Showing posts with label Remarque. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Remarque. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

3. The Black Obelisk

Number 3, 11 April Quiz, read about here:

The Black Obelisk is a novel written in 1956 by the German author Erich Maria Remarque. This novel paints a portrait of Germany in the early 1920's, a period marked by hyper-inflation and rising nationalism.

Ludwig, the protagonist, is in his early 20's and he, just like most of his friends, is a World War I veteran. Although aspiring to be a poet, he works for a friend, Georg, managing the office of a small tombstone company. He tries to earn some extra money as a private tutor to a son of a bookstore owner, and by playing the organ at the chapel of a local insane asylum.