Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

The Good Soldier Švejk (pronounced [ˈʃvɛjk]) by Jaroslav Hašek (752 pages)

After graduation, Hašek became an employee of Slavia Bank but soon began to earn his living exclusively in journalism and literature. At that time he also met Czech anarchists. He began to lead a bohemian and vagrant life. Together with his brother Bohuslav, he walked through, among other places, Slovakia and western Galicia (now in Poland). Stories from these trips were published by Jaroslav Hašek in Národní listy. In 1907 he became editor of the anarchist magazine Komuna and was briefly imprisoned for his work.

The Good Soldier Švejk 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.

I know several of our Members have already started this read. Who is reading and what do you think so far?

I've been reading a chapter a day with great illustrations by Josef Lada.
It's a fun read so far.

My copy has arrived, but I haven't yet started. Looking forward to it, though.

It looks like a fun read John!

I just started it tonight. I like that there are maps and Czech pronunciation tips in the front of the book. I have the Penguin Classics edition, translated by Cecil Parrott. I hope I can stick with it! I’m not used to reading really long classics.

I've read 7 chapters and there was a scene that had me laughing out loud. That bodes well.

I’m also reading it slowly. Maybe 10 pages a day. I’m finding it be hilarious. A great pick.

I started reading it last year and the continuous slapstick comedy began to grow old. I’m hoping reading it with a group will make it an enjoyable read and help me to finish. Looking forward to everyone’s comments!

When I read The Little World of Don Camillo which also had humorous vignettes, I found that it got tiresome when I tried to read too many pages a day. When I decided to read just one or two vignettes each day, I found that I enjoyed it much more. It was nice to have a dose of humor each morning; it felt like reading a newspaper comic strip each day.
My plan is to treat this book similarly and like Chad read no more than 10 to 20 pages a day. But unlike Don Camillo, this is a long book so it will take many months to get through.
I will start with Rosemarie's approach of one chapter a day through the first 15 chapters of Part I which covers the first 218 pages. In Parts II, III and IV, the chapters get a bit longer so there will be some chapters that take me 3 days.

I've taken to reading two chapters a day if they are short, but I'm still in Part 1.

Sounds like good advice from Brian and Rosemarie, so I've started today with the same approach.

Picked up my copy at the library today but I'm not sure they will let me keep it for the year it is going to take me to read it! I think I'll try the slow approach too - I just finished the Introduction - and be sure I own a copy before this one has to go back to the library. I'm of Czech descent on my mother's side so this book has always been of interest to me in that respect, but other than a one week visit to the beautiful city of Prague in 2001 when my daughter did her study abroad there, I can't claim any inside knowledge of Czech history or language, sadly. But I am happy to finally be reading this one.

I've been in Prague once and it's nice to have actually visited the city before reading the book, even though Prague has become much bigger!

Karen how exciting that we have this read. Just for you! :)
I hope you enjoy the read and best wishes find a book to own. That would be nice addition to your library too!

I've just finished the first part. Schwejk and his officer are off to the front to fight the Serbs. Not the safest place to be.

An interesting fact: one of the minor side characters is a hops grower whose business is adversely affected by the war. Some breweries were destroyed, and others are in countries on the opposing side of the war.

I'm off to the Drumhead Mass with Svejk and Chaplain Otto Katz.

Katz is a pretty disturbing character. I remembered reading something in the Introduction about slamming the Catholic church so as Katz careened further and further off the rails I went back to find it.

"Some of the episodes dealing with the army chaplain can hardly be said to embellish the work. Hasek was consumed with such a bitter hatred of the Church and religion that in this book and many of his other stories he shot wide of the mark and the reader soon becomes surfeited, if not nauseated."

I am definitely both surfeited and nauseated!

Svejk and Katz are currently trying to get the folding field altar back from the teacher and the church the teacher donated it to and that has been an amusing escapade. The description of the altar, manufactured by a Jewish firm in Vienna, had me laughing out loud.

In my mind, every chapter could have easily been a classic Monty Python sketch.

So true, Chad.
I'm reading the chapter called Schwejks Budweiser Anabasis(in German). Many parts had me laughing out loud-some of it is dark humour but lots of it does ressemble Monty Python sketches.

I've just finished the second part. I wish I knew a bit more about the politics of the time as the actual message of the book would make more sense to me, but it is an interesting read either way. Poor Lieutenant Lukas with Svejk as his cross to bear.

The title of the third part does not bode well for our cast of characters; The Glorious Licking. Although I suppose through some miracle it could be them doing the licking. I guess we will see.

I'm almost at the same part you are, Karen.
I'll give you a very brief historical overview.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire covered quite a lot of Eastern Europe and were generally not popular in the non-Austrian countries. And even Hungary thought they were getting a raw deal. So they have all these soldiers fighting in a war started by somebody else, and aren't too tickled about it.
In the past we read two novels that dealt with Hungary and Bosnia, They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy and The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić which are great novels and also deal with the history of those times(and more).

Rosemarie wrote: "In the past we read two novels that dealt with Hungary and Bosnia, They Were Counted by Miklós Bánffy and The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić which are great novels and also deal with the history of those times(and more)..."

Besides those 2, I also learned much about the Empire from this group's read of another great novel, Joseph Roth's The Radetzky March, which I think we read on Rosemarie's recommendation.
This is the group's discussion of that book:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Karen wrote: "I've just finished the second part. ."
I'm still wading through Part One.

And speaking of wading... I'm also reading Zola's Nana. Dear God! The ridiculous meticulous detail that drags down every single scene. Realism/Naturalism is just not for me! At least there is a fair amount of humor to break up Svejk's endless babble. No such luck in Nana!

Thanks for the short version historical background lesson, Rosemarie. The futility of war shines through if nothing else.

