Svejk behind the Lines

Part I of Jaroslav Hasek’s The Good Soldier Svejk is entitled Behind the Lines. World War I is about to start. Svejk greets the news that a certain Ferdinand has been killed with a certain lack of reverence. Which Ferdinand? The messenger or the one who collects dog manure?

‘On no, sir, it’s His Imperial Highness, the Archduke Ferdinand, from Konopiste, the fat churchy one.’

‘Jesus Maria!’ exclaimed Svejk. ‘What a grand job! And where did it happen to his Imperial Highness?’

We are only page 4 of this lengthy work and the tone is already set. Svejk speaks his mind. He also tells the truth (usually), drinks (often), and looks innocent (always). Hasek himself had been a soldier, among other occupations, as well as an anarchist and a Bolshevik, but not at the same time. His book, The Good Soldier Svejk, came out piecemeal in the early 1920s in Czechoslovakia and was wildly popular. The structure is that of a picaresque adventure, as Svejk lurches from misfortune to catastrophe and back again. Like Bugs Bunny after the roadrunner, knock him down and he springs up again as full of spirit as ever.

Not wishing to serve in the army because of his rheumatism or because he has been certified an idiot — take your choice — he is considered a malingerer and falls into the hands of the medical bureaucracy. Initially declared insane, Svejk appreciates the benefits of such a status.

When Svejk subsequently described life in the lunatic asylum, he did so in exceptionally eulogistic terms: ‘I don’t know why those loonies get so angry when they’re kept there. You can crawl naked on the floor, howl like a jackal, rage and bite. If anyone did this anywhere on the promenade people would be astonished, but there it’s the most common or garden thing to do. There’s a freedom there which not even Socialists have ever dreamed of.’

After more sufferings, Svejk is assigned as a batman, or assistant, to the Chaplain. Hasek regards religious ceremonies as necessary in war.

Preparations for the slaughter of mankind have always been made in the name of God or some supposed higher being which men have devised and created in their own imagination….

Before the Holy Inquisition burnt its victims, it performed the most solemn religious service — a High Mass with singing.

When criminals are executed, priests always officiate, molesting the delinquents with their presence.

Svejk cheerfully assists with all ceremonies, providing the wine, whether sacramental or not, and the oil, whether consecrated or hempseed from the local paintshop only he can know. The chaplain loses at cards and must pass his useful batman on to a Lt. Lukas. Lukas also appreciates Svejks services until his batman obtains for him a stolen dog. Since the dog belonged to the Colonel and both dog and Colonel recognize each other, Lukas and his batman are sent to the front.

‘The high command recently informed us that there is a great shortage of officers in the 91st regiment because they have all been killed by the Serbs. I give you my word of honour that within three days you will be in the 91st regiment….’

End of Part I. Part II, significantly, is entitled At the Front.

I am reading The Good Soldier Svejk as part of a Tea & Books Challenge. Only 536 pages to go.