The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
A sprawling picaresque satire set during World War I follows a genial, ostensibly simple Czech conscript whose literal-mindedness and exaggerated obedience expose the absurdities, incompetence, and cruelty of imperial military bureaucracy. Through a string of episodic misadventures, encounters with petty officials, and comic misunderstandings, the narrative skewers nationalist pomposity and authoritarian institutions with a mix of slapstick, irony, and dark humor. The result is a biting, humanistic indictment of war and power that remains both uproariously funny and painfully bleak.
The 262nd greatest book of all time
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Total Points: 1283
This book was first published in 1921
12 Lists
- score: 150 -- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - 2006 (Weight: 150)
- score: 138 -- Världsbiblioteket (The World Library) - 1991 (Weight: 138)
- score: 116 -- 100 Books of Classical and Modern Foreign Literature - 2013 (Weight: 114)
- score: 114 -- Big Read (Bulgarian) - 2009 (Weight: 111)
- score: 108 -- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century - 1996 (Weight: 108)
- score: 108 -- ZEIT-Bibliothek der 100 Bücher - 2009 (Weight: 108)
- score: 102 -- The Bigger Read List - 2003 (Weight: 102)
- score: 96 -- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read - 2009 (Weight: 96)
- score: 93 -- Big Read (Hungarian) - 2005 (Weight: 93)
- score: 90 -- Best Books Ever - 2006 (Weight: 90)
- score: 85 -- Kanon na koniec wieku (Canon at the end of the century) - 2002 (Weight: 78)
- score: 81 -- The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time - 2004 (Weight: 81)