The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War: Translated by Cecil Parrott. With Original Illustrations by Josef Lada. [Paperback]

Discover perhaps the funniest novel ever written (The Guardian ), now beautifully reissued

“The classic comic novel of the First World War.” —TheNew Yorker • “A literary masterpiece.” —New York Review of Books • “One of the greatest works of 20th century literature.” —Boston Globe 

Jaroslav Hasek'sThe Good Soldier Svejkfollows the adventures of Josef Svejk, a boisterous and sometimes bumbling (or brilliantly subversive?) Czech soldier, as he navigates the trials of World War I. Thrust into the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army in 1914, Svejk, one of the great characters of 20th century literature (New Republic), embarks on a wild trip through war-ravaged Europe as he fakes illnesses, is captured by his own men, and takes on various quixotic quests to avoid arriving at the front lines, always with a bizarre—and often hilarious—anecdote at the ready. Predating countercultural American classics likeCatch-22by a generation,The Good Soldier Svejkwas the first great antiwar satire, and still one of the finest ever written.

“Hasek was a comic genius.” -Sunday Times (London)

“Brilliant. ... Perhaps the funniest novel ever written.” -George Monbiot, The Guardian

“The classic comic novel of the First World War.” -New Yorker

“[Svejk] is one of the great characters of 20th-century literature. ... [Hasek’s] satire on the military combines topicality and timelessness. Above all it captures the flavor of life in early-century Prague. ... Deserves to be relished for its offbeat wisdom. ... Hasek’s honesty, clarity of detail, and pawky restraint hlsP