Yuan Zhiying
Remake (1898-1970)
He was a humanitarian, he was a handsome playboy. He hated the Nazis and deprived his nationality of the Nazis: his "No War on the Western Front" was published in 1929, and the circulation of 5 million copies at that time was as high as 5 million copies, achieving "the greatest achievement in the European book industry since eternal history." 2020 is the day of his fiftieth anniversary (1898-1970). He is the German writer Erich Maria Remarque I want to talk about.
He was born in Osnabrueck (Osnabrueck), and his father was engaged in book binding. He first studied in a normal school, then was recruited into the army and participated in World War I . He was injured five times and took courses at his alma mater after the war. Later, he worked as a teacher and a journalist. It was also a coincidence that the lucky star shone brightly. The bookmaker's son won the title of aristocratic and was named "Baron Buchwald", and he began to write novels. I don’t know if I don’t write, and I’m shocked when I write. I didn’t expect that the writing industry is so difficult. He remembered the words of Thomas Mann : "Writing is much harder for a writer than for anyone else." But he left behind 13 novels. In addition, he also published three scripts, several film scripts of various forms; poetry, short stories, reportage, etc. are also his specialty. His works have been translated into fifty-five languages and made into movies.
He has always been skeptical about life and appeals to his writing. In his letter to his friend, he once wrote: "For two years, he was trapped in depression and doubt. He did not want to see others or be alone. He just wanted to close himself and find clear positive energy. But this is so difficult. Sometimes he felt that it was too late." So he sought comfort in the lights and wine and music.
The novel "No War on the West Front" (Im Westen Nichts Neues) was published, it was like a sound of gioree sounding on the ground, sending this work into the palace of literary history and becoming a work of eternal value. The novel says that a young man named Ball Boymer in battle , inspired by the school teachers, participated in volunteer soldiers and headed to the Western Front. On the front line, he built trenches, scouted the enemy's movements, kept a look after the prisoners, and had to confront lice and mice; the most terrifying thing was shooting and killing. During a family vacation, he returned to his hometown and saw his hometown's elders being taciturn and unwilling to talk about his experience on the Western Front, but just said, "There is no war on the Western Front." In 1917, Ball was injured and sent to the field hospital in Duisburg . During the hospitalization, I communicated my injured comrades about his war experience. The novel exposes the cruelty, horror and absurdity of war in a cold, sober and ridiculous way, and meticulously depicts the mentality of the "confused generation" at that time and their awakening, thus resonating with millions of people.
New version of "No War on the West Front", translated by Li Qinghua, Yilin Publishing House , April 2021
From the perspective of German literary history, Remac's literary creation belongs to neo-practicism. The shouts, passions and impulses of expressionism that emerged in Germany in the 1920s gradually became silent in Germany, and the call for "newcomers" also returned to nothingness. Everyone no longer had a wild and stepped on the earth with their feet, abandoned irrationality, began from reality, and objectively and calmly described life and grasp reality; did not sing high-profile, rarely talked about ideology, pursue the objectivity, authenticity, documentary and documentary of the works, and exposed the shortcomings of the times in an ironic way. Brecht 's "Three Dinner Opera", Thomas Mann's "The Mountain", Debring's "Alexander Square", and Kafka 's novels can also be classified into this category. In a sense. It was a realist ranger. In 1933, the Nazis came to power and neo-de factoism came to an abrupt end. The Nazis were a hodgepodge of various thoughts such as racism, nationalism, rural complex, geopolitical complex, war worship, and advocated the literature of "blood and earth". Remak was the mortal enemy of the Nazis, and he was firmly anti-war; he was a pacifist who was unswerving, especially "No War on the Western Front" was a template for anti-war literature in neo-activism.Later it was made into a movie, and the movie became the best among the 100 best movies in Hollywood in the United States in the 20th century. When the film was first screened in Berlin in 1930, several stormtroopers were in trouble under the leadership of Joseph Goebbels , causing the film to stop being screened. In 1931, "No War on the Western Front" was nominated for Nobel Prize in Literature, but was protested by the "Germany Officers Group" on the grounds that the novel satirically mocked Germany's "magnificent army". On May 10, 1933, a "Book Burning Ceremony" was held in the Berlin Opera Square. The books of more than 130 writers were burned and banned, and Remak's books were doomed. The reason given was: "A literary betrayal of our soldiers who fought bloody battles in the First World War." In 1938, the Nazis even deprived him of his German nationality. His sister was also implicated: in 1943 she publicly stated that she did not believe that Germany would win the final victory; she ended up paying the price of being executed by the Nazis. In 1939, he arrived in New York, the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1947. However, he often lives in Tessin, Switzerland, and his books are very popular. His generous rewards make him live a wealthy life. The luxurious buildings provide shelter for those exiles. Thomas Mann, Ernst Toller (Ernst Toller, German Expressionist dramatist), Carl Zuckmayer, Else Lasker Schueler (1869-1945, an outstanding expressionist poet) all stopped there. The vast writer also has correspondence with the famous Erich Kestener and Hermann Hesse. But he also claimed that all he interacted with were simple and ordinary people.
Remake is not only talented, but also handsome and charming, and is quite popular with women. He has had an affair with Hollywood actors Dietley and Grit Garbo.
Illustrations in the new version of "No War on the West Front"
After a period of silence, he has published many novels: "Three Comrades", "Black Obelisk", "God has no favors", which reflect the disillusionment of the "lost generation"; " Exile Song " (also known as "Love Your Relatives Closer), "Arc de Triomphe", "Night in Lisbon", and "Shadow of Heaven" published a year after the writer's death, all of which describe the lives of German exiles during the Nazi rule. Among them, "Arc de Triomphe" is the most successful. The plot of this work is tortuous and narrative using the technique of "two flowers bloom and one branch each". One is love and the other is revenge, but it is different from the general romance novel . The protagonist in the novel does not participate in any club or any political activities, and only pursues his own "pure" humanitarian ideals. The protagonist shines with the author's own shadow everywhere. Some of Remak's works have a loose structure and are not so tense in the plot, while "Arc de Triomphe" is compact in structure, one by one, one by one, and one by one. Its English translation was first published in the United States, and it was a sensation, and became a bestseller, and it released more than 2 million copies, thus winning the second literary glory.
The theme of Remake's writing is life and death, human nature in love and hate, for which he has captured a large number of readers, or in today's words, he has won countless fans. However, some "fans" will retreat when faced with his more difficult words; and the circle of elegant literature cannot deny Remake's literary achievements, but they are also lazy to recognize him. For example, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, known as the "literary tsar" or "literary chief", once posted in " Frankfurt Report " that he had never felt any special interest in Reich and he did not "play any major role in German literature." He believes that "No War on the Western Front" tells the daily life of wars that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. The taste or aesthetics expressed are not hugely different from the taste or aesthetics of millions of people. Everyone is happy that "it is indeed not beyond my expectations."
"People are divided into groups", humans have separate sides; humans also have a mutual side. If it covers the most common feelings of human beings, then it will transcend time and space and be passed down through the ages.Despite the views on Remak's works, one thing is common: they are witnesses to the times. To this day, Remak's works are still a favorite reading.
Editor in charge: Huang Xiaofeng
Proofreading: Shi Yan
