Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Spend a night in Lisbon

By Felix Imonti - posted Wednesday, 2 January 2013


Is there someone who has left this world and continues to dwell in your memories? If so, then you need to spend a night in Lisbon.

A Night in Lisbon is a lesser known work from Erich Remarque. All Quiet on the Western Front is his more famous novel and deals with the futility and horrors of war. A Night in Lisbon is concerned with the fragility of immortality.

The story is about a Jewish refugee who has fled from Nazi Germany with his German wife. Her brother, an official in the party is pursuing them across France towards the Spanish border.

Advertisement

Eventually, he captures the main character of the story and plans to dispose of him, except that it is the Jew who strikes first. He kills his brother-in-law, steals the car, and flees with his ill wife to Portugal. He sells the car and has what appears to be a promising future. He has a visa for the United States and safety from the spreading war.

Instead, he goes to the casino in Lisbon where he meets another Jewish refugee. This one, however, has no money or visa. He has lost the last of his funds in the casino and is considering suicide.

He is offered money and the visa to safety to spend the night with the other. No, it is not a homo sexual relationship being offered. The man with the cash and the visa only wants to talk; and that is what they do throughout the night as they go from cafe to cafe.

In the morning, both go to the hotel room where the main character has been staying. The body of his wife is lying in the bed. She has died from her illness.

They prepare her body for burial. The beneficiary of this tale asks why the other is doing what he is doing. He does plan to return to Germany where he knows that his future is certain death, but he no longer cares.

The reason that he wants to share the tale about himself and his wife was to grant her immortality. So long as someone else remembers her, she will continue to exist. When her memory vanishes from the human mind, she will vanish from the universe for all time.

Advertisement

The tale was of particular potency to me because I read it shortly after my first wife died of cancer. I had to remove her name from various documents and clear the closet of her clothes. As I did, I felt as if I were killing her a second time as each act shrank her presence in the world.

The morning after her death, I awakened to the sound of birds on the tree just outside of the window. The traffic was passing as it did every morning. The world had not changed, except that she was no longer a part of it. She was there in my memory and in the memories of those who had known her. Eventually, though, we too would pass and she would vanish into the emptiness of time.

It is for that reason that I was determined to place her name on the cover of a book as a coauthor. That does not rely upon the fragile human memory. Years in the future, there will be a copy of that book on a shelf somewhere. Likely, it has been digitalized and will survive in countless electronic archives. There will be her immortality and I realized as I packed the last of her clothes to send to a shelter for women that it was the final gift that I could give to her.

So, if you have someone to remember, I urge you to spend a night in Lisbon. You will realize that you are not alone in your quest to grant immortality to another.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

3 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Felix Imonti is a retired director of a private equity firm and currently lives in Canada. He has recently published the book Violent Justice, and regularly writes articles in the fields of economics and international politics.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Felix Imonti

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 3 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy