Review on All Quiet on the Western Front and The Oddysey.....?

Question

How much time should I allow myself to read these books and be able to take notes and other things? What did you think about the books? Did you learn anything from these books... just an all around review

Answer 1

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile
Muller's straightforward, simple delivery underscores the horror and hopelessness depicted in Remarque's powerful WWI novel. Germany's Iron Youth, represented by Paul Baumer and his friends, begin the war as teenagers sure of the justice of their cause and the glory that will be theirs. When these young men are confronted with trench warfare, dying in hellish agony, Paul must face the reality in which he finds himself and prepare for the world to which he will return, irrevocably changed. Reading with a calm, quiet sureness, which heightens the soul-destroying nightmare of Paul's ordeal, Muller's stunning performance demonstrates the reason for his huge following. Recommended by many high schools, this is a must for young adults. S.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Book Description
Paul Baumer enlisted with his classmates in the German army of World War I. Youthful, enthusiastic, they become soldiers. But despite what they have learned, they break into pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. And as horrible war plods on year after year, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principles of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against each other--if only he can come out of the war alive.
"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first trank, 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

The Odyssey
Most of us remember Homer’s epic tale from high school or college literature classes and never think to revisit the wonderful, exciting world of The Odyssey. Even those of us who enjoy the fantasy wrinkle our noses in distaste, not so much at the memory of the book but at our struggle with it. Try it again folks – there is really great stuff in this tale written somewhere around 700 BC., is mesmerizing and unforgettable. Once you begin to turn the pages you will be swept up in this story of two women, strangers, whose tragic secrets connect them and lead them on a journey toward emotional healing.

Don’t let the term “epic poem” throw you; that just means this story comes out of an oral tradition. Robert Fagles’ excellent translation makes reading this a pleasure. We start, of course, with the hero of the piece, Odysseus, who has been away from his home in Ithaca for twenty years. Odysseus, king of Ithaca and married to the beautiful Penelope, is the kind of man legends are built upon: he is a great warrior and seaman; good with his hands, he is praised as the best carpenter around; wonderful provider, he is the best marksman and hunter of boar among all his fellows; and, a favorite with women both mortal and immortal.

He does have his share of bad luck, however.

The story is divided into books. After the muses are cued and honored, Homer starts in the middle of the tale. Books 1-4 feature Telemachus, a young man around 21 or so who is the son of Odysseus and Penelope and must deal with the suitors surrounding his mother. One hundred men seek the queen’s hand in marriage, and because the society of the time views hospitality as a moral obligation, they are literally eating the queen and her son out of house and home - not to mention irritating the poor women to death trying to pressure her into marriage. Telemachus must become a man quickly, for the suitors want him dead and out of the way. Athena intervenes, sending the young man on a trip and allowing time and travel to season him so that upon Odysseus’s return, the king will have a strong right arm in his son.

Books 5-8 take the reader to the realms of the gods, and we find out the backstory of Odysseus and Poseidon. Athena, who is always in Odysseus’ corner, persuades Zeus that it’s time for our hero to be free of the beautiful nymph, Calypso, who has held him prisoner for seven years. Poseidon objects, for he bears a grudge against Odysseus for blinding his son, Polyphemus. He cuts the king no slack for self defense; Polyphemus, a cannibal who cares not one whit for the morals of hospitality, was trying to kill the king and his men, but that’s no excuse. Even a Cyclops has to eat, and Poseidon wants to square things for his son’s injury by making the road home as difficult as possible for Odysseus. Things are hashed out, and Calypso is given notice that her pet prisoner must be loosed.

The wanderings of Odysseus are chronicled in books 9-12. The wayfaring king meets yet more cannibals who sink all the companion ships with him. The lone ship reaches the isle of the lovely enchantress Circe, who may have well coined the notion that men are pigs. She doesn’t concern herself with the notion of hospitality either, at least not for the king’s men; they are turned into porkers while Odysseus becomes her lover for a year. The action continues as the weary king struggles homeward. He meets a six-headed monster, visits with his dead mom and a blind seer, and tears out his hair in frustration when his men eat the sacred cattle of the sun god.

Our faith in hospitality is restored in books 13-24. Odysseus is sent on his way by a group of people famous for sending wayfaring people to Ithaca and ultimately conquers all the problems at home with the help of loyal servants, his son, and of course, the watchful Athena.

This is wonderful reading, more exciting than any tale George Lucas or Stephen Spielberg has taken to the big screen. I hope it is still taught in public schools and offered up with the excitement and verve it deserves.

Answer 2

~If the book is 500 pages and you can read 20 pages a minute, you should be able to finish in about 12 days if you get really bored with it, or 25 hours if you read it right through. If you read faster or slower than that, you'll have to adjust the time for your rate. As to comprehension, the fact that you posted this question suggests to me that you'll have none. An all around review? The Oddysey had some neat shiit about Greeks and stuff, but there was more blood and guts in All Quiet.

Answer 3

Being a mild infantry veteran and having learn the booklet previous to being within the army as good as after, I'd say it is a cast warfare novel written for a disenfranchised publish WWI iteration. It's most effective weak spot is that it ignores how accustomed veterans emerge as to quite ****** up environments; almost he wrote it from the viewpoint of an highbrow who is by no means been to warfare imagining himself/herself at warfare. Which is quite unusual given that that Remarque was once, correctly, a veteran. I have no idea, possibly matters have been distinct whilst men and women have been forcefully conscripted versus having a army most often stuffed with violent rednecks (no less than within the infantry) who volunteered and WANT to kill men and women. Maybe I'm being too rough on Remarque; they're distinct wars finally.