I can talk about this novel for a long time. The mere fact that it is filled with various kinds of aphorisms and weighty truths of life brings it to the same level as the works of famous contemporaries. And this ability is unsurpassed by Remarque, to write such books in moments of spiritual adversity, as if living in them and, together with his heroes, solving the problems of that time, not at all fantastic, but real, which affected all the inhabitants of Europe in the first half of the 20th century.
“Three Comrades” is Remarque’s third book, concluding the trilogy about the lost generation (“All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Return”). Its author wrote for almost 4 years; it is known that he first published a short novel “Pat”, and then remade it into a full-scale picture of the morals of post-war Germany. The writer himself at that time was already living in exile, in neutral Switzerland, fearing for his life. His creations were burned in German squares, calling them treacherous and enemy machinations. Therefore, the work was saturated with the grief and despair of a man who was also killed at Nazi rallies, like his hero Lenz.
Just before the publication of the novel, he was offered to return to Germany, but, knowing the rules of the secret police, he refused. After publication on German(he originally published the book in Denmark) he was officially stripped of his citizenship.
What is the novel about?
Analysis of the novel “Three Comrades” by Remarque is deeply rooted in history. Germany had just recovered from the blood and destruction of the First World War. But, in addition to destroyed buildings and dead people, it left many survivors, whose destinies were torn to shreds by the crisis that overtook them. Suffering from unemployment, poverty, lack of proper social security– these people found solace in bars and entertainment venues. Where it was possible to forget and be forgotten at the same time, where even the most acutely ill soul under the influence of alcohol calmed down for a moment, and the pain temporarily subsided.
And in this gloomy picture from screams, post-war political outbursts, ghosts of the past and nightmarish awakenings in cold sweat, E. Remarque shows us three friends, military comrades who, now in peacetime, continued their journey together (these are Robert Lokamp, Gottfried Lenz and Otto Kester). This is what the book “Three Comrades” is written about. They work in a car workshop owned by Kester, which is how they stay afloat. They essentially live by memories, since no bright future is visible through the darkness of destruction and death. The main character often remembers how they fought together, how life turned out after the war. And, despite the oppression of memories, the friends did not lose their sense of humor and tried not to bring up the tangled and dark backwaters of their destinies too often, so as not to go crazy. After all, if you think too much about the bad and don’t know how to joke, then you can probably lose your mind.
Main characters
- Robert Lokamp – main character novel. A person of fine mental organization, sensitive, reflective and deeply unhappy. Most of action he sits in a bar in search of oblivion. His heart was painfully wounded by the trials of the war years, losses and the feeling of chaos around him. He had already turned 30, but he had neither a family, nor a job, nor even his own home. Added to the midlife crisis is the crisis of the worldview of the surviving soldier, who is mentally still on the defensive. The man drowns out his bitter thoughts with chatter and drink, but fate gives him a chance to reconsider his life position: he fell in love and accomplished a feat by letting a woman into his bristling inner world. Love transforms the hero, he becomes sensitive, attentive and even happy, his cynicism gives way to sentimentality. However, all his hopes for the future die after Patricia's death.
- Patricia Holman - main character novel "Three Comrades", Robert's beloved. Painful beautiful woman with delicate features and a slender figure. The external fragility is explained by the fact that Pat is sick with tuberculosis. As a child, she experienced hardships, was malnourished, and as a result, like hundreds of such children, she acquired death hidden in her chest. The girl, however, is cheerful and open to new experiences. She sincerely loves and gives all of herself without reserve. Her sense of humor, love of life, responsiveness and openness make her a loyal friend to Lokamp's comrades.
- Gottfried Lenz is one of the comrades, a “paper romantic.” A young man with a light and cheerful disposition, he was a firebrand and choleric. Always in high spirits. A little talkative, often ironic, jokes and expresses general opinions. Judging by the huge number of photographs from different countries, traveled a lot, possibly served in intelligence. He also has a rich front-line past. Tragically dies at a fascist rally, where he is fatally wounded by mistake.
- Otto Kester is a serious and thoughtful person, the most pedantic character in the novel “Three Comrades.” During the war he was a pilot, and after that he became interested in amateur racing, converting a Cadillac into a racing car. It is he who owns the workshop where all his comrades work. He has practical acumen and a strong-willed character, and more than once helps his friends, who are less adapted to existence, out of trouble. He is sympathetic and kind, perceives Robert’s misfortune as his own, and plunges headlong into his problems, although he himself lives no better. Pat is obliged to his generosity in recent months of their lives, with difficulty snatched from illness.
- Karl (Cadillac racing car) is Kester’s invention, a phenomenally fast car that has won races more than once. He also helps his comrades in any emergency situation and is sensitive to the emotional state of the driver.
- The problem of post-war depression in society: economic, social and personal crisis. War never brings anything good or useful. It only wreaks havoc and destruction. And our heroes knew this like no one else. The most difficult attempts to rise from the universal bottom, to climb contrary to the laws of time, to try to increase the pennies that one has, and finally to preserve oneself - this was the meaning of the existence of German society at the beginning of the 20th century. Many of those who were lucky enough to have their own corner could at least not pay for it, or simply rent it out in order to have a little more money. Others made money as best they could, including by not the most humane methods, oscillating between petty scams and outright robbery. The only places that enjoyed obvious success were bars and cafes, where people sat due to their despair and desire to forget. But over time, the money ran out, and even these establishments had regular guests replaced by empty chairs.
