The anti-war message that is the novel Nothing new in the westErich Maria Remarque's novel contains some of the most harrowing sentences about the cruelty of war ever written. Published in Catalan in 1930 (Edicions Aymà, translated by Joan Alavedra), Chapter VII reads: "The horror of the brow sinks into the deepest recesses of ourselves as soon as we turn our backs on it; we mock it with ignoble and ferocious jokes. [...] the troops, who organize dances as soon as they leave the firing zone, it's indecent talk."