In the novel, Remarque doesn't wish one to think of the book as either an adventure, accusation, or confession because he wants the audience to think of the novel as the story of the struggle of that "lost generation" as he remarks in the opening. I believe Remarque concedes that a true war story will contain an adventure, accusation, or confession and I believe he deliberately mentions all three to tell a good war story. He doesn't want the reader to isolate the story out as one of these, but instead, combine them o tell the good war story that tells of the generation of war.
What do you think makes a "good" war story? Is accuracy/truthfulness the main objective? Is excitement? What do you think most readers think when they see that the cover of AQ is billed as "THE GREATEST WAR NOVEL OF ALL TIME"--I wonder, is it called that because it's a GREAT novel or because it's a GREAT novel about a war? What do you think most people are looking for when they pick up a war novel--particularly "the best one of all time"? Does the book deliver on that promise?
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