- It is no coincidence that the problem of marginalization of society and emerging fascism is posed in the novel “Three Comrades.” The aggressive regime persecuted the author and expelled him from Germany. Within this environment there were many people who not only began to obey the law, but also lost their self-esteem. It is through the fault of one of these people that one of the comrades, Gottfried Lenz, becomes a victim of a skirmish at a fascist rally, who, apparently, with his activity attracted the attention of supporters of the new regime. On this day, Robert, Kester and Pat lose one of their friends. However, the last of them will never know about it.
- The problem of total hopelessness. The fate of Robert himself is very sad. Tired of the endless veil of death before his eyes, our hero continues to receive blows of fate one after another. First Lenz dies, then the money runs out and their already meager business collapses. We have to sacrifice the workshop. And when it turns out that Pat is seriously ill, then in order to save one friend, Otto and Robert have to sacrifice another. They are selling Karl, their racing car, which they so carefully collected bit by bit, because, of course, they did not have money for a new car. And even despite the help, Pat's powers are becoming weaker and weaker. Robert had just met his man, whom he fell in love with, when she immediately began to literally melt before his eyes. He himself, Robert, understood that he was unable to reverse this process. Patricia Holman's serious illness sucked the strength out of her and pulled her into the world that Lokamp knew firsthand. And he never wanted to let her go. But man is not omnipotent. In this situation, the hero could not change anything. Just like in my ruined life. Just like in Lenz's life. Nothing could be done.
- Problem of loss loved one. In the book “Three Comrades,” Robert’s experiences of the gradual loss of his beloved woman occupy a special place. And with every moment they become aggravated, growing, and after Pat’s death they seem to subside and freeze, as if one light of a small star, abandoned and forgotten by the entire Universe, suddenly decided to go out, leaving behind neither an explosion nor anything else. Only a huge black hole sucking the human soul into oblivion.
- The Problem of Unbelief: The Death of God in the 20th Century. And in this sense, the loss of faith in God by Robert and other residents of Germany is very easily explained. Even at the rally, friends made it clear that society needs a kind of “religion.” And who would have thought that in another ten years this religion would become a totalitarian regime that would put their compatriots to flight? God is dying in the hearts of people in the 20th century. There remain only wounds from the guns that thundered earlier and are now silent. Robert very well characterizes the belief in God in that period: “... the gray endless sky of a crazy god who invented life and death to have fun.” Without a deity, the abandoned world began to search for the meaning of life and moral support in the extravagant theories of the ideologists of the Third Reich. This depressing trend is only hinted at in the near future, which we sense in the novel “Three Comrades.”
- Loss of meaning in life. Robert's beloved, gradually fading away, seems to leave him alone with this chaos, in which he does not see the light. With the hostility of the country in which he lives, with the lack of faith in something. There is no place for the hero here; Pat remained the only meaning for him. But then she dies, and Lokamp, abandoned by God, country and his woman, finds himself no longer easily torn to shreds, sick and trying to make ends meet. He loses all meaning of existence, and the lack of continuation of the story after the death of Patricia Holman dryly and firmly tells us that the life thread of a person has been broken.
- The problem of friendship. I would also like to mention the title of the work, because, in fact, there were not three comrades at all. After reading the novel, I found many more friends there. This included Alphonse, who treated the guests with warmth, and the driver Gustav, who became Robert’s friend and subsequently provided him with considerable support. Even the car “Karl” is the main vehicle of our heroes, even he was a comrade, you just need to remember with what warmth Remarque brought his descriptions, often personifying him in the car reliable friend, who always helped out three comrades. But the main reason why the book could be called "Four Comrades" was, of course, Lokamp's beloved Patricia Holman. My review is largely dedicated to her - as one of the central characters novel. Pat was not only a great friend to his friends, she managed to become a friend to Robert himself. This is where the theme of love is revealed. This is a sensual, heartfelt connection, and next to it stands friendship, which is in no way inferior in strength to the relationship between three comrades in arms. And Robert himself was already beginning to tell Pat not that she was cute and all those other compliments that girls are so pleased to hear. He called her “Pat-buddy,” as if trying to emphasize how significant and multifaceted this woman was for him. She was the fourth comrade.
The meaning of the work
Remarque wanted to show how war creates a lost generation, how it cripples the lives of innocent people on both sides of the barricades. Although the young people fought on the side of the aggressor, they themselves did not want world domination, but they fully experienced the retribution for the ambitions of their state. The decline in all spheres of society depicted in the novel is the result of Germany's defeat in the First World War. Hence all the troubles of the three comrades: complete disorder, internal crises, poverty, lack of prospects, problems with alcohol and disappointment. Lenz became a victim of a social cataclysm (emerging fascism); Pat became mortally ill from malnutrition due to the shortage of martial law. The writer depicted the black mark of war on the fate of the heroes, so the main idea of the novel “Three Comrades” can be considered an anti-militaristic, humanistic message to eternity, a warning to posterity about how ugly and terrible the bloodbath really is. When the spectacular battles pass, what remains are people ground in the millstones of history.
Issues
Ending
The book is certainly tragic, filled deep meaning, first of all, about that sublime feeling that has always worried all of humanity and has not lost its relevance. This feeling was Robert's fatal love for Patricia. Life dies in him along with her. The woman in the novel symbolizes hope: after her death, the country is destined to once again plunge into the darkness of fruitless ambitions statesmen, and her people, in the person of Robert, will suffer a hopeless longing for a peaceful sky. Pat was this oasis in the midst of chaos. Looking at her, even Robert’s friends felt renewal and joy, but they have no place in a world where war is brewing again: we see fascist rallies, which will soon develop into the bloodiest event of the 20th century. So gracefully, through love story, Erich Maria Remarque, an eyewitness and participant in the events, expresses a gloomy prediction for his country. Now we know that it came true, and both Robert and Otto failed to build new life. The end of the book “Three Comrades” remains the same open ending, where the tragedy is only felt and not literally conveyed.
