Not a book I would ever have picked up without the prompting of our reading group but what a great treat this book has been. This 750 page, unfinished, Czech classic describes the adventures of Svejk as he takes a circumlocutary route towards the trenches of World War One as an infantryman in the less than united group of forces that then made up the Austrian empire. The idiot Svejk has an anecdote for every occasion and treats every reversal of fortune with a calm and philosophical approach which makes his superiors want to hit him as much as it makes the reader smile. The entire Austrian army is peopled by drunken, self-serving, sacriligious soldiers, many of whose bowel difficulties are described in gratuitous detail. Am I inspiring any one to read this yet? Possibly not, but it really is a thought-provoking, unusual and surprisingly enjoyable read.
Not a book I would ever have picked up without the prompting of our reading group but what a great treat this book has been. This 750 page, unfinished, Czech classic describes the adventures of Svejk as he takes a circumlocutary route towards the trenches of World War One as an infantryman in the less than united group of forces that then made up the Austrian empire. The idiot Svejk has an anecdote for every occasion and treats every reversal of fortune with a calm and philosophical approach which makes his superiors want to hit him as much as it makes the reader smile. The entire Austrian army is peopled by drunken, self-serving, sacriligious soldiers, many of whose bowel difficulties are described in gratuitous detail. Am I inspiring any one to read this yet? Possibly not, but it really is a thought-provoking, unusual and surprisingly enjoyable read. 
4 comments:
Having "walked" with you as you read this book, I am quite surprised by the overall enthusiastic response. Might now buy a copy - or should I borrow yours
JRT
I start reading this tomorrow - well, maybe not that soon. I'm not sure if your review gives enough weight to the book's scatalogical side, but I have bought my copy and, when read, I will build a site like this and post a comment. Could be some time yet.
Shona
Funny, Kate once recommended I read Captain Corelli's Mandolin which I recall also provided some gratuitous bowel movement descriptions. I think I will give this one a miss!
Jenny
Svejk is not such an idiot as some might claim. It's a little more complicated. You might want to visit the www.SvejkCentral.com site and click on every hyperlink ...:-)
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