The Good Soldier Schweik

by Michael John Nimchuk, Jaroslav Hašek

Play based upon Hasek's novel.

Genres: Fiction

88 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who wants a quick insight into the world of Habsburg bureaucracy and its impact on common people this is a comical way to do so. This common character particularly for people from the area around Prague, will instantly impress them that he is known, but is a great archetype for characters in everyday life and for those moments when in impossible situations. I find his personality comforting when being asked to perform a task without any of the necessary tools and the inevitable waste of time that then requires those more responsible to sort out when it should have been set up better in the first place, is just one example of how Schweik finds a way for others to feeling the responsibility for their own illusions. For anyone in the workplace who thinks 'everyone is replaceable / no-one is indispensable' or 'keep everyone guessing', should read this book and reflect on what is and what could be.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good Soldier Svejk, can also be spelled Schweik or Schwejk.

I got this book among a whole lot of others when my parents died and we cleared their house. It then sat on a shelf for sveral years until a reference in a totally different book (a prisoner-of-war escape book) caused me to look again at it.

The 'good soldier' in question is a buffoon of a character whose good-natured and well-intentioned bumbling causes much anguish to the various people in military and civilian life who have the mis-fortune to employ him. Anyone who has seen the British TV show Blackadder will recognise Baldrick in Schweik.

According to wikipedia Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau quotes a couple of 'Schweikisms'. I found the story a bit slow by modern standards but once I 'got into it' I really enjoyed it. Despite being dated it's still quite satirical and worth a read.