he Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War

My Great Books book club discussed Jaroslav Hasek's classic “The Good Solder Svejk” during the March 31, 2018. To be more specific, we discussed the first section, “Behind the Lines,” which is a little over 200 pages.

For many reasons, I was really happy to be exposed to this book. First, I'm half Czech and my 100% Czech grandmother would have been ecstatic to know that I was reading a Czech book (in translation, of course). Second, this book club read Joseph Heller's “Catch-22” in November 2017; Joseph Heller mentioned that “Svejk” was a major influence on “Catch.” Having read “Catch-22” several times, it's pretty cool to read the worked that sparked Heller's imagination. Third, the book is a RIOT and one that never came up in high school or college. Fourth, one of my great grandfathers or great-great grandfathers served in the Austrian army, deserted, and ended up imprisoned in a castle, so there's some parts to this story that smack of real life.

We begin “Svejk” in the middle of the story with no back story about Sjevk's life. How old is he? Where was he born? Who are his family? Has he ever been married or had children? He seems to be a free-floating will-o-the-wisp who floats from one scrape to another without too many cares. Perhaps, he is also a statement about what happens to conscriptable men in occupied countries; even if you have a family or obligations, you can be pulled up for service or imprisonment at any time. What Svejk can and does do is worry about his own neck, which is often in quite a bit of trouble. And that's what you do when you're in an occupied country and in wartime, both of which apply to Svejk.

Yet, Sjevk's nearly magical ability to give people what they want, appear idiotic, provide alcohol, or to distract/charm his abusers/accusers with random stories gets him out of disaster after disaster. Was he truly an idiot? I think not - he was probably the smartest man in the book. From the Austrian's perspective, all Czechs were criminals, malingerers, and/or servants. So, one simply has to accept the nonsense of bureacracy and work around it as best as one can.

Below are the discussions questions another book club member put together:

1. Why do you think Svejk's personality, background, age, marital history, family are never
described?
2. Does Svejk seem mentally impaired? Literate? Is he a malingerer?
3. Svejk follows orders directly and literally, although his speech is heavily ironic. What is the
outcome?
4. In the first scene how does Svejk, as Everyman, view the origin of the war? What is the
author's belief about why wars begin? What unanswerable questions does he pose? Does he
reveal any firm political opinions?
5. Svejk undergoes various interrogations. What do these scenes reveal about the Austrian
government's pre-war social policies?
6. In his portrayal of Chaplain Katz, what view does Hasek present of the Catholic church and
the Church's role in sending men to war? Why does the author give such a long description of
the preparation for the Drumhead Mass?
7. Do we, in the U.S., have a contemporary satirical writer such as Hasek? How would Hasek
have written about our current political climate? What would be an equivalent period in
American history?
8. What other literary or cinematic works came to mind as you read Sveik?
9. The narrator's voice has been criticized, and offense taken by nearly every political and
religious group. What parts of the book did you find offensive? Which seemed the most wellwritten?
10. Lt. Lukas was a real person; the author's company commander. How does he differ from the
other officers?
11. What are your thoughts about the bureaucratic doublespeak used by the characters? How
would you compare it to Orwell? To current political language?
12. Who were your favorite characters and why?