the bureaucrats all have their jobs still. —These pen-pushing Napoleons are invincible.” Ach, Scheisser, the Deep State, 1918 German style.

—p. 181: It’s hard to imagine a military reunion in the U.S. wherein social class distinctions would be so stark as to spoil the camaraderie.

“The Road Back” is Erich Maria Remarques less famous, but not less genius second part of the combined work of both novels “All Quite on the Western Front” and “The Road Back”, which was originally intended to be a trilogy.
While “All Quite on the Western Front” dealt more with the experience of the war itself, “The Road Back” focuses on the inherently difficult task of trying to reconnect with life after having experienced the unimaginable inhumanity and brutality of the war.

How does someone go on living after having seen so much death and suffering? How does one cope with the fact that one is a mass murderer in the name of the nation?
Can you lovingly hug your wife, knowing that you slaughtered, bombed and shot hundreds or thousands of men, who were husbands and whose wife’s now are devastated widows?
Can you possibly love existence and be content and happy ever again?


Remarque explores all these psychological and human abysses through the characters of Ernst Birkholz and his comrades, some of whom are known from „All Quite on the Western Front“.

One of the strengths of both novels is their general validity for all nations. Trauma doesn’t care if you are French, American, German or Russian. If you experienced the unimaginable horrors of war, you will be faced with the psychological aftermath, no matter the nation.
That makes both novels strong advocates for pacifism.

Another strength of Remarque is his ability to portray the inner world of the traumatized soldiers, which really enables the reader to deeply contemplate what it must have been like to witness something as ineffably horrifying as the war.
The very graphic descriptions of ripped open bodies, torn up intestines, screaming soldiers with their legs bombed away or rotting heads flying around in explosions also add to this.

“The Road Back” makes it very clear that the war is absolutely no heroic exciting adventure trip for the soldiers, but a completely absurd, pointless and ridiculously stupid disaster, only fought for immensely egoistic purposes of very few rich men, who never even have to lift a finger, while „their“ nation dies by the millions.

Remarque also conveys the absurdity of war through his rich and almost mystical descriptions of the beauty of nature, which create a stark contrast to the lifeless horrors of the war.
It seems like these occasional fragments of beauty are the only patches of color in an otherwise grey and dark world.
In the end, Ernst even has some kind of a mystical experience, where the borders of his body dissolve into the meadow he’s lying in and he feels the unity of existence, although he doesn’t understand what he experienced.

It would be interesting to know if Remarque had some knowledge on eastern philosophies or on mysticism in general, or why he was able to depict so accurately the characteristic qualities of the mystical experience.


All in all an important novel for pacifism, powerfully written, and a haunting reading experience.

This is the sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. That one,is a favourite book of mine. I had high expectations of the sequel. It left me a bit disappointed.

Its predecessor was a hard act to follow. I'm not exactly surprised that the book is not as good. Also,the first book was about the war (WW I),and was much more intense.

This one is more about returning and defeated German soldiers trying to fit back into civilian life. While trying to evade death was their constant preoccupation at the front,life in peacetime is a lot slower,and cannot match that high.

Their military skills have become useless after coming back.Most of their fellow soldiers have been killed,there are food shortages and political unrest. Their women have taken new lovers.

The dilemmas of returning soldiers are similar in all wars,and are more intense if they have been defeated,injured and demobilised.

What made the book disappointing for me,is that it's very slow,and bored me. Not much happens. It's certainly not comparable to All Quiet on the Western Front.