The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War
Book description
The inspiration for such works as Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Jaroslav Hasek's black satire The Good Soldier Svejk is translated with an introduction by Cecil Parrott in Penguin Classics.
Good-natured and garrulous, Svejk becomes the Austro-Hungarian army's most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of the…
Why read it?
4 authors picked The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I first read this book exactly 50 years ago, back in 1974, when I was 26. Ever since then, I have reread Jaroslav Hašek's masterpiece every single year, always in February. It is the gloomiest month of the year in Europe when our tonus is at its lowest, and we desperately need something to cheer us up.
The hilarious story of the good soldier is precisely that “injection” of optimism, serenity, élan vital that helps me make it through the last winter months till the arrival of the Spring. Although I already know by heart many passages from Svejk, I…
From Zoran's list on literary works that I keep rereading.
There are loads of good novels warning of the dangers of inequality and wealthy megalomaniacs, typically set against the backdrop of one of the many monstrous things that the super-rich have done to the rest of us throughout history.
In my view, the First World War was the worst of the lot. Society has moved on a bit since then, but I don’t doubt that the billionaire class that runs the modern world would have us all marching into the machine guns if they thought they could get away with it. Hasek’s good-humored but poignant tale of a Czech soldier…
From Luke's list on wanting to eat the rich.
It was thick book, a satire, and new translation from Czech, and I loved the illustrations, the setting, and that the new translation was restoring all of the salty language excised from the original/bowdlerized translation.
It’s the story of a simple dog breeder, presumed to be an imbecile (an acceptable term at the time), drafted into the army and his adventures making his way to WWI—always outwitting his (imbecilic) superiors and betters along the way.
It’s satirical, hilarious, often scatological, and the best part is that the book ends (because the author died) before he gets to the actual war,…
From Tom's list on satires with one thing in common.
The rollicking adventures of a dimwit recruit in the armies of World War I. A classic demonstration of why military intelligence is a contradiction in terms—and indirectly, one of the greatest anti-war novels of all time. Yet you can’t stop smiling at the poor oaf and laughing with him at the outrageous things that go on in times of conflict.
From David's list on funniest stories ever translated into English.
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