Three Comrades (novel)

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Three Comrades (German, Drei Kameraden, ISBN 0-449-91242-6) is a novel written in 1937 by the German author Erich Maria Remarque describing the lives of three disillusioned German First World War veterans in 1920 Berlin. The three main characters, Robby, Lenz, and Koester work in an auto-repair shop, racing their beloved car "Karl" in the streets. Robby falls in love with a girl named Patrice who is dying of tuberculosis. His friends help him out as he faces this inevitable end, even as Berlin explodes around them, eventually involving young Nazis who kill Lenz, only to be slain by Koester with the help of a local bartender.

It was made into an American film of the same title in 1938 starring Franchot Tone, Robert Taylor, Robert Young and Margaret Sullavan (see Three Comrades (film)) and is also believed to have been the inspiration for director Michael Cimino's 1978 film The Deer Hunter.