Favorite Author Review: Spark of Life: A Novel of Resistance - Erich Maria Remarque

Like many of Remarque’s books this one is about war. More specifically this is about the experiences of a group of prisoners in a concentration camp in Germany during the last few months of World War II. 

It is mostly told from the point of view of a prisoner called 509. But we also hear from other prisoners and some of the Nazi men running the camp. They tell us a story of human resistance, cruelty and finding the good in one self even under the worst of circumstances. 

The story is about a small group of prisoners called the Veterans. These men have been in the camp for years and years and most of them seem just about to give up, when news start spreading about the Allied invasion. In the camp there is a resistance movement, and the Veterans start working together with these men, and soon hope spreads that a different ending to this story is possible. 

509 is the main character, and having read many a Remarque novel, I knew that chances were slim that he would survive. But as the books teaches you, there is always hope!

We only get to know the characters of the book in the setting of the camp and its immediate surroundings. We don’t really get to know who the people were before they came to the camp, only a few short glimpses that serve to underscore their role in the camp. As someone in the book says, it doesn’t really matter who you were before the camp, because inside the camp, the conditions have made you a totally different human being. So the time before the camp doesn’t really matter, as it is a completely different world. 

All this makes you think about humanity. Why do some people have the strength to stay kind and generous while others revert to an animalistic selfishness under conditions where a scrap of bread can mean the difference between life and death? Why do some people give away their meagre slice of bread, while others will crawl over you to get at a few drops of spilt soup? Likewise you start to wonder about why some people will jump at the opportunity to be cruel to others. The Nazis running the prison would rejoice in inflicting pain on the prisoners. Some would own up to it and be proud of their actions, while others deceived themselves thinking that these men were dangerous and needed to be “reeducated” as they called it.Still, you have to wonder how anyone can excuse such terrible cruelties. I know this is a work of fiction, but it is based on actual events, which just makes it even more disturbing. There were scores of people of the same mindset as the Nazis in this book, and just like in the book not everyone got their just deserts. I consider this not just a story about hope and human resilience in the face of almost impossible obstacles, but a “remembrance piece”. We need to remember that this happened, we can’t just sweep it under the rug, for it could easily happen again if the world isn’t vigilant. 

As always with Remarque the book is beautifully written, the language is flowing and at times poetic even though the subject matter is quite harrowing. 

This isn’t my favorite Remarque novel. It is a solid novel, and I did care about the characters, but there are other of his books that have affected me more in an emotional way. I always cry when I read “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Three Comrades” is likewise one to stir up some feels. 

I gave this 3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.