The Good Soldier Svejk
Illustration by Josef Lada
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| Author | Jaroslav Hašek |
|---|---|
| Original title | Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války |
| Translator | Paul Selver, Cecil Parrott, |
| Country | Czechoslovakia |
| Language | Czech |
| Genre | Satire, black comedy |
| Set in | Central and Eastern Europe, 1914–18 |
| Publisher | A. Synek |
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Publication date
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1921–23 |
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Published in English
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1930 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 228 |
| OCLC | P306.2 |
| 891.8635 | |
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Original text
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at Czech |
The Good Soldier Švejk (pronounced [ˈʃvɛjk]), also spelled Schweik, Shveyk or Schwejk) is the abbreviated title of an unfinished satirical/dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hašek. 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. It is the most translated novel of Czech literature.
Švejk has become a byword in the Czech Republic and the novel has been translated into over 50 languages.
Hašek originally intended Švejk to cover a total of six volumes, but had completed only three (and started on the fourth) upon his death from heart failure on January 3, 1923. Excerpts of Der Brave Soldat Schwejk Chapter 1, translated into German by Max Brod, were published two days after Hašek's death in the Prague German language paper, Prager Tagblatt, January 5 1923.
Following Hašek's death, journalist Karel Vaněk was asked by the publisher Adolf Synek to complete the unfinished novel. This continuation was released as Švejk in Russian Captivity and Revolution (Švejk v Ruském Zajetí a Revoluci).
The novel as a whole was originally illustrated (after Hašek's death) by Josef Lada and more recently by Czech illustrator Petr Urban.
The volumes are:
Following Max Brod's first steps, a complete German translation by Grete Reiner in 1926 was largely responsible for the speedy dissemination of Svejk's fame across Europe, and was one of the books burned by the Nazis in 1933. It was said to be one of Bertolt Brecht's favourite books. Grete Reiner-Straschnow was murdered in Auschwitz on 9 March 1944.
The novel is set during World War I in Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic empire full of long-standing ethnic tensions. Fifteen million people died in the War, one million of them Austro-Hungarian soldiers including around 140,000 who were Czechs. Jaroslav Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in The Good Soldier Švejk.
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