Дуже добре памʼятала першу частину, і фрагментовано решту, і не дивно, бо вперше читала у 2017 якщо вірити ґудрідз (хоча деякі уривки знаю напамʼять бо таке вже в мене виховання з малечку). Навіть не знаю що ще сказати, крім - смішно, сумно, чудово.

The Czech military banned this novel ('filth'); the Nazis burned every copy of it they could find. Joseph Heller later said if not for Svejk there would have been no Catch-22.

I should add that as well as one of the funniest novels ever written, it’s also one of the rudest. It savages aristos, army brass, organised religion and idiot bosses without mercy.

But you wouldn’t want to read THAT, now, would you...?

A vastly amusing, compulsive read, Hašek's masterpiece is, moreover, a brutal satire of humanity's foulest self-inflicted plagues - war, organized religion and a savagely oppressive State - that retains too this day its power to shock and disturb. As for Josef Švejk, perhaps no other Everyman or antihero was ever so endearing. An unforgettable book and one of the few classics (Rabelais also comes to mind) that can be consumed with such greedy, giddy delight.

"Nowadays it's fun being locked up," Švejk continued with relish. "There's no quartering, no Spanish boots. We've got bunks, a table, a bench. We're not all squashed together like sardines: we get soup; they give us bread and bring us a jug of water. We've got our latrines right under our snouts. You can see progress in everything."

Jaroslav Hašek was a born practical joker and mischief-maker. What better author to write a comic novel that's also a war novel than this renowned literary Czech hoaxer. As Milan Kundera observed, in Homer and Tolstoy war had a comprehensible meaning and people fighting the war knew what they were fighting for. With Hašek things are much different: soldiers like Švejk go off to battle without the foggiest idea why they are fighting - and even more alarming, without even wanting or caring to find out.

The Good Soldier Švejk is a classic work of European literature, one of the most popular and beloved novels ever published. Memorable scenes and quotable lines, as the one cited above, pop out on every single one of its 750 pages.

Penguin Classics is to be commended for Cecil Parrott's lively English translation and also including a Guide to the Pronunciation of Czech Names, maps, Josef Lada illustrations and the translator's extensive Introduction providing biographical notes on the author as well as social, cultural, historical and literary context for the novel.

The first chapter starts off with a bang - the shooting of the Archduke Ferdinand, nephew of the Austrian Emperor, and his wife at Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist. Not exactly history's peaches and cream event as this bang-bang-bang propelled Europe into the First World War. What follows gives a reader a real bang for their buck, mostly of the comic variety taking the form of what I term a "Švejk moment." Here are a four such"Švejk moments" I count among my personal favorites:

1. Thrown in jail at police headquarters with a bunch of other anti-government conspirators, labeled as such for things like not reading the newspaper about the recent events in Sarajevo, one shocked man cries out, "I'm innocent!" to which Švejk replies, "Jesus Christ was innocent too and all the same they crucified him. No one anywhere has ever worried about a man being innocent. Grin and bear it."

2. The government official in the pub who took Švejk off to prison promised to return with armed guards so he could arrest the pub owner since he let flies shit on a portrait of the Archduke he had hanging in his pub. When the pub owner is thrown in the cell with Švejk and the other men, he instantly becomes despondent. Švejk shakes his hand cordially and says: "I knew that gentleman would keep his word when he said that they'd come for you. Punctiliousness like that is a good thing"

3. Švejk's landlady is beside herself with upset and wants sympathy. She tells Švejk she is going to jump out the window, to which the good soldier replies: "If you want to jump out the window, go into the sitting room. I've opened the window for you. I wouldn't advise you to jump out of the kitchen window, because you'd fall on the rose bed in the garden, damage the bushes and have to pay for them. From the window in the sitting-room you'll fall beautifully on the pavement and if you're lucky you'll break your neck."

4. A policeman attempts to trap Švejk by buying dogs from the good soldier. He keeps the dogs in a room without feeding them. Some time thereafter, upon entering the room, the dogs tear him to pieces. When Švejk hears of this most tragic event, he says: "It gives me a headache to think how they are going to put all his pieces together when the day of the last judgement comes."

As Cecil Parrott states in his Introduction and a number of other literary critics have noted, a more complete appreciation of Jaroslav Hašek’s novel forces us to fathom Švejk’s character which is complex and multifaceted and knotty . Švejk is quick to acknowledge with pride that he received a military discharge for patent idiocy but, as we come to learn the more we read, Švejk is nobody’s fool. Although he frequently plays the dunce, it becomes increasingly clear Švejk is keenly analytic, knowledgeable, well-read and possesses a deep understanding of human nature.

