Trei camarazi

Three former soldiers try to earn a living in 1930s Germany. They sell used cars and run a repair shop together. As poverty and violence spread, their income grows less sure. Troops with guns march through the streets. The men count on their friendship to face these hard times. Then the youngest falls in love with Patrice Hollmann. She is a woman of mystery. She joins their circle, and events strain their bonds.

Erich Maria Remarque’s novel blends love with life after war. He writes in a plain, direct style. His people draw on their own strength to survive. The narrator recalls how rising prices cut the worth of wages. This took just hours. He also recalls playing piano in a café. He then rejoined Köster and Lenz.

Remarque fought in the First World War and had five wounds. He was born in Osnabrück in 1898. He joined the army while studying in Münster. After the war, he worked as a teacher and stonemason. He also drove racing cars and wrote about sport. Nazi bans on his work led him to leave Germany. He lived in Switzerland and America. He died in Locarno in 1970. His wife, the actor Paulette Goddard, was with him.

The novel first came out in 1937. Frank Borzage made the film version as its director the next year. Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone and Robert Young starred in it. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the script. This edition forms part of the Esențial series. Sevilla Răducanu translated the German text into Romanian.