I had never heard of this book until reading Patrick Leigh Fermor describe his travels through central Europe in the 1930s (wonderful book, discussed here). Fermor said reading Svejk was very helpful for him in getting a handle on Bohemia. Fermor's recommendation - and my interest in Bohemia (based on bloodlines for my wife and children) - motivated me to track this down. Phoenix library didn't have it; on Amazon, all I found was a pretty beat-up version stamped "Leeds Metropolitan University - DISCARDED". I hope, for LMU's sake, that it has replaced the book.
The author died without finishing the book (though this translation runs 750 pages). Hasek apparently was quite the colorful character. But not as colorful as Svejk - typically described as an "everyman" caught up in a vast bureaucracy (this one being military). It's consistently funny, and consistently observant of WWI eastern front absurdities.
Best I can tell, Svejk remains very famous in Bohemia - now 90 years later.
Part of what the reader starts to appreciate is that Bohemia - then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - later part of Czechoslovakia - now divided among successor states such as Czech Republic and Slovak Republic - has for big chunks of its history been a lesser entity within polyglot empires. It had its proud/independent phase earlier on. By the time of WWI, it was dragged along into conflict by its Austro-Hungarian masters, who in turn were dragged along by their German masters (I'll call them). Leaving the Bohemians - at least those of Svejk's ilk - generally somewhat less than highly motivated to throw away their lives on eastern front battlefields while being bossed around by incompetent Austrian officers.
A useful and very different take from a soldier/common man perspective looking at WWI's eastern front.
Svejk's classic line: "Humbly report, sir . . . "
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