Flotsam (novel)
 First US edition | |
| Author | Erich Maria Remarque |
|---|---|
| Original title | Liebe deinen Nächsten |
| Translator | Denver Lindley |
| Language | German |
| Genre | War novel |
| Publisher | Little, Brown (US) Hutchinson (UK) |
Publication date | September 1939 in Collier's Weekly March 1941 Little, Brown and Company |
| ISBN | 0-449-91247-7 |
Flotsam (German: Liebe deinen Nächsten, lit. 'Love thy neighbor') is a novel by the German author Erich Maria Remarque.[1] First published from 8 July to 23 September 1939 as an advance print in Collier's Weekly magazine,[2] the book edition of the revised text followed in March 1941 and was published by Little, Brown and Company.[3] The novel describes the interwoven stories of several immigrants who left Germany at the time of National Socialism.[4]
Plot
The Austrian police raids a boarding house somewhere in Vienna. The young boy Kern and the sagacious Josef Steiner are arrested and evicted for having no passports. In Prague Kern meets Ruth Holland and falls in love with her. The three immigrants are forced to travel through all of Europe in search of a better life. At the end of this odyssey Steiner dies in Germany while he visits his terminally ill wife for the last time. Kern and Ruth are leaving Paris on a train to Spain.[5]
Film
In 1941, the novel was made into the American film So Ends Our Night starring Fredric March and Margaret Sullavan.[6][7]
References
- ^ Murdoch 2006, p. 99.
- ^ Firda 1988, p. 139.
- ^ Burgess, Greg (14 February 2008). Refuge in the Land of Liberty: France and its Refugees, from the Revolution to the End of Asylum, 1787-1939. Springer. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-230-58266-8. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ^ Firda 1988, p. 111.
- ^ Wagener 1991, p. 56.
- ^ Wagener 1991, p. 123.
- ^ Long, Rose-Carol Washton (2009). Of 'truths Impossible to Put in Words': Max Beckmann Contextualized. Peter Lang. p. 259. ISBN 978-3-03910-704-9. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
Sources
- Firda, Richard Arthur (1988). Erich Maria Remarque: A Thematic Analysis of His Novels. P. Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-0462-2. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- Murdoch, Brian (2006). The Novels of Erich Maria Remarque: Sparks of Life. Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-328-1. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- Wagener, Hans [in German] (1991). Understanding Erich Maria Remarque. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-87249-740-5. Retrieved 11 October 2025.