Criticism
“Three Comrades” is the third novel by Remarque, a writer who, by the time of its release, enjoyed worldwide fame. He became the voice of a lost post-war generation, unsettled, disillusioned and cynical. However, not everyone liked this voice. The Nazis clearly could not have liked the sentimental stories of Wehrmacht soldiers. The militarists, out of conviction, rejected the author’s peaceful message; it seemed to them that he was spoiling a society that needed to gather all its strength for revenge. That is why after publication new job The writer was deprived of German citizenship.
In the USA, where he fled from persecution, his work was appreciated more highly. Hollywood immediately began filming the novel, and such literary stars as Hemingway personally met the emigrant and expressed their delight at the new work. Remarque is favorably received by the press, reviews of his works are extremely positive, but in Germany he was executed for family ties with the author (for example, his sister was killed, and he was sent a bill for the execution by mail).
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Three comrades
Subtitles
Plot
The action takes place in Germany around 1928. Three comrades - Robert Lokamp (Robbie), Otto Kester and Gottfried Lenz run a small auto repair shop. The main character, auto mechanic Robbie, met a charming girl, Patricia Holman (Pat). Robbie and Pat are people different destinies and from different walks of life - fell in love with each other. The novel shows the development of their love against the background of the crisis of those years.
Issues
People who have gone through the crucible of war cannot escape the ghosts of the past. War memories constantly torment the main character. A hungry childhood caused his beloved to become ill. But it was the military brotherhood that united three comrades: Robert Lokamp, Otto Kester and Gottfried Lenz. And they are ready to do anything for friendship. Despite the death that permeates it, the novel speaks of a thirst for life.
Heroes
Main characters
- Robert Lokamp (Robbie)- the main character of the novel, he is about 30 years old. Beloved of Patricia Holman (Pat). Friend of Gottfried Lenz and Otto Kester. Participant in the First World War.
- Otto Koester- one of the main characters. Also about 30 years old. During the war, he was a pilot; in the novel, he was the owner of the auto repair shop where the main characters worked. Otto is an amateur racing driver, participated in races in the Karl car, in which he won several times. He is interested in boxing.
- Gottfried Lenz- one of the main characters of the novel. Same age as Otto and Robert. He served in the army, traveled a lot around the world, evidence of which is his apartment with photographs of various places, a suitcase covered with all kinds of postcards, stamps and other things. He worked in a car repair shop with Kester and Lokamp. A very easy-going, positive person, the “soul” of the company. Outwardly, he stood out in the crowd with his straw-like mop of hair. Friends called him the ultimate, “paper” romantic.
- Patricia Holman (Pat)- the beloved of the main character. The story of this love forms the basis of the plot of the work.
Other heroes
- Gigolo- owner of a drinking establishment, good friend of Lenz. He loves to fight and loves choral compositions.
- Valentin Gauser- Robert's comrade in arms. He had a hard time surviving the war because of his desire to survive it. After returning from the front, he enjoyed every minute of his life and drank away his inheritance.
- Professor Jaffe- Patricia's attending physician.
- Matilda- a car repair shop cleaner who likes to drink.
- Rose- a local prostitute who has a little daughter. Rosa was forced to give her to a shelter, but continued to take care of her and knit things for her.
- Hasse's wife - married couple who constantly quarrels over lack of money.
- Ferdinand Grau- artist, makes good money from portraits of the dead from photographs. Likes to philosophize.
- Frau Zalewski- owner of the boarding house where Robert Lokamp lived. Considers Robert a "gold-plated vodka bottle" due to his addiction to alcohol.
- Jupp- a boy-apprentice at a car repair shop. He had big ears and dreamed of becoming a racer.
- Erna Bernig- a girl secretary who is in the pay of her boss at work, his mistress. Lives in the boarding house Frau Zalewski.
- Georg Block- poor student.
3.077. Erich Maria Remarque, "Three Comrades"
Erich Maria Remarque
(1898-1970)
The German writer Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) enjoyed unprecedented success throughout the world as one of the representatives of the so-called. the “lost generation” of writers from the Old and New Worlds who worked after the First World War (E. Hemingway, W. Faulkner, F.S. Fitzgerald, etc.).
Almost all of Remarque’s novels are still heard by readers, literary critics, theater and film directors: “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “ Arc de Triomphe", "A Time to Live and a Time to Die", "Black Obelisk", etc.
It's hard to name best work writer - they are different in the manner of description, but almost all are equally loved by readers.
But, perhaps, the most famous novel is “Drei Kameraden” (“Kammerater”) - “Three Comrades” (1932-1936), which is called “the most beautiful, most fascinating novel about friendship, the most tragic and piercing work about human relationships ever.” history of the 20th century."
"Three Comrades"
(1932-1936)
For lately among Russian youth, interest in the works of Remarque has sharply increased, which has greatly puzzled many librarians who consider “interest in Remarque to be an alarming symptom... In his books there is skepticism, fatigue from life, loneliness, a piercing feeling of being in the wind of history, some kind of selfish isolation, tragic love, insolvency - everything is alarming, hopeless. And now, 50 years later, everyone is reading Remarque again, although we don’t promote this author: we don’t put him in exhibitions, we don’t hold creative evenings.” (V.N. Tumar, http://www.nne.ru/).
Frankly, better characteristics the writer’s creativity and at the same time a diagnosis for the reading community cannot be found.
The theme of the novel was developed by the writer. A participant in the First World War, who received several wounds, Remarque drank not only the truth of the trenches, but also post-war hardships, when he had to change a dozen professions in search of income. The writer created “Three Comrades” while in exile.
