ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Erich Maria Remarque

 5 GOLD stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Looked for it after re-watching the recent German remake of the film

In a Nutshell: A young German man's experiences in World War I

I was surprised, when I started to read this book.  I expected it to be heavy going, a lengthy tome, but it's far from that.  It's not very long (I would estimate about 70K words), and the first person point of view of Paul Bäumer, the protagonist, flows along in a highly readable fashion; it's like reading a diary.  I'd finished it in just two days, couldn't put it down.  

It goes without saying that the novel illustrates the absolute evil of war, and reminds one of the pointlessness of all that those millions of poor men suffered on the Western Front, for nothing much at all apart from making those who profit from such carnage even richer and more powerful.  Meanwhile, Paul and his friends gradually change from enthusiastic lads who were lied to by their teachers about the glory of war and how it was their duty to enlist, to shell-shocked and lost men who can relate only to each other; nothing prepared them for the horror of trench warfare, and no words can explain it to those back at home.

Echoing the cover, it's just the best war novel I've ever read.  Read it!! (btw if you're buying off Amazon, be careful not to get an abridged version)

'I am twenty years of age but I know nothing of life except despair, death, fear,  and the combination of completely mindless superficiality with an abyss of suffering.  I see people being driven against one another, and silently, uncomprehendingly, foolishly, obediently and innocently killing one another.  I see the best brains in the world inventing weapons and words to make the process that much more sophisticated and long-lasting.  And watching this with me are all my contemporaries, here and on the other side, all over the world - my whole generation is experiencing this with me.'

This picture says so much, no matter which country's generals demanded you be sent off to kill and be killed by men just like you - the Cameron Highlanders, before and after WWI.