Constance Merritt's Blog: Talking Books - Posts Tagged "literature"

I just finished reading Erich Maria Remarque's novel Arch of Triumph, and not only did I find it beautiful and captivating, but also discovered in Remarque an author I must know better. Before coming across the annotation for Arch of Triumph in a recent Talking Book Topics and deciding to give it a try, my acquaintance with Remarque began and ended with All Quiet on the Western Front which I had found moving and captivating back in grad school.

Arch of Triumph tells the story of undocumented refugees living in Paris before the Second World War. Ravic, its central character, is a non-Jewish German surgeon who makes his living performing operations for two incompetent native- French surgeons. The plot also turns on an ill-fated love affair with a nightclub singer/actress and on Ravic's desire to avenge the death of a former mistress by killing the Nazi responsible.

I found this book beautiful and tragic and spellbinding and poetic and frustrating. During one of the climactic moments of the novel I found myself talking to Ravic the way some people talk to characters on the movie screen - - the suspense was such that I really couldn't stand it.

I think Remarque is a hidden treasure, well worth the seeking out.