A Time To Love And A Time To Die (2015) - Plot & Excerpts
“That's how we are! Afraid of our feelings. And when we.become aware of them we immediately think we are swindlers.”Every Erich Maria Remarque book consists those elements: 1) Germans who hate the Nazi regime; 2) Germans who fell in love druing the Second World War; 3) Germans who love to drink. He definitely found his own territory of experience to write about. A Time to Love and a Time to Die is a very interesting and frightening book, exploring such a dark theme as war and what it does to soldiers as well as civilians. Ernst Graeber is a very young soldier, but from his outlook on life you would expect him to be middle-aged at the very least. Of course, it is the war that has aged him. As the title suggests: for him it is really a time to love, although the times are so horrible. The book begins with scenes from Russia, where Graeber is stationed. He knows in his heart by now that Germany will not win the war, and that they in fact are retreating, no matter what is said on the radio. Graeber is able to think surprisingly clear on the subject. When Graeber gets leave (which is since long overdue) he is very surprised. However, he is certain that he will come home to Germany as it was when he left it. To his great sorrow, he discovers that he has not left the war, only discovered another frontier of it. His home town is bombed and much destroyed, and his parents are nowhere to be found - a scene as desperate as any on the Eastern front which he has just left. But he meets a friend from his childhood, Elisabeth, and they have a short, almost unreal, love story. Graeber makes inquiries about his parents, and therefore he meets lots of people. Almost everybody is looking for somebody else - somebody who is missing or not accounted for. Thus, Graeber gets to see into many other people's minds, and understand what the war does to them: “When we bomb a city that’s a strategic necessity; when the others do it it’s a hideous crime.”“When does what is ordinarily called heroism become murder? When you no longer believe in the reasons for it, or in its aim? Where is the dividing line?”“The cult of a dictator easily turned into a religion.”The end is predictable, but another would not be possible. (view spoiler)[Even at the end, Remarque reminds us that his book is about war, so there is no happy ending possible. Graeber is placed in charge of four Russian prisoners. The German position is attacked and they have to run. But Graeber shoots Steinbrenner (who want to kill the prisoners) and frees the Russian prisoners. Yet he is shot by them. And the readers don’t know what happened to Elisabeth or Graeber’s parents. (hide spoiler)]
Nach http://www.remarque.uos.de/Schriften/...Der 23jährige Landser Ernst Graeber erlebt an der Ostfront im Zweiten Weltkrieg, nach der Niederlage der deutschen 6. Armee in Stalingrad, verheerende Verluste und fluchtartige Rückzüge. Er erhält unerwartet Urlaub und fährt in seine Heimatstadt Werden, die durch Bombenangriffe der Alliierten stark zerstört ist. Von seiner ausgebombten Familie kann er niemanden finden, erfährt aber, daß sie evakuiert wurde. Er trifft auf Elisabeth, deren Vater durch Denunziation im Konzentrationslager ist, und verliebt sich in sie.Graebers ehemaliger Klassenkamerad Alfons Binding ist mittlerweile Kreisleiter geworden und - zusammen mit weiteren Gestapoangehörigen - für zahlreiche unberechtigte Verhaftungen und andere Verbrechen verantwortlich.Graeber sucht seinen ehemaligen Religionslehrer Pohlmann auf, um Antworten auf seine Fragen nach der Verantwortlichkeit für die Verbrechen der Deutschen Wehrmacht und des 'deutschen Volkes' zu erhalten, doch Pohlmann kann ihm keinen anderen Rat als denjenigen geben, daß jeder für sein Handeln und die daraus entstehenden Konsequenzen selbst verantwortlich ist. (siehe Auszug)Graeber und Elisabeth heiraten und verleben einige friedliche Tage in einem Wirtshaus, bevor Graeber wieder an die Front zurückkehrt. Hier wird er nach der Befreiung von russischen Zivilisten durch einen von ihnen erschossen, nachdem er sich geweigert hatte, sich ihnen als Überläufer anzuschließen.
What do You think about A Time To Love And A Time To Die (2015)?
Brilliant on so many levels. We were studying the Stanford Prison Experiment in psychology, which led me to read Ordinary Men, which led me to read this. And I honestly think this is the better of the three for explaining why good people do bad things.A soldier tries on the role of a civilian, tries to balance following orders with making his own life, and struggles with disillusionment and love. He's still a Nazi, still a German soldier, but he doesn't feel the weight of those title yet. He's just carrying out orders, defending the Fatherland, doing his duty to his country. And though he rationalizes everything in the name of the greater good, being there and bearing witness prickles his conscience.It's very much a book about the human condition; about being human and having fears and wants and weak points.
—Yesenia Vargas
A Time to Love and a Time to Die is a marvelous book which, despite being very dark and hard to read at times, turned out to be my sweet escape from the real world. It issues World War II, but it can really refer to any everyday routine which seems to suck the life out of us. Because despite there being a very clear story and storyline, this book is above everything else a search for peace, for love, for hope. What I was left with in the end was not the image of the cold muddy Russian fields – I
—Veleka Georgieva
Mul on alati peale iga raamatu lugemise lõpetamist sees tühjus, aga peale selle raamatu lugemist ma nii ei tundnud. Teos oli terviklik, Remarque ilus ja ka kergelt irooniline kirjeldus noorest armastusest, kahuriliha põlvkonnast ja inimeste loomupärasest käitumisest sõja ajal. Kui alustasin raamatu lugemist teadsin, et Graeber hukkub. Algul ei võinud mõista miks, kuid teose edenedes mõistsin miks autor oli nii teinud. Peategelane ei suutnud enda südant kalgistada isegi peale kõiki neid aastaid m
—Katariina Ub