I like Zola's works overall, but in my opinion, Nana is one of his weaker, and ridiculous works. But that's just me. I think L'Assommoir, the book about Nana's mother, is one of his best.

Karen wrote: "And speaking of wading... I'm also reading Zola's Nana. Dear God! The ridiculous meticulous detail that drags down every single scene."

I had other GR friends who did not much like Nana but it was usually because they found the characters so unlikeable and unsympathetic. That negative commentary set me up so I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would when I decided to read it in a GR group buddy read.
One factor in my enjoyment is that I find Zola's descriptive detail to be one of his best assets. His descriptions of the department store shop wares greatly enhanced my enjoyment of The Ladies’ Paradise. His well-regarded "cheese symphony" scene -descriptions of olfactory sensations on entering a cheese shop - has made me consider reading his The Belly of Paris.

However, I realize there is a fine line between "sumptuous' and "ridiculous." But, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;" "Different stokes for different folks" - one of those types of adages applies here.

I see I'm NOT in the Zola thread. So I will now get back to The Good Soldier Švejk.
I enjoyed the section I read today more than any other part of the book so far. It was a long section toward the end of Part I where Svejk was obtaining a pinscher for Lieutenant Lukas and also dealing with the Lieutenant's mistress. I was engaged and definitely swimming rather than wading through the section.

I like the sections with Lt. Lukas. And Schwejks's wanderings really are funny too.

I've read The Beast in Man and Therese Raquin by Zola and I enjoyed both of them. The 40 page drawing room scene in Nana nearly put me over the edge. I also enjoy descriptive writing, but there is a limit to how much I really need to know about Count Muffat de Beuville and his wife, Countess Sabine's rather ordinary Tuesday salon. I'll get through it.

Agreed, Svejk's dog dealings are amusing if you are not on the receiving end of one of his "purebred's. I just read the convoluted story of his handling of the cypher book, parts one and two and that was also fun. It amuses me that he is always telling people what an excellent batman he is and how his Lieutenant and he have a perfect understanding and he could not do without Svejk.

Karen, I've actually read a couple of books by Ludwig Ganghofer, in German. They're not bad at all. I've just finished Schwejk's explanation about the books-to him it makes sense.

It all makes sense to him! :)

30 pages left! I can kind of tell that this is not going to end satisfactorily as there is no official fourth book. I hate having read 750 pages to be left hanging. And here's a surprise, he is just out of jail yet again. I'm glad I read it - I've been curious about it for a long time. It is a hard book to discuss or dissect as it is so episodic. The incompetence, thieving, horrific living conditions, lack of (properly distributed) rations, the futility, etc. that Hasek assigns to the army is horrifying. Every now and then the biting satire nearly slashes through my eyeballs. Getting back to my abysmal lack of knowledge in the subject matter, it's hard to understand how this book can be hailed as a national treasure. I have to assume that the average Czech agrees with Hasek's assessment? They do explain it a bit in the Introduction which I will have to go back to once I finish the LAST 30 PAGES!

I've finished the book and noticed the incompetence and corruption and general incompetence of the members of the army, especially regarding the distribution of food.
But we do know how the war ended, and they were the losing side.

Congrats Rosemarie for finishing and to Karen for being on the last stretch. I'm only 450 pages behind. Sigh.

Schwejk was always behind but he got there eventually.

I started a bit late. I'm only 33% finished (says my Kindle)

So far, it's hilarious. Never buy a dog from Svejk!

He certainly has creative ideas about dog breeds!

I finished the book last week. I've read quite a bit about it online - a number of essays written about it - and most of them point to the fact that the Czech's didn't really have a horse in the race during the war and that the book was largely about the futility they felt and the overwhelming corruption that surrounded them. I wonder how happy Hasek was during his lifetime. Many of the characters are based on people he knew during his stint in the services as a one year volunteer. But his life, in general, did not sound like a happy or fulfilling one. I'm not sure whether I'm sorry he didn't get to finish the book or whether I'm glad!

I'm glad it ended when it did, before things got even worse.

The novel shows the ambiguity most Czechs felt towards the war; I suppose it is similar to how many Irish felt about fighting in the British Army during WWI. Why would they feel any loyalty to an Empire where they were second class citizens and their dreams of independence were suppressed?

Exactly, Scott!

I've finished. After it being a real slog for most of the book, I did chuckle during the last quarter of the book. I also loved the illustrations; they served as my life preserver and helped me continue to the end. These last 2 factors caused me to raise my rating from 2 to 3 stars.

The illustrations make a huge difference in this book.

I'm still wading through it I'm afraid, and hoping to finish it this month.

I just finished the book; it took me a month (but I read two other books along with this one).
Rosemarie's history really helps to situate the book in time.
While I didn't love the subject matter, Hasek does a good job of keeping Svejk a consistent character throughout the book and has so many original tales. It's not really one story but a collection of stories about Svejk and tales he (and others) tell. Most stories seem to be about basics: eating, sleeping, and relieving oneself with a few on religion and a few on marching around. Notably, there is no fighting going on.
Hasek definitely has a sense of humor!

It's dark humour at times, but it's effective.

Rosemarie wrote: "It's dark humour at times, but it's effective."
Agreed!

I agree, Rosemarie, the illustrations were a key part of the book.

I enjoyed the expressions on those who were reacting to Schwejk's antics. He remained good-tempered, no matter what happened- and there was never a dull moment when he was around.

Svejk is a very upbeat character; good tempered like you said Rosemarie. Hasek did a great job of keeping the pacing lively in the book.

Finally finished it tonight - for a time I looked forward to it as much as a "sock on the jaw", but it picked up towards the end and, Humbly report, I enjoyed it.

That's good to hear, John-that you enjoyed it, I mean.