Begun in 1932, the novel was published in 1936 by the Danish publishing house Gyldendal under the title Kammerater. In Europe, the smell of gunpowder from the First World War has not yet faded, but a new thunderstorm is already in the air. Remarque could not help but feel the instability of the world between two abysses, and, naturally, endowed his heroes, who went through the war and experienced the pain of loss, with great love of life.
They look for a solid foundation in life in strong friendship. Despite the fact that the hero of the novel claims that “too much blood has been shed on this earth for one to maintain faith in the heavenly father!”, this is a conscientious novel, starting with the author’s epigraph: “For everything that happened, I feel in to some extent and special responsibility.”
The phrase “three comrades” in both German and Russian contains something magical. Starting with the magic of the title, Remarque made the entire text magic. Despite the apparent simplicity of the plot, the novel is complex, like the time it tells about - 1928 - equidistant from the First and Second World Wars, but not so complex as to forget the nightmare of the past and not anticipate the horror of the future.
Nevertheless, the heroes of the novel live on their own ordinary life, as millions of young people live today, whose past they are unlikely to remember, that they were old good times, and “the future is either empty or dark.”
Post-war Germany was in economic and political ruin, and a small business, simple leisure time, an affair, a good sip of rum, an adrenaline rush in a car race or a street brawl meant a lot to the “ordinary” person. And is there really another life? Whatever he described - the streets, furnished rooms of Berlin, a car repair shop, taverns, a sanatorium, a clinic - the writer clothed his sadness and anxiety in a light ironic form.
The novel is narrated from the perspective of thirty-year-old Robert Lokamp, who became the author's second self - both in his life path and in his way of thinking. Mobilized at the age of 18, he was seriously wounded, and after the war he changed several professions. His two school friends Otto Kester and Gottfried Lenz fought with him. After the war, Kester studied, was a pilot, then became an amateur racing driver and acquired a car repair shop, and the “last romantic” Lenz traveled around the world until all three met in Kester’s workshop.
Once at an auction, Kester bought an old rattletrap for cheap. Friends, having installed a motor on a car racing car, called him “Karl” and often took car walks around the capital’s outskirts.
On one of these walks they met Patrice Holman, who became a wonderful Pat for them, and a faithful lover for Robert Lokamp. A hungry, cold childhood doomed the girl to death from tuberculosis, but for the time being her friends had no idea about her illness.
They spent their free time carefree: they drove around the city, went to a bar, to an amusement park, and cheered for Kester, who participated and won in amateur auto racing in his fossil monster.
Pat admitted to Robert that she was terminally ill and had already spent a whole year in the clinic. After a successful deal, Robert and Pat went to the sea, but there the girl’s illness began to worsen, she lay in bed for two weeks, and then they had to return home. The doctor introduced Robert to Pat's medical history and insisted on her treatment at a mountain sanatorium. There the girl was immediately prescribed bed rest.
Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, the friends were forced to sell the workshop and put up all their property at auction. At this time, unrest and demonstrations took place in the city, fights and shootouts broke out between fascist youths and representatives of other parties.
Lenz died absurdly in one of the clashes. Alphonse, owner of the pub, great friend Lenza, took revenge on the murderer, but with the death of his comrade, the concept of “three comrades” became a flawed sign of a non-existent workshop, ceased to be magic and turned into a monument to the past.
After burying Lenz, Robert and Kester went to Pat’s boarding house. The poor thing survived last days, and they didn’t have the courage to tell her about the death of their friend. Kester returned home, sold “Karl”, and sent money to Robert for the girl’s treatment. But nothing could save Patrice. Evil has triumphed this time too...
“Three Comrades” was translated into Russian in 1959 by I. Schreiber and L. Yakovlenko.
The most famous film adaptation of the novel was carried out in Hollywood (directed by F. Borzag, 1938).
Remarque worked on writing the novel “Three Comrades” for four years and completed it in 1936. At first it was small piece entitled “Pat”, which after a while was transformed into a full-fledged book about love, the setting for which was post-war Germany.
For reader's diary and to prepare for a literature lesson, we recommend reading online a summary of “Three Comrades” chapter by chapter, and also taking a test to test your knowledge.
Main characters
Robert Lokamp (Robbie)- a thirty-year-old man, a participant in the First World War, the best friend of Otto and Gottfried, in love with Patricia.
Otto Koester- owner of a car repair shop, was a pilot during the war, a passionate amateur race driver, and boxer.
Gottfried Lenz- a front-line comrade of Robert and Otto, their peer, easy-going and positive, a lover of travel.
Patricia Holman (Pat)- Robert's beloved.
Other characters
Gigolo- the owner of the pub, a nice guy, a good friend of Lenz.
Professor Jaffe- Patricia Holman's attending physician.
Frau Zalewski- the owner of the boarding house where Robert rents accommodation.
Matilda Stoss– a cleaner at Otto’s auto repair shop, a big drinker.
Chapter I
In the morning, in a car repair shop, Robert Lokamp finds fifty-year-old cleaning lady Mathilde Stoss drunk. “Vodka was to her what lard is to a rat,” and she, without hesitation, drank a bottle of the owner’s expensive cognac. However, the man does not reprimand her, but, on the contrary, offers to drink "aged, old, Jamaican" rum in honor of his thirtieth birthday.
His whole life passes before Robert's eyes. In 1916, he became a recruit, and a year later - a participant in military battles and a witness to the death of his friends. Upon returning to his native Germany, revolution, famine, and inflation await him. Robert tries not to think about the past, which invariably “goggles its dead eyes.”
Robbie is young, strong, and works in a car repair shop with his comrades from school, and then from the front - Gottfried Lenz and Otto Kester. After a day of work, they get into a shabby car nicknamed “Karl”, in which Otto restored all the “insides” and installed a powerful engine, and go to dinner.
