re: #151 HappyWarrior

I think then that hits on why All Quiet on the Western Front is such a great war novel and later movie because really by the end of reading that, I had forgotten that the protagonist and his comrades were part of a country who we were at war with. But I too remember moments like this in the lead up to Iraq where we’d be debating the issue in class and people would actually suggest nuking Iraq.

Precisely. And AQOTWF also included the scenes when the protaganist is in the shell crater with the French soldier he bayoneted. So he gets to see the soldier’s paybook, photos, and letter from home. A much closer identification with another man since they are remarkably the same other than the color of their uniform.

And note that the book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany.