000			03769nam a22003257a 4500
008			161214b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9780241260036
037			_cPurchased _nPrism Books,Kochi
041			_aEnglish
082			_a891.8635 _bHAS/GO
100			_aJaroslav Hasek
245			_aGOOD SOLDIER SVEJK _cHašek, Jaroslav, 1883-1923
250			_a1
260			_aNew Delhi _bPenguin _c2016/01/01
300			_g901
500			_aGood-natured and garrulous, Švejk 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 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. Cecil Parrott's vibrant, unabridged and unbowdlerized translation is accompanied by an introduction discussing Hašek's turbulent life as an anarchist, communist and vagranty, and the Everyman character of Švejk. This edition also includes a guide to Czech names, maps and original illustrations by Josef Ladas. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions Reviews: Graven Images Had to go to Amazon for this - couldn't find it in a bookstore. Classic Eastern European dry wit and ironic fatalism . . . the perfect attitude for an unenthusiastic soldier marching off to a war he doesn't understand, doesn't care to be involved in, and has nothing to gain by participating - except maybe a marble headstone with his name on it, if even that. If you appreciate Eastern European "dark humor" in the vein of Kundera, Wolfe, Gogol, or Bulgakov, you'll love this work. The same can be said for Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," Joseph Heller's "Catch-22," or Mark Twain's hilarious short story "A History of a Campaign that Failed" . . . appreciate the ironic, "dark humor" of these works, get "The Good Soldier Svejk." Highly recommended by this ex-professor of English and lover of sarcastic, raucous, and irreverent literature. A must-read, once perhaps, for any serious military historian or historian of early 20th Century Europe. Hasek's writing style is varied, depending on circumstances (and sobriety), which can make the book a challenge to read sometimes but that's part of the story too. At times absurdly hilarious and often scandalous in its treatment of the royalty, this book was banned throughout much of Europe in the 1930s. While not as powerfully simple as "All Quiet on the Western Front," this book carries a strong message about the waste and folly of military campaigns of the day. I enjoyed reading this book and I passed it along to another historian because, as good as it was, I doubted I'd reread it anytime soon.
650			_aCzech literature
650			_aSoldiers
650			_aWorld War (1914-1918)
650			_aCzechoslovakia
650			_aCanadian drama
650			_aAustria
650			_aPolitics and government
650			_aAustro-Hungarian Monarchy. Heer
700			_aCecil Parrott (tr.)
942			_cLEN
942			_2ddc
942			_2ddc
942			_2ddc
999			_c147560 _d147560