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?
2 authors picked The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
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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