All+Quiet+on+the+Western+Front+by+Matas+L.



Part 1 Thursday March 17 Pgs 1-65

__All Quiet on the Western Front __ takes place during world war one. This book is not taken from the average American reader’s perspective. It is about the life of German soldiers living through trench warfare and its struggles. So far in my book there have been no attacks on the Germans. The main struggle they are living through is battling hunger and the strict order and routine of their commander. The soldiers were so sick of his attitude that when he was walking back from a bar alone, they tied in up and beat him. As where I just left off the soldiers were getting ready for battle. Erich uses much loaded language describing the soldiers in the moon light. Everything is so vivid and full of description. As for how I am enjoying this book right now, I would give it a 6 out of 10. The book itself is very jumpy in a way and no real action has happened yet. When I read this book I feel uncomfortable at times because they are fighting and killing the British, the side that I feel were the so called “Good Guys” in the war. But in a sense it is very interesting because I also got to understand how the Germans weren’t evil. They were just like us during the Great War. Our country did a very good job in making the Germans look evil. So to sum it up, I am somewhat enjoying this book and am very much looking forward to go further in the book.

· The Western Front-History  · Trench warfare-History  · Food shortage for Germans- History  · WW2-History  · Elite German Military-Culture

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Part 2

March 24, 2011

Pages 65-152

In this section of the book they are going to war. They finally realize what war really is. For the first time they see wounded and dying men, they begin to realize that there is an almost certain fact that those dying men will be replaced by them; for not many men survive longer than 1 year on the front. This section in the book is sad in a way but it is getting more exciting the more I read it. All the characters in the book are becoming hardened by the war. These men’s personality completely change. They begin to understand that in these past few months they have learned more than in all their educational years. What they have learned is more practical, and will be remembered for their whole lives. Later in the book they begin to talk about what they want to do when they leave this war. Most of the men’s reactions are that they want to drink when they get back home. They are just so spun around the war that they just don’t know what they will do when this Great War ends.

This section of the book is very jumpy and has bad transitioning. But it is very interesting, it is interesting in the way these soldiers’ help each other survive in these hard conditions. They give each other not only physical support but also mental support as well. They all have each other’s back. These men would run out into oncoming fire to save one another. The older soldiers help the rookies in their first days. So all in all I am enjoying this book very much but I do have higher expectations.

1. In the book they often talk about drinking, the germane culture.

<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">2. By the sound of people’s names you can relate to their culture.

<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. A man in the book mentions a revolver, an older weapon.

<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">4. They often mention trenches, ww1 history.

<span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;">5. They also mention daggers, older weapons.

Part 3 April 3, 2011 Pages 153-212 From where I started in this chapter all the German soldiers are starving. All the food that they are able to get their hands on gets eaten by the rats. They all have to sleep with their food closely and tightly wrapped in their hands. Not long after, the opposing French army pulls an attack on the Germans. During this attack the Germans get fresh reinforcements. As the main character Paul said, “The new recruits most likely gave us more casualties than help our cause”. The recruits gave away their cover and didn’t know how to handle the mustard gas. Later after the battle was over everything came back to normal. During the nights Paul and some of his friends went over to the French side and snuck into three young lady’s house. There they gave the French women food and had a good time. Near the end of my section Paul has a leave for home. In his leave he is very unhappy. He sees that people don’t understand the war. To them everything is very simple; this shows how the government is hiding what is really going on in the Western front. They just haven’t been through what he has lived through. This is my favorite section of the book so far. I am actually enjoying reading; I can’t put the book down! When I first started reading this book I didn’t enjoy it very much. In the beginning of this book the reading was very jumpy. But now as the reading progresses it is becoming an easy read. I also feel that the German Military did I bad job at fighting the war. They didn’t feed their soldiers well enough and gave them bad equipment. If the German command did these small changes I feel that it could have altered the outcome of the war greatly. One last thing is that the German government shouldn’t have lied to the public of what was happening in the war, the German citizens have to right to know what is truly happening to their men on the front. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">PTSD <span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · Mustard gas relates to history <span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · Type of cheese refers to culture <span style="display: block; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · Drinking refers to culture

Part 4 April 10, 2011 Pages 213-295

During this final section of the book Paul leaves home and goes back to the front. When he arrives back in the front he feels that it was a bad idea to leave the warzone for home in the first place. He states that coming home then back to war only makes you more sad, realizing that there are only more worries awaiting him at home. Before he starts fighting again he is stationed to a training base in Germany. In this base they keep Russian prisoners. He is one of the few men who have sympathy for these men. Paul gives them food to eat, cigarettes, something to live for. When he goes to look for his company he finds out that they are stationed in Russia. When he finds this news out he is confused, for he didn’t know that there was fighting going on in Russia. When he finally arrives his friends are the same as they were two weeks earlier. They are all in high hopes, as high as can get in times like these. Not long after there is an attack on their trench. During this attack Paul gets trapped in a ditch in No Man’s Land. In this trench he kills a Russian. As he arrives back another bombardment begins. During this bombardment he and four of his fellow friends get injured and get sent to a hospital. They get treated well and get sent back. When they are back everything is different. Everyone knows that the Germans are going to lose the war. They just don’t know when. At the end of this book every one of Paul’s friends has died. In October of 1918 Paul peacefully died. He died all quiet on the western front.

I enjoyed this section of this book very much. The men had very strong bonds. They had each other back. For instance, when Paul is behind enemy lines they go and look for him. One thing that I don’t like about them is that they can be selfish at times. They steel food and most if the time don’t share. I also enjoyed the ending to this book very much. It made me sad, but it also showed me what I easy life I have now.

As I finished this book I was actually happy that I read it. This book really moved me in a way that I have never been moved by a book before. It really showed that their perspective of the war was the same as ours, they thought they were right. The book had some downsides to it. For instance, the beginning was quite boring and at times nothing major happened in the plot. At times it can be a tough read, that is a given. I would recommend this book to a person who enjoys a book about strong bonds between soldiers.