This is the first major critical study of Jaroslav Ha�ek and his most important literary creation Die Good Soldier 癡vejk. For many people Ha�ek's book is simply extremely funny. Cecil Parrott
begins from the point of view that a closer examination of the conditions under which the book was written reveal it to be a much deeper work than it appears on the surface: a tragic as well as
a comic masterpiece.
The opening chapter considers Ha�ek's private life from his birth in Prague in 1883, through his stormy involvement in Czech politics, his crazy bohemian vagaries and eccentricities, his
service in the Austrian army during the First World War, his eventual capture by the Russians and service as a Soviet commissar culminating in his death in Czechoslovakia in 1923 two years
after beginning work on 癡vejk. Since the novel is drawn so closely from Ha�ek's own life, this opening chapter is an indispensable first step towards any critical evaluation of the work.
Equally important for a true understanding of the book is some acquaintance with Czech history. The author devotes the second chapter to this subject, discussing the Czech and German elements
in Bohemian history and the position of the Czech people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, interspersing his survey with Hasek's own comments. Subsequent chapters consider 癡vejk in more detail:
tracing the origins of the book, analysing its characters and structure and considering the critical controversies which have surrounded the book since its first publication. The author also
describes Hasek's work as a journalist and short-story writer.
Cecil Parrott is a leading author on Ha�ek's. He has written the definitive biography. The Bad Bohemian, and has translated the unexpurgated version of 癡vejk and many of Ha�ek's short stories.
This 1982 book is written and aimed at the nonspecialist reader who require, guidance in coming to terms with this strange book. All quotations are translated, and the book also includes a
number of illustrations including the only sketch of 癡vejk which Ha�ek's approved