What adds much depth to the tale is all in the contrast: from beginning to end Švejk remains calm, almost angelic; his eyes glow with innocence and tenderness, his face radiates kindness, gentleness and light; he speaks his words with such sincerity and honesty that those around him, even the most hardheaded and militaristic, are taken by his presence. Meanwhile individuals in power like the police and military officers are characterized as selfish, vulgar, uncouth, loutish, even brutal, sadistic and inhumane.

Returning to the character of Švejk, there still remains the issue: to what degree is Švejk at one with his glowing innocence? Or, stated another way, how much of what we read of Švejk's adventures is a matter of the good soldier playacting in order to manipulate those around him? Readers are left to decide for themselves. However, one thing is clear: a sweet, kindly, honest Švejk from the tip of his cap to the laces of his boots makes for a story both charming and heartwarming.

So here we are at the outbreak of the First World War and the countries of Europe are poised to swing into action. Join the army, muster up your courage and go to the front. What adventure! Be a hero off the pages of Walter Scott or Alexandre Dumas. But as thousands of young men quickly discovered - this is the twentieth century, complete with machine guns, poison gas, flamethrowers, mortars, tanks and aircraft. The chances of returning from the front in one piece physically and mentally are slim to none.

Yet inept governments and bumbling military leaders pressed on. What was needed in such a world gone mad was an author capable of stinging satire, creating a hero more anti-hero than hero. What was needed was Jaroslav Hašek and his The Good Soldier Švejk.


Jaroslav Hašek (1883 -1923) - "Great times call for great men," was Hašek's ironic comment about Švejk.

من اين كتاب رو از پيج آقاي يزداني خرم كشف كردم! اصلا اسمش رو قبلا نشنيده بودم، توي اينستاگرام هم كه سرچ كردم فقط تئاترش بود و توضيحات يكسان كتابفروشي ها و خب با توجه به قطور بودنش و اينكه انگار كمتر كسي خونده اش و نظري راجع بهش نديدم جايي ، شك داشتم به خوندنش ولي همون كپشن آقاي يزداني خرم مشتاقم كرد بخونمش (همون قضيه مش قاسم كه صدبار گفتم از اون روز

کتاب جذابی‌ست و نوع طنزجالبی هم دارد، اما حقیقتا حوصله سر بر می‌شود. در مورد خود کتاب دیگران به اندازه کافی نوشته‌اند اما من دوست دارم در مورد ترجمه چند جمله‌ای بنویسم.

ترجمه‌ی نسخه‌ای که من خواندم بسیار خوب، روان و جذاب است. با متن انگلیسی مقایسه کردم و فوق العاده صحیح ترجمه شده است، حتی شعرها هم به شکلی تنظیم شده‌اند که کاملا موزون باشند. اگر قصد خواندن این کتاب را دارین حتما همین ترجمه را بخوانید.

Joseph Heller elmondása szerint sosem írta volna meg A 22-es csapdáját, ha nem olvasta volna Hasek regényét; a regényt, ahol egy részegen álomba szenderülő szereplő fejét éppen a Decameron egy példányára hajtja, tévedésből, mivel a Bibliának véli… Nekem pedig az Ezeregy éjszaka meséit idézi még fel a könyv szerkezete, az egymásból egymásba nyíló anekdotális történetek, az ezek kaleidoszkópján át (talán) meglepő élességgel ábrázolt élet és társadalom. Ami leginkább figyelemreméltó ebben (és egyébként) a (többi felsorolt) könyvben, ahogy a történetekből kibomlik a humor, és nevetség tárgyává válik minden. Ráadásul mindezt a legtárgyilagosabb fapofával adja elő Svejk, akinek magyar hangja Réz Ádám által lett emlékezetessé, a közös monarchiás nyelvezet bravúros kiaknázásával.
Mindenesetre egyedi figura Svejk, és Hasek kétségtelenül nagyot alkotott egy megunhatatlan műfaji hagyományon belül. A szerencsés idióta, aki egyben életművész, krónikás (vagy krónikus) mesélő, a maga mániákus adomázásával mindent folyton kontextualizál és példálozva is ellenpontoz. Két lábon járó önellentmondás a derék katona: jámbor engedelmességgel követi imbecilis és szadista feletteseinek minden agyament utasítását, miközben saját bumburnyák együgyűsége maszkja mögött egy buddha lakozik: a bolond, akinél normálisabb nincs az egész hadigépezetben. Valami hátborzongató flegmával hárítja el Svejk a túlélését fenyegető veszélyeket, amelyek mind az általa szolgált cs. kir. erőszakszervezet felől üldözik: külső ellenség nem is jelenik meg a könyvben, és persze nincs is rá szükség.
Talán nem meglepő, hogy az anarchista Hasek az embertelen és totalitárius elnyomás kitörési pontjaként épp a belülről bomlasztást, a szubverziót jelöli ki. Az intézmények ismertetése és teljesen hihető, ám kontextuálisan is fokozottan szatirizálása meglehetősen részletes, az állam, az egyház és az erkölcs gyakorlatilag minden konvenciója és álszentsége porig rombolja magát már a frontvonalak mögött. A társadalmi rend így lényegében kitermeli saját paródiáját, hiszen Svejk a maga jóhiszemű, humánus alázatával és demonstratívan kompromisszummentes patriotizmusával a világháborús monarchia normáinak formálisan tökéletesen megfelel. Emellett persze patent hülye, erről papírja is van, bár az természetesen nem menti föl semmilyen kötelesség vagy szolgálat alól. A derék reumatikus Svejk eleve veteránként indul harcba a császárért, tolószékben, mankóval. Másrészt feltűnően szeretetreméltó és normális, miközben a háborús erőfeszítést vezénylő és végrehajtó szereplőgárda többnyire különféle dühöngési stádiumokban levő őrültekből áll. Annyira életszagú, közérthető és abszurdan realisztikus az egész, hogy a rengeteg és többé-kevésbé összefüggéstelen adoma és anekdota, lódítás, konfabulálás és fikció egy bölcs bolond szájából összeáll: a valóság meséje így változik dehumanizált és nyomasztó őrületből valamiféle teljesebb igazsággá.

