The Good Soldier Svejk: and His Fortunes in the World War (Penguin Classics)

{ NOV 2021 - Verified ebook for complete book description, cover, table of contents, separation of book (front/ back matter, parts, and chapters), and epub format error checking. } Paperback, 752 pages Published: 1930 Edition: Penguin Classics (2005) - Heinemann eBook? Greatest Books (amalgamated list of best books) Translated by: Paul Selver The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War 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 First World War - although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. Playing cards, getting drunk and becoming a general nuisance, the resourceful Svejk uses all his natural cunning and genial subterfuge to deal with the doctors, police, clergy and officers who chivvy him towards battle. The story of a 'little man' caught in a vast bureaucratic machine, The Good Soldier Svejk combines dazzling wordplay and piercing satire to create a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war. Cecil Parrott's vibrant, unabridged and unbowdlerized translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing Hasek's turbulent life as an anarchist, communist and vagranty, and the Everyman character of Svejk. This edition also includes a guide to Czech names, maps and original illustrations by Josef Ladas. Jaroslav Hasek (1883-1923) Besides this book, the writer wrote more than 2,000 short works, short stories, glosses, sketches, mostly under various pen-names. If you enjoyed The Good Soldier Svejk, you might like Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, also available in Penguin Classics. 'Brilliant ... perhaps the funniest novel ever written'George Monbiot 'Hasek was a comic genius'Sunday Times 'Hasek was a humorist of the highest calibre....A later age will perhaps put him on a level with Cervantes and Rabelais' Max Brod

In The Good Soldier Svejk, celebrated Czech writer and anarchist Jaroslav Hasek combined dazzling wordplay and piercing satire in a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war.

Good-natured and garrulous, Svejk becomes the Austrian army’s most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of World War I—although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. Playing cards and getting drunk, he uses all his cunning and genial subterfuge to deal with the police, clergy, and officers who chivy him toward battle. Cecil Parrott’s vibrant translation conveys the brilliant irreverence of this classic about a hapless Everyman caught in a vast bureaucratic machine.

• Introduction discusses Hasek's turbulent life as an anarchist, communist, and vagrant
• Includes a pronunciation guide to Czech names, three maps, and the original illustrations by Josef Lada
• The unabridged and unbowdlerized translation

"Good-natured and garrulous, Švejk becomes the Austrian army's most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of the First World War - although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it. Playing cards, getting drunk and becoming a general nuisance, the resourceful Švejk uses all his natural cunning and genial subterfuge to deal with the doctors, police, clergy and officers who chivvy him towards battle. The story of a 'little man' caught in a vast bureaucratic machine, The Good Soldier Švejk combines dazzling wordplay and piercing satire to create a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war"--P. [4] of cover **The Good Soldier Švejk** (pronounced [ˈʃvɛjk]) is an unfinished satirical dark comedy novel by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged man who pretends to be enthusiastic to serve Austria-Hungary in World War I. The Good Soldier Švejk is the abbreviated title; the original Czech title of the work is **Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války**, literally **The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War**. The book is the most translated novel of Czech literature, having been translated into over 50 languages. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier_%C5%A0vejk))