THE NIGHT IN LISBON PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Erich Maria Remarque | 244 pages | 09 Jun 1998 | Random House USA Inc | 9780449912430 | English | New York, United States The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque One of the refugees relates their story during the course of a single night in Lisbon in The story he recounts is mainly a romantic one, and also contains a lot of action with arrests, escapes and near-misses. The novel is realistic, Remarque was himself a German refugee although the novel is fictional and only loosely based on the experience of Remarque's friend, novelist Hans Habe , and provides insight into refugee life in Europe during the early days of the war. The book completed what was known as Remarque's "emigre trilogy" along with Flotsam and Arch of Triumph. The story takes place in the opening months of World War II. Josef Schwarz is a refugee who offers his visa and tickets for America to another refugee desperate to leave Lisbon. He does this in exchange for keeping him company throughout one night, a night in which he relates the story of his and his wife's frantic flight from Nazi Germany to Lisbon. In his review for the Times , Maxwell Geismar called it a "most brooding and thoughtful novel… it may not quite be a great novel, but it is surely one of the most absorbing and eloquent narratives of our period. Remarque's old following will find that it has a certain urgency without perhaps pausing to wonder whether it is as real as it is readable. With an expected release during October, , a film based on The Night in Lisbon is being produced. Ian Stokell is the author of the screenplay. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Little, Brown. Kirkus Reviews. I had absolutely no interest in the dynamics of war and I didn't care about the reasons behind any irrational decision of those insane leaders, at that time. But this story right here, even though technically fiction and a romantic novel has taught me more about t Absolutely amazing novel! But this story right here, even though technically fiction and a romantic novel has taught me more about the intricacies of war and the life of a refugee, than any history book read in school. I get goosebumps every time I think of Schwarz and Helen's story. Highly recommend this book! Jul 14, Charles Vella rated it it was amazing. Erich Remarque writes about good people in terrible times. Unfortunately, Europe between the World Wars provided him with plenty of material. If you haven't read it you certainly should. I've also read Three Comrades and The Road Back, which are about soldiers trying to readjust in Germany after the war. The Night in Lisbon takes place a few years later, when the Nazis are running Erich Remarque writes about good people in terrible times. The Night in Lisbon takes place a few years later, when the Nazis are running Germany but before they've invaded France. The reader never even finds out the real name of the main characters, which is appropriate because they are refugees and as such don't have names the way the rest of us take for granted. Schwarz is the name in a passport inherited from a dying refugee. He meets a stranger, another refugee, and tells him he can have Schwarz's two passages on a ship for the United States if he will sit with Schwarz all night. During that night Schwarz tells the stranger his story. Schwarz is afraid it will become distorted in his mind because it is so important to him. He believes that only by telling someone with some distance the story, and Schwarz's wife Helen, will live. We know from the beginning that Helen is dead, and somehow Remarque is still able to make her story viscerally real and incredibly sad. Their story is about Nazi brutality, but at a very personal level. It also brings out the stupidity that accompanies brutality more effectively than most works do. The Nazis have the reputation of incredible efficiency, which is to some extent earned, but I don't think as much as they get credit for. Brutality is more often accompanied by stupidity than higher level thinking. And if you arrest enough people randomly it can look like efficiency if you actually find a few people plotting against you. Not to mention that if you make the law vague enough, there will be plenty of people breaking it. A lesson for modern times. The Night in Lisbon is also about marriage and what is and isn't important in the grand scheme of things. Schwarz and Helen had a very mediocre relationship and marriage before the war. The war and circumstances of Helen's death give it a depth and meaning that it never would have achieved in normal times. Is this a happy ending? No, but they managed to get something positive out of life in desperate times. At the end, we find out what happens to everyone, kind of. No one lives happier ever after as far as we know. I won't tell you any more than that, but do suggest you read and find out for yourself. This is one of the best books I've ever read. Just don't expect to be whistling when you finish it. Jul 23, Shankar rated it really liked it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I found this book in a most unexpected place In Bengaluru. Was pleasantly surprised to find it - and even more when I started to read it. The story is not very exciting but in the way it has been set and narrated it it makes for a gripping read. Set in the time of Nazis and Gestapo - and in the time of German occupation of France this tells the story of the hunted and also gives glimpses of how life was in the time of war. The narrator is looking to find a way to get to America with his family - I found this book in a most unexpected place In Bengaluru. The narrator is looking to find a way to get to America with his family - and has almost no money. His desperation is seen from the fact that in the weeks preceding he takes a decision to gamble in a casino to make enough to finance his and his family to America. And loses all of it. At this time he is offered a visa passport with a stamp that can be forged to change the name and a ticket to America. The narrator cannot believe this and is surprised to learn from Mr Schwarz the magnanimous that he just wants someone to spend a night with him in Lisbon. We learn later that he just wanted someone to hear his story - possibly as closure for all that he Schwarz and his wife Helen go through before the climactic end. This is really the story of the book. I liked the way the story was crafted and each emotion articulated. Despite the fact that I may never experience any of the events that happened at that time I could relate to his thoughts and reactions so described. My opinion is biased as I am becoming a sucker for historical fiction. Aug 06, Mike Coleman rated it liked it. Donald Trump should read this book. If you don't have them, your life is worthless and you'll be shipped back where you came from, to face certain death. Remarque wrote the book some 30 years after his classic All Quiet on the Western Front was published, and it flounders a bit at the beginning, but once I became accustomed to its style--it's basically a monolo Donald Trump should read this book. Remarque wrote the book some 30 years after his classic All Quiet on the Western Front was published, and it flounders a bit at the beginning, but once I became accustomed to its style--it's basically a monologue told by one refugee to another during one long night in Lisbon as they wait for a ship to take them to America--it gained momentum quickly. For the last 50 pages, I couldn't put it down. In one passage about an year-old refugee fleeing deportation back to Germany, one can only think of those children in America bearing the awful name "anchor babies," and what might become of them, should the crazed Trump be elected. I have read quite a few books of Remarque and this particular was one of the best for me. It is a great and a tragic love story which had something eternal in itself, something bigger than the lovers themselves. The book might seem as a standard love story from reviews but it is quit subtle and extraordinary story very closely related to the historical catastrophes and ideologies of that time. It was a compelling read. Totally worth of your time. May 30, Larry rated it it was amazing Shelves: portugal. I had only ever read All Quiet on the Western Front , twice in translation, once in the original German. It wasn't until I read The Night in Lisbon in translation, as my German has deteriorated from disuse that I understood what a truly great author Remarque was. A simple premise: two German refugees meet by chance in wartime Lisbon. One offers the other his boat tickets to America if he'll spend one night listening to his benefactor's story of exile throughout Europe.