Three Comrades: A Novel

Such an amazing story. After reading "All Quiet" and "The Road Back", this continuation of the lives of WW1 veterans and friends is superb. The language and nuances of the translator (or author) are spellbinding. Impossible to put down.

It is as if Paul, Kat and the others returned to a world, a Germany, that had cheated them. After the suffering they deserved much more, but were denied. I cannot believe Remarque had another so powerful a book in him, most great authors have only one.It is as if you finished All Quiet, stopped to reflect for a time, then began again.Excellent!

Life and death from the POV of a war veteran, Robert, the male protagonist. It is at once a story of loss, of recovery, of friendship among three men, of love for a young woman, of despair about war and destiny and God. Sometimes Robert/Erich rants and preaches about the futility of life but most of the time the writing is solid and not a soapbox. It gets better once the romance with Patricia begins which occurs about a third of the way into the book. I had expected more about the rise of National Socialism but there is only one incident near the end of the book. Ultimately this novel is, like All Quiet, a tragedy, yet there are many pages of beauty and hope and sheer joy as well.

I first read Drei Komaraden in college German class many years ago. It is very interesting to read the English translation. It is remarkable how similar things were in the 1930's in Germany to how they are today. The book has a sad ending and I think it is an excellent story well worth reading. Of course I am a bit biased because the main character is Robert born in November and plays the piano. That describes me, except I am not a really good auto mechanic.

Without a doubt, "Three Comrades" is the saddest story I have ever read and one of the most beautiful. This novel is vastly under-rated. It should be on every "classics" list of great fiction. There is not a rating category high enough for it.Many lovely pictures emerge page after page -- of Berlin in the late 1920's. Take page 129 as a small example: "We walked on. Then we came to the graveyard. The trees rustled, their tops were no longer visible. As the mist continued to thicken the fairy light began. May bugs came reeling drunk out of the limes and buzzed heavily against the wet panes of the street lamps. The mist transformed everything, lifted it up and bore it away, the hotel opposite was already afloat like an ocean liner with lighted cabins on the black mirror of the asphalt, the grey shadow of the church behind it became a ghostly sailing-ship with tall masts, lost in the grey-red light; and now the houses, like a long line of barges, came adrift and began to move."The characters are remarkable, and their stories are heart-breaking, while at once ringing with humor and pathos. Some episodes are hilarious; others make you cry unabashedly.Three Comrades is a love story - no it's several love stories. One is of Robby and Pat (yes, unusual names for a story about young Germans). Another is among the abiding friendships and devotion between the three young men, their triumphs and travails, as the deteriorating social structure of pre-Hitler Germany crumbles around their feet, ruining their lives. The final love story is the heart-warming thread of true care and care-taking shown by the wider circle of the gloriously depicted players in this story, some sad and forlorn, others happy-go-lucky and still others greedy and vile. The mix is, of course, sensational, real and vivid. Every single character speaks with clarity in his or her own voice.The story itself (once you pass through the first 40 pages) is simply compelling. You sense quickly the doom that is bound to come; you know that some will die; you know that tragedy will eventually win. You know all of this, and it does not matter. You cheer and root for these young people. You want them to live and thrive. You hope against hope that everything will be all right. You laugh, cry and exult with them. And in the end you are moved in your soul by their plight.The story is - in a word - sensational. As to the fate of the characters, page 375: "'No,' said I, `I don't want to betray anything. But I do want that not everything we touch should always go to pieces.'" On the German social order, page 402: "'...They don't want politics at all. They want substitute religion.' He looked around. 'Of course. They want to believe in something again - in what, it doesn't matter. That's why they are so fanatical, too, of course.'"You will laugh and you will cry and you will be unable to put this book down or stop yourself from thinking about these people long after you finish it.While it might help, you need not read "All Quiet on the Western Front" first. Three Comrades stands on its own merits.Now, why did I not give this book a 5 star rating, one that it clearly deserves and that most reviewers correctly award to it? It is because of the translation by A. W. Wheen. The feeling that the characters in this story are German and that the story takes place in Germany in the late 1920's is completely lost by the "over-the-top," slangy 100% British translation. This is not a British movie about Germans. This is a German language novel in need of a good English language translation. But, the way these people talk --- via this translation --- completely neutralizes their German-ness. The story could be in Southampton, or even Denver for that matter. I grew tired of the colloquial British-isms. Why not keep some of the German language --- un-translated? Except for an occasional "Ach!" we are forced to read this story in rather low-level British English --- a complete travesty. I don't want to see the word "lorry" or the word "kerb" or "tyres" or the phrase "...knocked the car down to us" in this story. Such a translation is an insult to the book, the author, and the historical value of the tale.I implore the publishers to consider commissioning and publishing a sensible American English translation of this marvelous book, while at the same time keeping the tone, feeling and ethos of the German language, the German sensibilities and its very German setting. I detested reading what may have been an intentional de-Germanization of this glorious book by virtue of this horrible British translation.Thus, it is because of the translation alone, not its literary value, that I decided to rate the book a mere 3. On its merits, the book is a 5++. But, alas, a translated book is only as good as the translation. Remarque deserves better.

I read this for the first time many years ago and had been looking for another copy of it as the original was lost. I recalled the theme and wanted to re-read the love and the friendship that it portrays. It lived up to my memories of it and more. Set in pre- second world war Germany in the time of raging inflation the comradeship and depth of friendship are well portrayed. Remarque can create a character so well that you can almost know the moves they will make. Highly recommend this book

Ostensibly a story of three interwar comrades, it is also a metaphor for the fate of Germany in this period. Even their automobile, named Karl, is symbolic of the careening and insecure fate of the nation in this period. Strongly recommended.

I recently re read All Quiet On The Western Front and wanted to read more of Remarque's work. I enjoyed this book immensely. I particularly like how the former soldiers stick together and help each other. This book depicts a difficult time in Germany.I did not expect that there would be a love story embedded in the story of the three comrades. The comrades are happy for their friend who gas a chance to love and be loved.Remarque expresses interesting ideas about life as you would expect from someone who had lived through the Great War.I didn't expect this to end the way that it did since it was the story of the three comrades and that was a little bit disappointing.

Brilliant!

Un incontournable pour qui veut comprendre la logique implacable des trajectoires de vie d'un homme dans la tourmente du début du 20ième siècle. Un monument à l'humanisme allemand.

Uno dei libri più belli. Letto più volte. Pianto più volte. Super consigliato. Infatti l’ho comprato anche in inglese. Remarque non è molto conosciuto in Italia ed è un peccato.

A beautiful book set in the era post World War and in the backdrop of unemployment and poverty that Germany witnessed after the war. Against this backdrop is this story of a few who try their best to remain happy despite all odds and nearly succeed in doing so. One rarely comes across a book that has such beautiful quotes that one is compelled to pause and let the words seep into the soul and bind into a spell, just as poetry does.

Great to read to let us have an insight into the time after the 1st world war and before the 2ndworldwar.,Could have been written for any soldier for any country. Heart breaking and insightful. For all our young and innocent...that we send out to kill....my heart and love is with you.Thought provoking and empathetic..,,,a great read.