The novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque
This month I'm reading the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque. I could read and reread this book, and would still not understand how people can follow orders to try and kill each other so vilely. The novel is timeless! The individual stories of the people he describes are probably repeating themselves in much the same way every day, in the current conflicts on this planet - particularly horribly in the African continent (Congo, Eritrea/Ethiopia, Sudan etc.). Sadly the warlike logic of the human race will never change. Even nations like ours, that don't yet want to - or are not allowed to - take part in wars, earn well enough from the conflicts. I also feel that there is an increasing tolerance of violence as a problem-solving strategy in out society, which can be felt in the uncounted action movies and computer games. In the films and games people are mowed down by machine guns with no need to reload, with amazing blazing barrels, so much that it is frightening. How long will it take for the consumers of this kind of culture to feel that they want to play the fictional heroes themselves!? The novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque is published in German by KIWI Verlag.
