BIBLIOGRAPHY

FURTHER READING

CRITICAL WORKS

During the second half of his life, German-born Erich Maria Remarquewas an American citizen who spent much of his time in Switzerland.His books were more popular with the public than with critics.Also, he wrote in German and his books were then translated intoEnglish. As a result, much less literary criticism- in English-exists on Remarque's books than those of other major Americanauthors. There is no biography of Remarque for the general reader.

Barker, Christine R., and R.W. Last. Erich Maria Remarque. NewYork:

Barnes & Noble, 1979.

This scholarly book, which uses sources in German and in English,examines Remarque's life and novels in detail.

Jacobs, Lewis. The Rise of the American Film. New York: Teachers

College, Columbia University Press, 1968.

Lewis Milestone's 1930 production of All Quiet on the Western

Front is treated as a landmark in early films with sound.

Schwarz, Wilhelm J. War and the Mind of Germany. I. Frankfurt,

West Germany: Peter Lang, 1975.

An essay in the book compares Remarque's war novel with the workof other German novelists.

AUTHOR'S OTHER WORKS

SEMIAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVELS

The Road Back, 1931 (Der Weg zuruck, 1931).

It is a time of shortages, profiteering, riots, and extremistpolitics. Men returning from the front no longer fit- with family,at a teacher's college, in jobs, even in bars or dance-halls.They feel betrayed by their Fatherland.

The Black Obelisk, 1957 (Der schwarze Obelisk, 1956).

Political unrest, unemployment, and galloping inflation are factsof life in Germany in 1923. Ludwig Bodmer, a 25-year-old WorldWar I veteran, works for a tombstone firm, tutors, and plays organon Sundays at an insane asylum. He wanders between the Poets'Club and a local brothel and between a circus girl and a beautifulasylum inmate, finally leaving for a newspaper job in Berlin andhoping to find a purpose in life.

Three Comrades, 1937 (Drei Kameraden, 1937).

Times are hard and political factions becoming violent in Germanyin 1928, but Gottfried Lenz, Otto Koster, and Robert Lohkamp haveeach other. Car racing and repair, roses from cloister bushes,Robby's piano playing, constant drinking- and death- are interwovenin the story of their friendship and Robby's love of PatriciaHollmann.

Heaven Has No Favorites, 1961 (Der Himmel kennt keine Gunstlinge,1961).

Lillian, eager for experiences denied her for three years in asanatorium, and Clerfayt, a racing driver, make the most of theirthreatened time together one spring and summer in Paris, Sicily,Venice, and the Riviera. Set after World War II, but the timeseems earlier.

THE EMIGRANT NOVELS

These novels, set from about 1937 to the mid 1940s, usually featurea non-Jewish German deprived of citizenship for political reasons.He associates with other refugees, some Jewish, some from a varietyof European countries, all of them avoiding European police sincethey have no legal papers. The plots continue the themes of AllQuiet on the Western Front- brotherhood versus man's inhumanityto man- but the dialogues are tiresome debates on life, love,and politics.

Flotsam, 1941 (Liebe deinen Nächsten, 1953).

The lives of several German refugees crisscross in 1937 Austria,Switzerland, and France- in cafes, hotels, customs offices, jails.Young Ludwig Kern and Ruth Holland survive separation, illness,poverty, and detention, to hold at last visas and tickets to Mexico.

Arch of Triumph, 1945 (Arc de Triomphe, 1946).

German refugee Dr. Ravic and small-time actress Joan Madou meetin Paris in 1938. His illegal status and obsession with revengeon a German torturer, and her faithlessness, make their love affaira stormy one.

The Night in Lisbon, 1964 (Die Nacht von Lissabon, 1964).

Josef Schwarz tells of going back into Nazi Germany for his wife,Helen, and with her surviving detention and pursuit by Frenchand German authorities. But she commits suicide on the brink ofsailing for New York rather than let her cancer mar their newlife. Schwarz gives his passport and tickets to a fellow refugee.

Shadows in Paradise, 1972 (Schatten im Paradies, 1971).

Robert Ross, art expert and former journalist, arrives in NewYork on the passport of a dead man. He works illegally in theworlds of New York art and Hollywood films during World War II.He loses his love, the model Natasha, by returning to Germanyafter the war for revenge (unsuccessful) on a crematorium official.

WORLD WAR II NOVELS

Remarque did not himself serve in World War II, and the novelslack the feeling of involvement conveyed by All Quiet on the WesternFront. Like All Quiet they do, however, continue the themes ofman's inhumanity to man and the value of comradeship.

Spark of Life, 1952 (Der Funke Leben, 1952).

In a German concentration camp during the last weeks of WorldWar II, Allied victories rekindle the spark of life in Skeleton509. His underground movement, including the Jewish lovers JosephBucher and Ruth Holland, thwarts many SS atrocities. Shortly beforethe Americans arrive, Skeleton 509 shoots an SS man and is killedhimself, but Joseph and Ruth survive.

A Time to Love and a Time to Die, 1954 (Zeit zu leben und Zeitzu sterben, 1954).

Toward the end of World War II Ernst Graeber, a young German onthe Russian Front, goes home on leave only to find his neighborhooddestroyed by bombs. In searching for his parents, he is sickenedby his growing knowledge of concentration camps and denunciations.He meets and marries Elisabeth Kruse, a former schoolmate. Backat the front he saves four Russian prisoners, but is himself shotby one of them as they flee.