Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk is an absolutely essential read, it has to be in the list of the top 100 books to read before one departs this planet!
Not only is it hilariously funny it's also full of the tribulations of life and how the system—bureaucracies—here the army—lands one in absurd and unexpected situations.
It's a great shame Hašek died so young (he was a great observer of human nature).
Do yourself a real favor, read it or get an audio book.
Švejk is what I call a "scalable" book. It works for readers of almost any level. The first time I read it I was maybe 8 years old and had a lot of fun, even though I completely missed most of the nuance.
Yes, they are only hilarious. Švejk on the other hand is in my opinion much more serious. One Czech literary critic call it even “Kafka by other means”. Yes, Hašek was a satiric writer, so that’s how he wrote, but Švejk is IMHO actually a serious book about the horror of a human being liquidated by the impersonal power of modern society.
I would add One Hundred Years of Solitude to the list. Probably the book that impacted me the most of all the books I've read. I just can't recommend it enough
I think if you like one, you like the other. I think the Svejk book have a more innocent tone and is less cynical. But I was way to young when I read them to have a "deep" understanding of the contexts.
For those that loved the book. Hasek also wrote an autobiography, which is even funnier than the life of Svejk. It's definitely made up quite a bit, but the stories in it are great. I cannot find english title ( it might have been not printed ), but transleting from polish it's called "3.5 beer".
Spoilers!!! Stories include:
- One time he wrote to paper called animals and unfortunately run out of animals to write, so he just started inventing them. It ended up in year long trip to Australia paid by some wealthy women who really wanted to get her own "Tasmanian Vampire"
- Russian general invades city. Hasek knows the best way to stay alive is to have a drink with him. They get very drunk and general ask Hasek what's his biggest problem. Hasek says that the fact that people cannot read. Next day he wakes up to bunch of posters around the city saying that whoever will not be able to read by noon tomorrow will be executed.
Remember that some autobiographical themes are used in the Shvejk book itself.
In particular, the volunteer Marek had been an editor for an Animal World journal, where he published articles about made up animals. And even entered a public debate with some ornithologist who questioned his articles. That's in the chapter Skvejk's Adventures in Kyralyhida.
If I remember correctly, Hashek was also selling dogs in real life (Shvejk's profession in the book).
One of the very few books that literally had me rolling on the floor laughing -- not exaggerating for effect here, I have in fact fell from the sofa on the floor and started laughing until I wheezed and couldn't breathe. Especially the segment with the military preacher whom Švejk was an assistant of -- and when he had to get him home after he got dead-drunk. My gods, I can almost remember how much my tummy hurt back then!
That being said, all the stuff about censorship and getting arrested for "treason" (basically for a political joke at the bar) hit too close to home for me, and I am from a former Soviet block country, and I found those pieces very depressing. Still, I went through all books -- several times -- and enjoyed them a lot. The author really captured a lot of absurdities very well.
> all the stuff about censorship and getting arrested for "treason" (basically for a political joke at the bar) hit too close to home for me, and I am from a former Soviet block country, and I found those pieces very depressing.
You may probably find it curious that Hashek ended up being a bolshevik and a red army commissar.
I would never endorse this but I also kind of understand: it's very easy to switch sides when you're seeing your own government face-plant all the time and never get anything meaningful done. That's one of the ways the ruling class wins: a new "promising" system gets promoted, it points at the mistakes of the current system and the people, tired of all the crap, end up voting for the new stuff, only to discover it's even worse... :(
That has happened quite a lot in history, sadly (also I am aware that in the case of the USSR there was no voting involved, it was just a figure of speech).
It's unfortunate but it's often the case when someone talks about a given ideal such as being critical of censorship, authoritarianism, etc. They often mean:
He did a stint with the Bolsheviks, but abandoned them eventually - and this was before writing "Švejk", so that might have well factored into the latter.
Same here, I was in tears I was laughing that much. I found it funny because I recognized those silly maddening situations from my own life. We all experience them but it takes a master like Hašek to remind us about how absurd they really are.
That being said, all the stuff about censorship and getting arrested for "treason" (basically for a political joke at the bar)
I think you didn't get it right. The joke is that they go out of their way to not say anything offensive, knowing that the situation is tense, but they get arrested anyway.
Strange that you're saying this because that's exactly how I understood it: people were extremely mindful of what they're saying but even with that you had "agents" in disguise who really stretched the definition of "treason", many times over, just to be able to do a few arrests daily. In the books it was also shown that the mere fact of singing along a song that praised their emperor was also grounds for being arrested (which was quite absurd because praising that guy was a requirement anyway).
From all the books I've read, the good soldier Švejk stands out as one of the most memorable characters. I love the style of the writing, how it shows the absurdity of bureaucracy, war, and society through the person of Švejk, perpetually drinking and getting into trouble, innocent like a dove and wise as a serpent, he always finds his way out of any predicament, while having his fun. He represents an aspect of the indomitable spirit of humanity and humor.
The illustrations by Josef Lada are wonderful too, they are essential to the reading experience and imaginary world of the book.
I read it in English, but some knowledge of Czech culture and geography (towns and Prague neighborhoods) added to the enjoyment of the book.
The one I read was translated by Cecil Parrott (in 1973), but I learned there's a new translation (1997~) by a native Czech speaker: The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, translated by Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadloň, in three volumes.
