Erich Maria Remarque – The Night in Lisbon – Review

 

Remarque (1896- 1970) is best known for his WWI novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. (1928). The author in known for creating a new genre of literature, the modern war novel, where many of his texts were scooped-up by Hollywood. After WWI, like many German writers and artists, he escaped the oppression of the Nazi party and the rise of Adolph Hitler.

This novel is certainly not a “cheer-up society”, but an expose', a depressing narrative of the ordinary men and women caught-up the machinations of war. As we know now, war only benefits the world's elites, earning billions of dollars while millions are murdered or placed into camps. Nothing has changed in war except the efficiency of the weapons deployed to destroy.

A young man looking to escape Europe and sail to the United States, spends his last cash on gambling in order to buy tickets for him and his wife. He meets a fellow refugee from Germany and they begin a conversation. The man offers our gambler two cruise tickets to New York for free because he says he doesn't need them anymore. He offers our gambler one condition: stay with him through the night and listen to his story.

Thus begins Schwartz' tale, taking an entire night and morning to tell. The men travel from restaurant to bar, drinking wine and eating delicacies while our German narrates his extraordinary tale of war, relationships; being a refugee in Europe at the start of WWII; the evils of the German Nazi party and most of all, the love he has for his wife.

Because Schwartz (not his real name) denied the ideology of the Nazi Party, he was immediately placed in a concentration camp. After spending two years in the camp, he escapes the camp and Germany, and travels through Europe for five years in constant fear of being captured by the Gestapo. The mass refugee crises in Europe that the Nazis created should be well known. We're aware of the Jewish exodus, but any person denouncing the thousand year Reich was hunted down and killed or imprisoned.

Schwartz decides to risk going back to Germany to see his wife again. Danger at every turn, he manages to travel through Switzerland into Germany. He finally tracks down the beautiful Helen. After the awkward meeting, (they haven't seen each other for five years) they spend a night of wine and re-acquaintance. At the last moment, Helen decides to leave Germany with Schwartz and live the dangerous refugee life on the run.

For the most part, The Night in Lisbon is a love tale against the backdrop of war.

The reader feels the desperation of the many people escaping the brutal oppression of the Nazis: standing in long lines in front of consulates, trying to obtain a temporary visa. The educated and once privileged, now work in the fields for a pittance or merely food and a place to sleep.

If you've never read Remarque before, I'd recommend All Quiet of the Western Front. Though The Night in Lisbon is an informative and interesting read. Truly a window into the early 20^th century, revealing the ravages of war.