Along the way, the friends compete in speed with the arrogant driver of a brand new Buick and, of course, win. In a cafe, they become better acquainted with their opponent and his charming companion named Patricia Holman. The company celebrates Robert's birthday together, and he finally takes Patricia's phone number.
Chapters II-IV
For the third year now, Robert Lokamp has been renting a furnished room in Frau Zalewski's boarding house. His neighbors are the Hasse spouses, who are always quarreling with each other, the bankrupt Russian Count Orlov, the secretary Erna Benig, the second-year student Georg Blok and many others whom lack of money brought to this godforsaken boarding house.
Robert asks Patricia out on a date, but when he sees her he realizes that they "can't have anything in common." At first, young people feel some constraint, but after large quantity After drinking, they start an easy and casual conversation.
The next day, Robert, as usual, goes to the International Cafe, where he used to work as a tapper in the evenings. There he finds himself at a big feast - the prostitute Lilly, surrounded by her friends, celebrates her upcoming marriage. However, Robbie can't relax - he's worried that he made a bad impression on Pat with his drunkenness.
The hero sends him to the workshop, where he finds his friends. They invite Robbie to drink with them, but he refuses as "damned drunkenness" no longer gives him pleasure.
He asks Lenz for advice, as a great expert in love affairs - whether people in love always “behave like fools.” To which his friend reassures him that “a woman will never find anyone funny who does something for her sake.” The next morning, Lokamp sends Patricia a bouquet of roses.
Chapters V-IX
Friends are restoring a Cadillac and trying to sell it for more money. Soon a potential buyer appears - the owner of the knitting factory Blumenthal - “a damn hard nut to crack.” Gottfried decides to help Robbie sell an expensive car and, dressed as a dandy, shows his interest. However, he clearly miscalculated, and thereby “scared off the billionaire.”
Since a meeting was scheduled for “the evening at Gottfried’s,” Robbie goes to a friend’s place, where he spends time in the company of Theo Braumuller, an old friend of Kester’s and a fellow auto racing enthusiast, and Ferdinand Grau, a philosopher and artist who draws portraits from photographs of dead people.
On a date with Patricia, Robert takes a Cadillac from a car repair shop and offers to spend it in the best restaurant he has ever known. However, the girl refuses, because the crowd there is “always boring and prim.” Then Robbie suggests going to the pub to see Alphonse, his good friend.
Watching his companion, Robert notes that he really likes her “simple and relaxed demeanor.” After the pub, they drive slowly through the evening city, and Robert offers Pat to teach her to drive. Thanks to driving lessons, they soon "felt as close as if they were telling each other the story of their lives."
Unexpectedly, Pat and Robbie meet Lenz, who invites everyone to go to the amusement park together. Friends ruin the owner of the ring-throwing attraction, taking absolutely all the prizes.
Two days later, the gentleman expresses a desire to take a test drive in a Cadillac, and Lokamp manages to have such a stranglehold on the big businessman that he eventually purchases a luxury car.
Patricia has been sick for a week, and Robert has not seen her during this time. As soon as the girl gets better, he invites her to visit him. To impress, he borrows the best furniture and decorative items from the hostess and other guests.
Upon meeting Pat, Robert learns that she has a business dinner planned with Binding that evening, and their date is cancelled. However, they can walk around the city a little together. Lokamp's mood deteriorates and he feels “tired and empty.”
During the walk, Robert, wanting to annoy Pat, greets all the prostitutes he knows. He is sure that the girl will be offended, but in response she only laughs “heartily and carefree”, calls Robbie a child and kisses him goodbye. Lokamp returns home in high spirits.
Chapters IX-XIV
On Sunday, Otto, who had spent the entire week training, wins the race in his lightning-fast Karl. Robert comes to cheer for him along with Pat, who meets all his friends. The cheerful company goes to Alphonse's pub to celebrate the victory. At dinner, Patricia is "too much of a success" by charming Robbie's friends.
Pat and Robbie walk through the city at night and spend the night together.
Things aren't going well in the workshop, and Robert and Otto go to an auction where they buy a used taxi. They plan to take turns taxiing in order to somehow stay afloat.
Robert goes to visit Pat because he wants to "know more about her, know how she lives." Seeing the exquisite furnishings of Pat's home, Robbie sadly realizes that they are "at different levels of society."
Patricia says that after the death of her mother, she was bedridden for a year due to an illness, thanks to which she learned to love life and find joy in little things. After a bereavement and a long illness, she wants to “live easily and joyfully, not be tied down by anything” and do whatever her heart desires.
"Until real orders are received," the friends decide to take turns driving a taxi. The lot falls to Robert, and he goes to the parking lot near the hotel. Here he gets into a fight with Gustav for the right to transport passengers. He manages to defeat the enemy, and he strikes up friendly relations with other taxi drivers.
In the evening, friends meet for dinner and begin to philosophize about life. Robbie walks Pat home, and the girl sadly admits that she is “half and not whole. So... fragment...”, to which Robert objects: “Such women are loved forever!”
At dawn, Lokamp meets Lisa, a young prostitute for whom he previously had tender feelings. After talking with Robert, she quickly realizes that he is in love with another woman.
Frau Zalewski admits to Lokamp that he can openly bring Pat to him. She liked the girl, but she believes that “this is a woman for a man with a good, strong position,” and not for a reveler like Robbie.
