Soldier Svejk - Przemysl, Poland
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Torgut
N 49° 46.950 E 022° 46.133
34U E 627338 N 5515949
The Good Soldier Svejk is a novel written by Jaroslav Hašek which became arguably the most iconic book in Czech literature.
Waymark Code: WMK4K1
Location: Podkarpackie, Poland
Date Posted: 02/11/2014
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Soldier Svejk is the central character of the novel The Good Soldier Svejk, written by Jaroslav Hasek. Svejk was later perceived by many Czechs as a personification of Czech soul.
From Wikipedia:
"The novel is set during World War I in Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic empire full of long-standing tensions. Fifteen million people died in the War, one million of them Austro-Hungarian soldiers of whom around 140,000 were Czechs. Jaroslav Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in The Good Soldier Švejk.
Many of the situations and characters seem to have been inspired, at least in part, by Hašek's service in the 91st Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The novel also deals with broader anti-war themes: essentially a series of absurdly comic episodes, it explores both the pointlessness and futility of conflict in general and of military discipline, Austrian military discipline, in particular. Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, are participating in a conflict they do not understand on behalf of a country to which they have no loyalty.
The character of Josef Švejk is a development of this theme. Through possibly-feigned idiocy or incompetence he repeatedly manages to frustrate military authority and expose its stupidity in a form of passive resistance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whether Švejk is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliberately with dumb insolence. These absurd events reach a climax when Švejk, wearing a Russian uniform, is mistakenly taken prisoner by his own troops.
In addition to satirising Habsburg authority, Hašek repeatedly sets out corruption and hypocrisy attributed to priests of the Catholic Church."
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There are a fez dozen pubs in Czech Republic named after Svejk, and a fair number of movies and TV series were produced based in the book.
Why is Svejk in this Polish town anyway? Because in the novel, he spend a good part of his military service here.