Ależ szkoda, że losy Szwejka ucinają się tak nagle, niemal w pół zdania. Bardzo jestem ciekaw, jak Hašek wyobrażał sobie zakończenie wojny w swojej satyrze. Spędziłem z wojakiem kawał czasu, przeżyłem mnóstwo parsknięć i uśmiechu, ale też uznania dla myśli i czarnego humoru autora, który musiał być nie lada postacią w swoich czasach.

Mine is a 1943 edition of this by Penguin Books. The pages are brittle so I wasn't able to dog-ear, but all the pages are intact. Sewn-up and not merely glued, only four pages were detached. As the war was ongoing then, its back cover advertises "Penguin Specials" with titles like: "Modern Battle," "American vs. Germans," "How Russia Prepared," "How the Jap Army Fights," "New Soldier's Handbook," "Aircraft Recognition," "New Ways of War," etc. Another recommended title is "Guerrilla Warfare" with an introduction which partly states:

"Hundreds of thousands of American, Canadian, and British fighting men are familiar with this book and consider it the single most helpful text on the fine art of exterminating Nazis and Japs. In short, the book tells:
"Why regular soldiers, state and home guardsmen should learn guerrilla tactics.
"Why guerrilla warfare can be of immense value to the United Nations (as it is right now in Russia and Yugoslavia) and why it cannot be used by the Axis...."

Nowadays, Penguin pocketbooks like this carry reproductions of paintings on their front covers. Here, the book's front cover only has a cartoon illustration showing the main character (as the illustrator imagined him to be) and a stereotyped Prussian officer (with his saber and moustache). Underneath, is a supposed short description of the book:

"More than the most hilarious of all war books, this is the story of Schweik, the slippery-tongued Czech conscript who constantly outsmarts his German officers. The epic of a simple man whose native wit makes him invulnerable to the rigid methods of German militarism."

Penguin Books got it all wrong. This is an ANTI-WAR novel. German officers were caricatured, lampooned, ridiculed and put in a bad light here but it was only because this was set during the first world war and was written by a Czech who had fought for the Austro-Hungarian empire in a losing war, was captured, and had spent several years in Russian prison camps. But it clearly portrays the utter pointlessness of the systematic carnage suffered by both sides of the conflict. If I were a soldier in ANY war and I had been given this book to read during lulls in the fighting I'll probably end up either being a deserter or an assassin of my own generals.

The good soldier Schweik is Josef Schweik, seemingly a buffoon who would, without much hesitation, go meet a soldier's death like he is just taking a stroll in the park. His horse sense and luck, however, save him many times from such fate. This stark contrast with his guileless innocence and the horrors of war it confronts made this a truly memorable read for me.

Well thank goodness that's over!

It's not that it was bad, it was that it was so overly long and repetitive that the mild humour became overshadowed by the 'oh here we go again' as the anti hero launched into one of his innumerable tales about dog only knows what until my eyes glazed over, my brain melted out my ears and I thought of about 10 other books that I could be reading right now instead of this.