In the evening, Lokamp goes with Pat to the theater, in which he feels awkward. Concerts, exhibitions, theaters, books - he had already “almost lost his taste for all these bourgeois habits.” Unexpectedly, the lovers encounter Pat's former friends, sophisticated and wealthy people. One of them, Mr. Breuer, has long been unrequitedly in love with Pat. Robert feels out of place in such sophisticated society and gets drunk out of grief. All night long he walks through taverns and taverns, and in the morning, returning home, he finds Patricia on the stairs. They make peace and agree not to meet again in the company, because “ true love does not tolerate strangers."
The friends manage to pull off a profitable deal - buy back the newly sold Cadillac from Blumenthal and resell it to the baker, who, after the death of his wife, became involved with an arrogant, mercantile girl.
Chapters XV-XVIII
Thanks to a successful deal, Robert gets the opportunity to go with Pat to the sea for two weeks. They rent a room in a small, cozy villa and head to the beach. During the rest, Robbie more than once noticed in Pat, “how exuberant cheerfulness instantly and sharply gave way in her to deep fatigue.” Despite her apparent strength and health, she “had no reserve of strength.”
After a long swim in cold water, Patricia begins to bleed. She "breathed rapidly, there was inhuman suffering in her eyes, she was choking and coughing, bleeding."
Robert calls Kester to find Pat's doctor, Professor Felix Jaffe, as soon as possible. In his trusty “Carl,” Otto manages to bring a doctor to the sick girl in time, and he provides the necessary assistance.
Two weeks later, Pat is well enough to make the trip back. In honor of returning home, the young people go to Alphonse's, where they eat crayfish.
Having learned that a large room with a balcony is available in the boarding house, he invites Pat to move in with him. The girl is not sure what it is good idea- to be together all the time, but Robbie admits “that in recent weeks I realized how wonderful it is to be inseparable all the time” and no longer wants short dates with her.
Lokamp, who by that time had become friends with the taxi driver Gustav, is interested in “what can a woman do when she sits alone for a long time.” The man replies that it is very simple - “you need a child or a dog.” Gustav helps Robert choose a purebred Irish terrier puppy for his beloved.
That evening, Dr. Jaffe tells Lokamp that Pat’s illness is extremely serious - both lungs are affected, and she needs sanatorium treatment. The doctor reassures Robert that “life is a very strange thing,” and “a terminally ill person can outlive a healthy one.”
Chapters XIX-XXIII
During the next test of “Karl”, friends witness a terrible accident. They take the victims to the hospital and receive an order from them to repair the damaged car. With great difficulty, the friends manage to win a lucrative order from the Vogt brothers, their main competitors.
In mid-October, Dr. Jaffe calls Lokamp and reports that Pat needs to be urgently sent to a sanatorium, since in cold, damp weather “she is in danger all the time.” The professor explains that “she will survive the winter well in the mountains” and will be able to return home in the spring.
That same evening, after a farewell dinner with friends, the lovers leave the city.
A week later, Robert returns home. In the workshop, he learns that the car, which they fought so hard to win back on the road, is not insured, and its owner is bankrupt. Things are going very badly for friends. In order to somehow make ends meet, Robert again gets a job as a pianist at the Internationale. He celebrates Christmas there, in the company of faithful friends, local prostitutes and cattle dealers.
Chapters XXIV-XXVIII
The city welcomes January of the New Year with numerous rallies. People, exhausted by lack of money, carry “banners demanding work and bread.” The clashes between strikers and police result in injuries.
Otto and Robert go in search of Lenz, who disappears at political meetings. They manage to find him in a pub and pull him out of the thick of the fighting crowd. Suddenly, four guys appear from the gateway and shoot Lenz point-blank.
Quickly assessing the situation, Otto put Lenz in his car and "set off at full speed to the nearest ambulance station." Upon examination, the doctor finds a "small dark hole near the heart" and reports that the young man died almost instantly. The friends tell the police that they did not see the faces of the criminals - they want to find them themselves and avenge the death of their friend.
In February, Otto sells the auto repair shop, as well as all equipment and taxis. He plans to get a job as a "racer in a small car company" in the spring, and Robert works part-time in the evenings at the International, unsuccessfully trying to find a day job.
Accidentally entering a roadside inn, Robert discovers Lenz's killer there. Otto tries to kill him right away, but Robbie dissuades him from hasty action. In the evening, he goes to Alphonse’s pub and finds him with a laceration on his thigh. Lokamp finds out that Lenz has already been avenged by Alfons, who had previously tracked down the scumbag.
In the evening, Robert receives a telegram from Pat, in which “there were only three words: “Robbie, come quickly...”.” In order not to waste precious time, Otto invites his friend to get to the sanatorium in his car.
When they meet, the friends realize that Patricia has not gotten better. The girl herself realizes this. She dreams of only one thing - to feel a little happy in the time allotted to her.
So that Robert has the opportunity to live next to Patricia, Otto sells the “Carl”, about which he said that he would rather lose his arm than this car” and sends his friend the necessary amount.
Pat regrets that she and Robert do not have a child, so that they could “leave at least something behind themselves.” She admits that she was truly happy with him, “only for a short time, too short.”
Patricia's condition deteriorates sharply, Robbie does not leave her side. Pat dies "in the last hour of the night, before dawn began."
Conclusion
In his work, Remarque highlights the problems of the “lost generation” - young people who faced the horrors of war at a very young age. They look at life completely differently, they are friends, they love. These are the people who represent the main characters of the novel.
After familiarizing yourself with a brief retelling“Three Comrades” we recommend reading the novel by E. M. Remarque in its entirety.
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Excerpt from G. Bergelson's review on the topic “Three Comrades”
Living in exile, Remarque continued to create. But the next thing happened
He published the information only in 1938. It was the novel "Three Comrades".
