Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

27 reviews

saraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

One of the best pieces of war literature I've ever read. Deeply moving, reflective, leaves you with a strong sense of injustice – as any good war novel should.
I feel like the author went for an explicitly didascalic approach, unambiguously denouncing the horrors of the war through the first person account of the young protagonist's personal experiences and reflections.
The strong accent on the loss of youthful dreams and teenage convictions makes it, in a way, a hybrid between a war novel and a bildungsroman.
The style was poetic at times, especially when reporting the protagonist's considerations, then moving to a kind of matter-of-factly journalistic style when describing the soldiers' routine and daily sufferings.
Last but not least, it's the first – and so far the only – war novel I read that managed to give a realistic account of a teenage boy's perspective on women and sexual attraction without falling into misogyny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs, Excrement, and Alcohol

izzallgood's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Excrement

A really thought-provoking book, with rich, devastating imagery and equally deep and devastating reflection from the protagonist throughout. A deeply human, moving and raw experience. I found myself shocked at how well I was able to relate to these enormous emotions, despite never having experienced anything remotely close to what is described throughout - this is a testament to how authentic and human the writing is. I felt as Paul felt as he felt it. One of the best books I’ve read.

philodora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sammaich's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

shoshin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Everything I read or see about World War I makes World War II even more incomprehensible to me.

Powerful. Everyone should read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, and War

marleen02's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

livruther's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

beautifully written + very honest

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Excrement, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Torture, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content

diddlydoo333's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

clara_mai's review against another edition

5.0

 Erich Maria Remarque erzählt auf gleichzeitig schöne und schreckliche, in jedem Fall eindringliche Weise davon, was der erste Weltkrieg mit den Soldaten machte. Er beschreibt wie der Krieg sinnlos das Leben junger Menschen zerstört, auch wenn sie ihn überleben. Wie in der Widmung des Buches steht: Dieses Buch soll weder eine Anklage noch ein Bekenntnis sein. Es soll nur den Versuch machen, über eine Generation zu berichten, die vom Kriege zerstört wurde – auch wenn sie seinen Granaten entkam. Hier noch ein paar weitere Zitate:

Wir haben alles Gefühl füreinander verloren, wir kennen uns kaum noch, wenn das Bild des andern in unseren gejagten Blick fällt.

Wir sind verlassen wie Kinder und erfahren wie alte Leute, wir sind roh und traurig und oberflächlich - ich glaube wir sind verloren.

Abends stehen sie wieder am Gitter und der Wind kommt von den Birkenwäldern zu ihnen. Die Sterne sind kalt.

Unsere Gedanken sind Lehm, sie werden geknetet vom Wechsel der Tage

Unsere Hände sind Erde, unsere Körper Lehm und unsere Augen Regentümpel. Wir wissen nicht, ob wir noch leben.

Da das Buch 1929 veröffentlicht wurde, enthält es ein paar veraltete Begriffe, das möchte ich erwähnen. Die Art, wie vom Protagonisten und den anderen Soldaten über Frauen gesprochen wird, ist nicht immer angenehm - meistens einfach sexualisiert - aber so wahrscheinlich authentisch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book expresses a human aspect to war; giving faces, names, occupations, and families to the young German soldiers of WWI. Their deaths are all impactful, none more than Kat, but the need to keep fighting both the war itself and the internal struggles Paul feels brush the trauma of those deaths out of view without trivializing it. The switch at the end from a first person, personalized account, to a third person omniscient narrator finishes that action by showing the outcome of all of those traumas washing over him like a wave as the rumors of the wars near end reach him. This novel begs the questions of what happens when war is over, when all you've known in your adult life is war; what happens when everyone you hold dear, who knows you as you are and not how you were is gone; and what does it mean to feel alive? War is not something that can value life of any sort, in any way, and this book captures that essence of loss perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail