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Arch of Triumph Audiobook
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(4.00) - 3,979 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Ravic is a German doctor and refugee living in Paris in 1939. Despite a law banning him from performing surgery, he has been treating some of the city's most elite citizens for two years on the behalf of two less-than-skillful French physicians.
Forbidden to return to his own country and dodging the everyday dangers of jail and deportation, Ravic manages to hang on, all the while searching for the Nazi who tortured him back in Germany. And though he's given up on the possibility of love, life has a curious way of taking a turn for the romantic, even during the worst of times.
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"Ravic, the superb surgeon, is also haunted by torture, and lives a life disconnected from emotion until he meets a woman, who brings him alive again. But emotion and caring result in his arrest and deportation because, you see, he is a German surgeon, a refugee (today he would be called an illegal alien) fleeing from oppression in his native Germany and only illegally performing surgeries in France. He is a man without a country or a home whose situation appears more and more hopeless since he has no "papers or visas". His fragility and vulnerability are clearly portrayed. He contemplates the meaning of life, and of love as almost an observer. The writing at these times is so poetic! Here is a talented refugee who must rely on so many to keep him alive. This was written about 1939 and it was published in 1945, so the author was writing about almost recent events. I think I am babbling because words almost fail me in describing the impact of reading this book. You live, breathe and are sucked into the atmosphere of 1939 Paris from the view of the least of its citizens."
— Liz (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A great writer…Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“It’s amazing to hear a novel read in the tone of the era about which it was written—shadowy and haltingly, as if an enemy might be listening. Ralph Cosham illuminates Remarque’s masterpiece…He projects the sounds and the threats of the imminent war with his sophisticated reading. An excellent production.”
— AudioFile -
“Cosham’s reading is outstanding. His voice runs the full gamut of emotions as Ravic falls in love; faces life-and-death situations in the operating room, often repairing botched abortions; and contemplates the possibility of revenge for the torture he endured at the hands of the Gestapo.”
— Kliatt
Arch of Triumph Listener Reviews
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" well it was such a beautiful book.The way Remarque writes is unique,so fluid and moving. But i don't recommand it to people who don't like a realistic way of writing. "
— Meg, 2/17/2014 -
" EMR manages, once again, to deliver a superb, claustrophobic account of the subject. In this case, the year before the outbreak of WW2. An in-depth study of life in Paris at the time, focussing on the diversity of emigrants of the time and the diverse outcome in their lives. Coming from different backgrounds and going to different futures, they are all linked by the present situation. The main character is complete, deep and powerful. With a good dosage of black humour, I particularly enjoyed the stories immigrants of the hotel. "
— Maria, 2/14/2014 -
" One of the greatest books I've ever read. Harsh, tender and definitely moving. "
— Lidia, 2/5/2014 -
" This is a very old book that I got from my aunt. It may be the first publishing. "
— Vicki, 2/5/2014 -
" FRANCE 1936 GERMAN DR AND WIDOW STORY. DID NOT LIKE ANY OF IT "
— John, 2/1/2014 -
" An all time favorite - "
— Jorma, 1/25/2014 -
" Very interested, but not so tragedic and lovely like Three Comrades... "
— Tair, 1/19/2014 -
" One of my favorite books. Remarque at it's best. This book transforms you back in time to post war Paris. You can small the dusty streets, cigars and Calvados in the air when you read it. It will leave you nostalgic and hungry for true love and romance straight from the vintage 30s. "
— Agnes, 1/18/2014 -
" highly recommended for anyone who likes to read about heavy subjects in a light tone. like a literary bacon cheeseburger with no fat - i loved it. "
— Tim, 11/12/2013 -
" Remarque never fails in turning me into a sobbing monster. I fell in love with this book on the 1st page. I died a little inside on the page 413. It's hard to express how much something can change you and specially when the mentioned thing is a book. Forever in my TOP list. "
— Marketa, 11/9/2013 -
" this is like a lost treasure. I wish I was reading Remarque instead of Dostoevsky back in the day. But I am glad to read it now, all the same. Dark, poetic, filled with a quiet agony. People living in a "dying age." Seemed like Cormac McCarthy mixed with St Exupery. I loved it. "
— Matt, 10/2/2013 -
" One of the most beautiful words that I ever saw on paper. Triumphally. "
— Anatole, 8/31/2013 -
" One of the greatest books I've read. "
— Dianna, 8/28/2013 -
" the one I re-read and rediscover every time I do it, the idea is how soul miving good feelings what ever they lead to can change a person in front of inevitable tragedy of the upcoming war "
— Svetlana, 7/29/2013 -
" "Te poti apara impotriva insultelor, insa nu impotriva milei." "
— Alisu', 6/18/2013 -
" I am in love with this book "
— Anastasia, 3/18/2013 -
" only Remarque can write like this...amazing "
— Irina, 1/27/2013 -
" The descriptions from this book imprinted on the back of my mind "
— Wolvein, 11/13/2012 -
" The everlasting story of human tragedy and triumph of life. Read it!!!! "
— Gaya, 11/3/2012 -
" It is a bigtime recommendation. Reread after 30 years and love it even more. Love, danger life in Paris just before WW2. "
— Teodora, 6/30/2012 -
" Life changer and a gift from the past "
— Alexander, 5/17/2012 -
" Read it, loved it, keep re-reading it every couple of years. The characters and relationships are complicated, love is tragic (just like in most of his stories), the story sucks you in. Classic non-All-Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque. "
— Lazyreader, 5/2/2011 -
" I don't know why, but I will always love this book. I've read it like 10 times.<br/>Make because I felt very closely connected to the main character and his situation when I first got to it. "
— Shagatxulg, 12/14/2010 -
" My favourite book, even more than just a book, it's the whole world for me. I've "lived" every page, every line of it... It's impressed me to the innermost of my heart,it's changed my perception of the world. "
— Mariya, 10/18/2010 -
" This is a very old book that I got from my aunt. It may be the first publishing. "
— Vicki, 7/25/2010 -
" It is a bigtime recommendation. Reread after 30 years and love it even more. Love, danger life in Paris just before WW2. "
— Teodora, 7/19/2010 -
" have read several times...and planning to do it again soon... "
— Tasha, 3/8/2010 -
" The hero of this book- <strong>Ravic</strong>, the talented Jewish surgeon, is one of my beloved characters. Inspite of his hard life he tries to believe in people, to believe in life and to believe in love. "
— Araks, 1/20/2010 -
" One of my favourite Remarque's so far. "
— Kathw82, 1/17/2010 -
" name a book that can give u a feeling just from the first page, I understood that character , i lived part of his life... "
— Z0t1, 10/28/2009 -
" this is like a lost treasure. I wish I was reading Remarque instead of Dostoevsky back in the day. But I am glad to read it now, all the same. Dark, poetic, filled with a quiet agony. People living in a "dying age." Seemed like Cormac McCarthy mixed with St Exupery. I loved it. "
— Matt, 10/24/2009 -
" This is a pretty amazing book. Here there are passages of great lyric beauty, despair leavened by a certain absurdist gallows humor, and a riveting plot. This novel makes me want to read more of Remarque. "
— Constance, 10/12/2009
About Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970) was born in Osnabrück, Germany, of French ancestry. He studied at the University of Münster but had to enlist in the German army at the age of eighteen. He fought on the Western Front and was wounded several times. He began his writing career as a journalist. Fame came with his first novel All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), which sold more than a million copies in its first year and created a new literary genre of veterans writing about conflict. He left Germany in 1932 because of Nazism, came to the United States in 1939, and became a US citizen in 1947. All Quiet on the Western Front was adapted to film in 1930.
About Geoffrey Howard
Geoffrey Howard (a.k.a. Ralph Cosham) was a stage actor and an award-winning narrator. He recorded more than 100 audiobooks in his lifetime and won the prestigious Audio Award for Best Narration and several AudioFile Earphones Awards.