From the author of the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling stone markers to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there's more to life than earning a living off other people's misfortunes. A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality ...
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From the author of the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling stone markers to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there's more to life than earning a living off other people's misfortunes. A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality brought upon it by inflation. When he falls in love with the beautiful but troubled Isabelle, Ludwig hopes he has found a soul who will offer him salvation--who will free him from his obsession to find meaning in a war-torn world. But there comes a time in every man's life when he must choose to live--despite the prevailing thread of history horrifically repeating itself. "The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure."-- The New York Times Book Review
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Seller's Description:
Fair. No dust jacket. 1957. 434 pages. No dust jacket. Red cloth with black lettering. Moderate tanning, with light foxing and marking to pages. Heavy tanning to text block edges. Heavy cracking to front hinge, with exposed netting. Light tanning to pastedowns and endpapers, with pencil inscriptions to front. Boards have moderate shelf wear, with rubbing and marking. Heavy bumping to corners and crushing to spine ends, causing cloth to fray. Book has noticeable forward lean. Boards are slightly warped, with tanning to spine. World of Rare Books Item ref. 1600780328MEP (Use this ID when enquiring about this item. )
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Seller's Description:
Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used books may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, and may not include cd-rom or access codes. Customer service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Fair Condition in Good jacket. No missing pages. Tear to last page (blank). Wear and tear to extremities of dust wrapper. Light browning to sections of end papers, but body of text appears clean. Light reading wear to book. 368 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Fiction; Military & Warfare. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 54641.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good in Very Good jacket. Red boards with very light wear and 434 pages. The dust jacket is not price clipped, has a few short tears and is in a broadart cover now.
Remarque probably didn't write these as a trilogy, but that is what they are. They begin with his most famous novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front," continue with "The Road Back," and conclude with this incredbilty fun and interesting book.
The first is about soldiers in World War I. The second is about those soldiers trying to adjust to civilian life after the war, and this, the third is about them between that war and the rise of Hitler. Wonderful stories, truly wonderful.
He is an excellent story-teller anyway, and this, the last in the trilogy, proves that. If you do not understand inflation, read this book. You will get an idea. If you like humor, read this book. You will love it. Oh, and even most interesting is the fact that the heroine is in an insane asylum. The way he portrays her in her different personalities is suspenseful and makes you wonder where he came up with them. I have the book in paperback, but am ordering it in hardback.
TomCZorn
Aug 26, 2010
A Warning from the Past
Read a well-written book about life in Germany in thye 1920s, when inflation was so severe that a 50,000,000 Reichsmark note was worth about 23 cents. Remarque tells, very gently, how this laid the groundwork for a dictator to impose his will on the country.