A classic. The movie versions are available on YouTube with English subtitles but it's not the same. A part of the charm of Švejk played by Rudolf Hrušínský is the way he talks and that gets lost if you don't speak Czech.
I think an entrepreneur should establish a tour in the Czech lands, to walk in the footsteps of švejk as of when he drank away the money for his train ticket sending his company to the front, thereby forcing him to zig zag across the land in the hope of rejoining them. It will be the Czech Camino de Santiago, and one must carry a pipe and a bottle of slivovic as they go.
>I think an entrepreneur should establish a tour in the Czech lands, to walk in the footsteps of švejk as of when he drank away the money for his train ticket sending his company to the front, thereby forcing him to zig zag across the land in the hope of rejoining them. It will be the Czech Camino de Santiago, and one must carry a pipe and a bottle of slivovic as they go.
Pretty sure I've seen ads for exactly that kind of tour.
Might be a false memory. But in any case, it's my goal to do that sort of pilgrimage when I get to properly spend time in Czechia.
I was introduced to the character by way of Bertolt Brecht's Schweyk im zweiten Weltkrieg (Švejk in the Second World War)[0], which was meant as a sequel to Hašek's original and which I read in school- unfortunately too long ago to remember much of anything but Švejk's good-natured bumbling.
We also read Biedermann und die Brandstifter (The Fire Raisers/The Arsonists)[1], also by Brecht, which I remember somewhat more vividly. The main character is an ordinary guy who thinks he could never be fooled by arsonists, but allows a pair of them to fill his home with flammable material and ends up aiding them in his own demise. I worry that we have failed to learn the lessons of this kind of Nachkriegsliteratur (Post-WWII literature).
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Not only is it hilariously funny it's also full of the tribulations of life and how the system—bureaucracies—here the army—lands one in absurd and unexpected situations.
It's a great shame Hašek died so young (he was a great observer of human nature).
Do yourself a real favor, read it or get an audio book.
Vanity Fair by Thackeray
Mr Johnson by Joyce Cary
Lavengro and Romany Rye by George Borrow
The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan
Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies by Douglas Hofstadter et al.
Identity Crisis by Ben Elton
It's the Catch-22 of WW1.
A bit more gruesome and obscene, both less serious and much darker than Catch-22, and highlighting a wider scope of social (and military) issues.
Rather I thought Catch-22 to be a so-so imitation of Švejk.
Then again I've been re-reading Švejk since childhood.
Similarly, how you can tell when Hasek dies before finishing Švejk and his friend takes over with the ending, the jokes just fall off a bit.
Svejk is generally funnier, IMO
Spoilers!!! Stories include:
- One time he wrote to paper called animals and unfortunately run out of animals to write, so he just started inventing them. It ended up in year long trip to Australia paid by some wealthy women who really wanted to get her own "Tasmanian Vampire"
- Russian general invades city. Hasek knows the best way to stay alive is to have a drink with him. They get very drunk and general ask Hasek what's his biggest problem. Hasek says that the fact that people cannot read. Next day he wakes up to bunch of posters around the city saying that whoever will not be able to read by noon tomorrow will be executed.
In particular, the volunteer Marek had been an editor for an Animal World journal, where he published articles about made up animals. And even entered a public debate with some ornithologist who questioned his articles. That's in the chapter Skvejk's Adventures in Kyralyhida.
If I remember correctly, Hashek was also selling dogs in real life (Shvejk's profession in the book).
"Then, see you after the war, at six o’clock in the evening." Vodička said.
"Better come at six-thirty to be safe if I’m late," Švejk replied.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:U_Kalicha_(Pra...
Context: "U Kalicha" refers to a bar in Prague (translation: At the Chalice).
The wikimedia link takes one to a photo of the bar today.
That being said, all the stuff about censorship and getting arrested for "treason" (basically for a political joke at the bar) hit too close to home for me, and I am from a former Soviet block country, and I found those pieces very depressing. Still, I went through all books -- several times -- and enjoyed them a lot. The author really captured a lot of absurdities very well.
You may probably find it curious that Hashek ended up being a bolshevik and a red army commissar.
That has happened quite a lot in history, sadly (also I am aware that in the case of the USSR there was no voting involved, it was just a figure of speech).
"I don't like THAT censorship. Mine is fine."
Same here, I was in tears I was laughing that much. I found it funny because I recognized those silly maddening situations from my own life. We all experience them but it takes a master like Hašek to remind us about how absurd they really are.
I think you didn't get it right. The joke is that they go out of their way to not say anything offensive, knowing that the situation is tense, but they get arrested anyway.
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The illustrations by Josef Lada are wonderful too, they are essential to the reading experience and imaginary world of the book.
The one I read was translated by Cecil Parrott (in 1973), but I learned there's a new translation (1997~) by a native Czech speaker: The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, translated by Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadloň, in three volumes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI9OKaz6yQ0
Pretty sure I've seen ads for exactly that kind of tour.
Might be a false memory. But in any case, it's my goal to do that sort of pilgrimage when I get to properly spend time in Czechia.
We also read Biedermann und die Brandstifter (The Fire Raisers/The Arsonists)[1], also by Brecht, which I remember somewhat more vividly. The main character is an ordinary guy who thinks he could never be fooled by arsonists, but allows a pair of them to fill his home with flammable material and ends up aiding them in his own demise. I worry that we have failed to learn the lessons of this kind of Nachkriegsliteratur (Post-WWII literature).
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweik_in_the_Second_World_Wa...
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fire_Raisers_(play)