The Black Obelisk: A Novel - Softcover

Remarque, Erich Maria

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449912442 ISBN 13: 9780449912447

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 1998

Synopsis

THE BLACK OBELISK
A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling marble and stone marks to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there's more to life than earning a living off other people's misfortunes.
A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality brought upon by inflation. When he falls in love with the beautiful but troubled Isabelle, Ludwig hopes he has found a soul who will offer him salvation--who will free him from his obsession to find meaning in a war-torn world. But there comes a time in every man's life when he must choose to live--despite the prevailing threat of history horrifically repeating itself. . . .

About this title

Review:

"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure."--The New York Times Book Review

About the Author:

Erich Maria Remarque, who was born in Germany, was drafted into the German army during World War I. Through the hazardous years following the war he worked at many occupations: schoolteacher, small-town drama critic, race-car driver, editor of a sports magazine. His first novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, was published in Germany in 1928. A brilliant success, selling more than a million copies, it was the first of many literary triumphs. When the Nazis came to power, Remarque left Germany for Switzerland. He rejected all attempts to persuade him to return, and as a result he lost his German citizenship, his books were burned, and his films banned. He went to the United States in 1938 and became a citizen in 1947. He later lived in Switzerland with his second wife, the actress Paulette Goddard. He died in September 1970.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0449912442
• ISBN 13: 9780449912447
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448