The setting of the book is Berlin. We judge this by individual signs
cities, such as the famous Charité clinic, and those who
the novel melts in the original, - according to a number of words and expressions in the Berlin dialect -
those that the author puts into the mouths of some characters. As for-
Xia time of action, then this is 1928. The time is indicated absolutely precisely,
because it is an important object artistic research, carried out
nogo author of the novel.
Although it has been a while since the last shots were fired
again ten years, life was still saturated with the memory of the war, after-
the consequences of which were felt at every step. It’s not for nothing that they, these memories
meeting, and the author himself led to the creation of his famous anti-war
novel.
The memory of front-line life is firmly embedded in the current existence of the three
the main characters of the novel, Robert Lokamp, Otto Köster and Gottfried Lenz,
seems to continue within him. This is felt at every step - not only in
big, but also in small, in countless details of their life, their behavior, their
conversations. Even the smoking asphalt cauldrons remind them of camping fields.
high kitchens, car headlights - a spotlight clinging to the plane during
his night flight, and the rooms of one of the patients in the tuberculosis hospital
Riya, to whom his comrades in misfortune came to visit, a front-line
dugout.
The war left an indelible mark on the way of thinking of the three comrades.
cabbage soup “Strange as it may seem,” notes Robert, for example, feeling that from
the aroma of freshly brewed coffee can be heard from the kitchen, but the smell of coffee
I'm happier. Ever since the war I knew: what is important, significant cannot
calm us down... It’s always a little thing, a trifle that consoles us..." And if he says:
“Our past has taught us not to look too far ahead,” then we understand
We understand that by “past” here we also mean the war years.
The constant memories of the heroes about their youth at the front have nothing
common with the glorification and romanticization of war. On the contrary, this novel by Re-
a stamp about peaceful life is the same anti-war work as
the previous two. "Too much blood has been shed on this earth to
it was possible to maintain faith in the heavenly father!" - this is the conclusion
Lokamp after a conversation with a priest in a church garden.
But thoughts about war do not only belong to the past: they also give rise to
fear of the future, and Robert Lokamp, looking at the baby from the orphanage,
bitterly ironizes: “I would like to know what kind of war it will be in which
I hope he will keep up." Remarque put these words into the mouth of the hero-storyteller for a year
before the start of the Second World War.
In "Three Comrades" Remarque showed himself to be a most skillful master of individual
al characteristics. Each of the three main characters has its own face and
acts in full accordance with the internal logic of his nature. In sa-
At first they appear as a kind of triune character, but very soon
the reader begins to immediately recognize any of them by their behavior, language
ku, in manners, even in gestures. Somewhat later than two of his comrades
Otto Kester “reveals”, and this turns out to be natural, justified,
- after all, restraint is perhaps the main property of this amazingly integral
nature. But as we get to know Kester, we become more and more
we are convinced of his willpower, his determination, his ability to quickly
navigate in difficult situations, accept and carry out the only
possible solution, sometimes even going all-in, especially when we're talking about O
friend's earnings. And how unlike him with his freckled face, blue-
with my eyes and red forelock, now boyishly mischievous, now in a good way,
timental Gottfried Lenz, whom he and his friends nicknamed for good reason
"the last romantic"!
The least “recognizable” person is probably Robert Lokamp. This is explained by the fact that
that the narration in the novel is conducted on his behalf, and, instead of objective
judgments about the character, the reader is presented with deep self-characteristics
ka, which he has to figure out “on his own.” But the figure of Ro-
Bertha is of particular interest: she is more identical to herself than any other
to the author and is very often used by him to convey his own
thoughts. It is no coincidence, apparently, that it was this hero that Remarque forced into many
gom repeat your own life path, as he did earlier in
in relation to Paul Bäumer and Ernst Birkholz: Robert Lokamp is thirty
years old, exactly the same as the writer himself was in 1928; him too
was mobilized in 1916 and was also seriously wounded; his mother, like
mother of Remarque (and Paul Bäumer), died of cancer; he also had to become
teacher and also tried many professions after the war, including
profession of pianist and performer. This is not a complete list of details, confirming
emphasizing the autobiographical nature of the image of the hero-storyteller.
Robert Lokamp in much to a greater extent, than his comrades and in-
in general any of the other characters in the book are shown from the inside. According to him
in my own words, for many years after the war he lived "stupidly, thoughtlessly and
hopeless." And if he, a dropout university student, spread
with books, concerts and theater performances, in a humorous word-
in the spring, in a skirmish with Lenz, he says that he has long lost the hunt
something to learn and that he himself does not know why he lives in the world, then in
there is a lot of truth to this joke.
Forcing Robert to engage in introspection, Remarque explores thoughts and
the mood of the "lost generation" in general. Much of what
characteristic of him, characteristic of his comrades as well, only Lenz has this
appears under the guise of a joke, and Kester, stingy with words, rarely speaks at all.
speaks his thoughts out loud. However, the same can be said about a number of
other heroes. After all, in fact, this is a novel not only about three comrades.
Don't they belong to the "lost generation" Ferdinand Grau, Valentin
Gauser, Alphonse and some other characters from those who survived the fire
war, but lost peace of mind and is now trying to get out of the
creating shock through endless drinking and brawls?
Moreover, to a certain extent, the “lost generation” includes
also one of the main figures in the book is Patricia Holman. Although charming
Pat is younger than his lover Robbie and his friends and, naturally, not
knows what life is like in a front-line trench, she is also a victim of war: how
doctors state that she fatal disease is a consequence of malnutrition
Denmark for children's and teenage years, which occurred during war times. Kes-
Ter, Lenz and their other friends willingly accept Pat into the “ranks of comrades”
(Alphonse: “After all, you are ours now. I would never have thought that a woman could
to belong in such a company"), and this is explained not only by respect for
Robert's love feeling, but also because the sadly ironic attitude
The girl’s approach to life is close to their own views. Owner of the boarding house
Frau Zalewski finds straightforward but quite apt words that characterize
deploring their mental trauma: “You hate the past, you despise the present-
those, and the future is indifferent to you."