The seemingly brainless Svejk who was called up to 'do his duty' in WWI spent all of his time winding up the more pompous of his fellow men (usually officers and bureaucrats) and the occasional woman too. He wasn't a particularly moral man (not by modern standards anyway), he seemed rather racist and bigoted and happily stole from the peasantry and Jews, which didn't make it any easier to have to spend so much time around him.

The author was an anarchist and the book was a seemingly incoherent mess which actually concealed a definite underlying structure. It was pretty clever and the jokes and stories were pretty good. For about the first 300 pages or so. By then it was beginning to pall and there was still 400 pages to go. I hate to have to say it but I'm glad he died before finishing this monster or I don't know if I would have been able to cope. I'm shifting uneasily in my chair just thinking about it!

Tokios knygos kaip ši tiesiog žvaigždutėmis nesimatuoja, jis tiesiog yra. Esu skaičiui šią knygą ne kartą, o dabar klausiausi Audiotekos įrašo, kuriuo galiu tik pasodžiaugti, nes yra labai profesionalus ir smagus.O jau kapeliono Kaco pamokslo ir leitenanto Dubo: "Tu manęs nepažįsti" įgarsinimas virtuoziškas. Labai gera, kad gali gauti tokią sveiko humoro dozę kasdieniniame gyvenime, kur Šveikų nėra mažai.

05/11/2022 (***)

Romanzo molto celebre, in particolare nei paesi dell'Europa dell'est appartenenti alla sfera del fu Impero austro-ungarico. Hasek utilizza il protagonista, il buon soldato Scveick appunto, per fornire al lettore una panoramica critica sulla società asburgica (ceca, soprattutto), sulla guerra mondiale e, più in particolare, sul mondo militare.
L'affresco generale è quello di una casta chiusa, ignorante, del tutto incompetente e totalmente priva di empatia verso la truppa: si tratta di satira, chiaramente, quindi con ritratti esasperati, deformati e estremizzati, ma che possono essere rivisti in tutti i testi e memoriali sulla guerre, novecentesche in particolare (sia i più seri e drammatici che i più ironici e faceti).

Nel colossale disastro che fu la grande guerra, in particolare per l'Austria-Ungheria di cui segnò il collasso e la sparizione, risalta la figura del protagonista, Josef Scveik, le cui peripezie rappresentano il fil rouge del romanzo.

Scveik è, all'apparenza, un simpatico bonaccione del tutto ingenuo e inadatto a stare al mondo, disponibile a accettare passivamente qualsiasi ordine (fra i molti assurdi, prevaricatori e severissimi che arrivano dal corpo ufficiali) e a immolarsi beatamente per la gloria dell'imperatore. In realtà, leggendo, si intuisce che Scveik sia tutt'altro che lo sprovveduto che vorrebbe far credere, ma uno che ha capito come - una volta finiti dentro gli incomprensibili e illogici meccanismi della macchina militare moderna - non resta che lasciarsi trascinare dalla corrente, eseguendo alla lettera gli ordini ricevuti, mostrando in tal modo in maniera limpida l'insensatezza degli ordini, la stupidità delle gerarchie, la tragica incomprensibilità - ai limiti della commedia - del mondo militare.

Essendo inutile resistere, Sveick si adagia e si lascia trasportare, senza mai mettersi di traverso (apparentemente), eseguendo alla lettera gli ordini ricevuti con conseguenze tragicomiche che mandano regolarmente ai gangheri i propri superiori. Le avventure di Sveick sono infarcite di situazioni assurde e personaggi bizzarri, condite dalla tendenza del nostro a lunghi racconti totalmente scollegati dalla situazione, in cui l'ascoltatore regolarmente finisce per perdersi e non capirci più nulla.

La gag funziona, ma ripetuta ennesime volte finisce per appesantire molto la lettura; analogamente, alcune situazioni sono infarcite di troppi personaggi e troppe scene, alcune delle quali di poco interesse, che allungano il brodo in maniera eccessiva. Considerando che il romanzo è di 850 pagine fitte fitte, che manca la conclusione (Hasek morirà prima di terminare il libro) e che a pag. 846 Sveick e il suo reggimento sono ancora in marcia verso il fronte, si può presumere che le intenzioni dell'autore fossero di scrivere un libro logorroico, un'eruzione vulcanica di contenuti tragicomici. Un pò troppo per il lettore: per me almeno.

Resta un libro divertente, esplicativo di cosa fossero le gerarchie militarie (e ecclesiastiche - sul tema, Hasek lancia strali pesantissimi, rappresentando cappellani militari agnostici, beoni e dediti a ogni vizio) del primo Novecento in Europa. Alleggerito e raffinato lo avrei apprezzato di più.