The Black Obelisk is a masterpiece of artistic creation written by Erich Maria Remarque. Time has no hold on the eternal values ​​of classical literature and this author has always been recognized, at all times.

This book is magnificent! Just magnificent and nothing else! First of all, i like this book, because I like the main character Ludwig. I’m painfully familiar with his questions and throwing, his experiences and growth during the book. He is 25 years old and his youth was spent in a war that changed him and raised him, but also, to some extent, broke his faith in man and in God. And during the whole book, he tries to find answers to all his questions, find justice and a way further. His thoughts and philosophical arguments were interesting and close to me, as if I found a new friend – I liked the main character so much. Secondly, it’s a language. Oh, this language! The style of Remarque’s narration, his sense of humor and his manner of expressing his thoughts, simply captivated me from the very beginning of the book and kept me until the very end. This sarcasm and irony, as well as black humor, I liked very much, sometimes I laughed aloud. And, it is necessary to pay tribute to Remarque, to be capable to laugh, when there is hunger and death around you, and do not seem to be tactless, is rather difficult. Thirdly, the characters, all to one, are so amazingly solid personalities that anyone likes them. Remarque does not say that this character is “good”, and this one is “bad” and every hero is unique. Everyone is interesting and colorful. They are alive. Just people, very sincere, each with their own problems, but each of them is special.

It is a wonderful book! But what is it about? It tells us about Germany in the 1920s, which, after losing the war, is consumed with inflation, hunger, diseases and death. And the main character works at a firm that sells gravestones. The main hero and his friends just try to survive in these inhuman conditions,to get through the consequences of the war, in the hope that this will never happen again. They live one day, because the next day everything can change. The main hero also writes poetry and plays the organ in the church next to the house for the mentally ill, because in this hospital there is Geneviève, a girl with schizophrenia and a split personality, Ludwig is in love with one of her personlities. At the same time a mentally ill girl, against the background of the surrounding madness, suddenly seems to be the most adequate character. This book is a glimmer of hope in the ocean of despair. And I would like so much to share this hope with everyone, but, unfortunately, I think that not everyone will like this book.