"Three Comrades" is a novel with a broad social background. This is achieved in
in particular, by the fact that it is densely “populated” with episodic and semi-episodic
characters representing various circles and strata of the German people
yes, and among them there is, it seems, not a single one who does not remain in the reading room
memory, although some of them, such as the old National Treasurer,
leaf, living in the boarding house Frau Zalewski, captured using everything
two or three strokes. All the other inhabitants of this establishment are also remembered.
nia, as well as its owner and her maid Frida, as well as other persons
the profits of the novel, which only fleetingly appear on the path of the main characters.
A special place in this round dance is occupied by a line of tuberculosis patients
sanatorium, with which last chapters In the novel, Pat is driven by illness.
Here, by the way, it should be noted that in the way stories about destinies
these people, so different in origin and position, are woven into a common
narration, the influence of T. Mann's novel "The Magic Mountain" is very noticeable
(1924).
The theme of partnership as the most important one in the novel is already given in the title.
vii. Confirmed bachelors Otto Koester, Gottfried Lenz and Robert Lokamp
They live, essentially, a life together. They are not averse to being rude to each other.
gu, as boys or young men do, but the interests of a comrade are inescapable
They turn out to be higher for each of them than their own. The fate of the comrade
society takes shape here differently than in “Return”: it does not
is an illusion, stands the test of time, does not disintegrate, but transforms
becomes friendship in the highest sense of the word, and effective friendship,
active, threatened only by external forces like a killer's revolver
Lenza.
The partnership undergoes its most serious test after an outbreak of the disease.
Pat's death until her death, on the eve of which Otto makes a sacrifice
wear: sells his "Carl", a car that was like theirs
fourth comrade and about whom Kester had previously said that he would rather agree
wants to sell his hand rather than sell this car.
In this novel, Remarque managed to create an amazingly poetic
a picture of love. It’s all here - from the birth of mutual feelings between Robbie and
Pat until the tragic denouement - breathes truth and delivers true es-
tic pleasure. Sincere and natural, completely devoid of any
affectation, any game, love takes the hero and heroine out of their state of mind
numbness. In Robbie, she breaks through the shell of indifference, and he
he tells himself that he has known happiness. The theme of love is closely intertwined with
the theme of camaraderie. Together they form an anchor of salvation for people
ryannogo generation", liberate them from loneliness.
Companionship, active friendship and love are important aspects of humanistic
what Remarque program. Another significant aspect of it is the composition
joy. “Pity is the most useless thing in the world,” passionately
Robert throws out in a conversation with Frau Zalewski. - She is the other side
gloating, let it be known to you." But these words, as he himself admits,
Roy-narrator, pronounced with irritation. They mask true thoughts
and Lokamp’s feelings are caused precisely by this “most useless object on
light", pity, compassion for the unfortunate lot of the accountant Hasse and even
his wife, although her infidelity was the reason for her husband’s suicide. Such a position
tion is characteristic of Robert and his friends: behind the rudeness and cynicism
hides a truly humane attitude towards those who need compassion
Denmark
And there are a lot of people who need sympathy in the novel, because Remarque
feels well the dependence of the destinies of his heroes on the difficult fate of Germany
research of that era. Many microplots are skillfully woven into the fabric of the book,
dedicated to people whose lives “reduced to nothing but painful struggle
for a wretched, bare existence." These people include, for example, the authorities
dealers of pitiful belongings going under the hammer, who are met at auction
Kester and Lokamp buying an old car here. Impossible to forget
nor a married couple who are forced by necessity to part with this car.
billem, nor the lonely old woman who bought a parrot here so that she could have it at home
there was at least someone who would “talk” to her. And the three products themselves
The villages are also in a constant struggle for existence, the affairs of their workshop
They go from bad to worse and eventually end in failure.
Cross-cutting theme, turning into one of the leitmotifs of the novel, becoming
The topic of unemployment comes up. Many times it is said here about Berliners dreaming
find at least some income. We meet them in the most unexpected
places - on the races, where they hope for the smile of fortune, in museums, where
there is an opportunity to warm up, - we learn the stories of entire families who were poisoned -
gas because the heads of these families had completely despaired of
get a job. But even those who have jobs live in fear: they are afraid of
tear it down, since behind every dismissal there yawns “the abyss of eternal unemployment-
tsy".
"Three Comrades" does not contain an obvious anti-fascist tendency, if not
consider that the pogromists killing Lenz, although their party
affiliation is not indicated, Nazi thugs are definitely guessed
PS Apparently, Remarque had not yet joined in 1938, as many others had done.
other emigrant writers, on the path of open struggle with the hated
Hitler's regime. But then the news coming from Germany and the events
world history intensified the position of the writer and forced him to refuse
to avoid political neutralism. After all, in the very year when they were
"Three Comrades" was published, the Nazis occupied Austria and Czechoslovakia,
and a year later they imposed a second world war. And already in 1940
Remarque's anti-fascist novel "Love Thy Neighbor" was published.
Fascist “justice” took revenge on Remarque by sending him to the guillotine
the writer's younger sister, a resident of Dresden, dressmaker Elfrida Remarque,
married Scholz, accused of speaking out against the policies of the Fuhrer and
personally against him and in a defeatist mood. Surviving archival
materials indicate that at the tribunal meeting held
On October 29, 1943, under the chairmanship of the executioner of the German people, Ro-
Landa Freisler, the “dirty little book” was also mentioned Western Front without
changes" concocted by the accused's brother."
