Erich Maria Remarque: The Last Romantic

by Hilton Tims

For more than seventy years Erich Maria Remarque's startlingly realistic and intensely moving anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front has remained a worldwide best seller. A political and literary sensation when it was first published, Remarque's masterpiece was banned and burned in the 1930s by the Nazis. Remarque was forced to flee Germany, and eventually, in 1939, he immigrated to America. Haunted by the horrors of Nazi Germany and embittered by his exile from the country he loved, Remarque strove to protect his privacy. In Hollywood glamour, in wealth, in the fame gained by successive hits like Arch of Triumph, Remarque hid his torment and buried his fears. Love, too, held its woes for Remarque. He was tortured by the infidelities of his first wife, whom he divorced and then remarried to save her from the Nazis. A turbulent, long-running affair with Marlene Dietrich, who helped him escape war-torn Europe, was followed by romantic liaisons with some of the film world's most seductive stars like Greta Garbo, Dolores de Rio, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Paulette Goddard, who became his second wife. The portrait that emerges is as extravagantly lit by romance as it is shadowed by anguish.

Genres: Biography, Biography Memoir

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2003

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have changed my first rating. While I learned some interesting facts about Remaeque's personal life such as his affairs with Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo...., etc., the book did not came across as a complete biography but rather as separate peaces combined into a book. I just could not connect Remarque, the person, with the author of some of the most beautiful books I have read.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty basic biography of Remarque, not particularly well-written or analytical about either the man or his works. Provides the fundamental details of his life, but little more. It did remind me of how much I like Remarque's work, and inspired me to want to read to some of his latter, post-WWI trilogy stuff.

[Joanne Gass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the novel and seen two movie versions of All Quiet on the Western Front, but I knew nothing about its author. His life was really rather tragic, despite his fame, fortune, and romances; his sister was beheaded by the Nazis; he was vilified in Germany, and he was stripped of his German citizenship. I think I'll visit his home town of Osnabruck when I visit Germany next summer, just to honor him.

[Kathleen Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing was adequate but the story is incredible. When did Remarque find time to write? He had affairs with Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Dolores Del Rio, Maureen O'Sullivan, ... unbelievable life he lead!

[Aubrey Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 to a 4.

Erich Maria Remarque's story is a sad one. He was a gifted writer, but as often accompanies great talent, his life was a tragic search for happiness and fulfillment.

The author got some historical facts wrong. That said, the focus of the book was Remarque's story, not more general history. It nevertheless is a fascinating window into the life of a German refugee of the Third Reich.

The author cleverly guides the reader through stages of Remarque's life based more or less on the chronological order of Remarque's books. I have read four of these books myself, so I found the stories behind the stories fascinating. It also piqued my curiosity about a few of his other books.

It leaves me wishing American readers would rediscover EMR's books beyond All Quiet on the Western Front. The biographer quoted Maxwell Geismar's New York Times review of The Night in Lisbon:

"A famous European counterpart to Hemingway, Remarque has, through the years, almost converted a handsome minor talent into a major one; whereas Hemingway almost reduced his own large talent into a more limited one."

To my embarrassment, I have not yet read Hemingway, but perhaps it is because I have been so riveted by Remarque.

[klaudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5, warto przeczytać

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Remarque other than that he wrote All Quiet on the Western Front. I was happy to learn about some of the facts of his life, but overall this biography portrayed Remarque as a rather pathetic human being. It didn't "feel" feel balanced to me, but I have nothing to base that on. Perhaps I just wanted him to be more of a heroic, Hemingway-esque type of writer. I'd love to hear from others who have read this biography.