The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek (1921-1923)

Joseph Heller is reported to have said that he could not have written Catch 22 if he had not first read The Good Soldier Svejk, and, indeed, the similarities between the two are readily apparent. Both take a darkly satiric look at war and at the military bureaucracy from the viewpoint of the common soldier who tries to survive the insanity.

Hasek's "Everyman" soldier Svejk copes by allowing his superiors to view him as a good natured simpleton who is always eager to follow orders and to please, while in reality he is using his wits to circumvent their orders and to resist the system. The officers are almost all portrayed as drunken and/or incompetent, with some being full-out crazy. Hasek must have had a special dislike of Catholicism, because his chaplains are all especially corrupt and repugnant.

This book is inventive and often laugh-out-loud funny. Much of the humor comes from the fact that the reader understands the irony of Svejk's actions and conversations while the characters in the novel do not. That aspect is very cleverly accomplished by Hasek. The only problem here is that the story goes on too long (752 pages in my edition), so that the pattern of Svejk getting into a bad situation and getting himself out again becomes expected and repetitive and ultimately almost boring. Joseph Heller may have taken inspiration from this book, but he produced the much better novel. Still, this one is well worth the time.