The Good Soldier Svejk cover art

The Good Soldier Svejk

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The Good Soldier Svejk

By: Jaroslav Hasek
Narrated by: Sam Kelly, Adrian Lukis
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About this listen

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation by Christopher Reason of the satirical Czech novel by Jaroslav Hasek.

This tale charts the exploits during the First World War of ‘European Forrest Gump’ Svejk, in his progress through the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian army. Good-natured and garrulous, Svejk becomes the Austrian army’s most loyal Czech soldier when he is called up on the outbreak of the First World War - although his bumbling attempts to get to the front serve only to prevent him from reaching it.

This story of a ‘little man’ caught in a vast bureaucratic machine combines dazzling wordplay and piercing satire to create a hilariously subversive depiction of the futility of war.

Starring Sam Kelly as Svejk and Adrian Lukis as Lukas. Directed by Gary Brown.

©2010 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2010 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire War & Military Comedy War Witty Solider

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Enjoyed every minute of this. Sam Kelly is sublime as Svejk. it's like Forest Gump in Eastern Europe.

A good soldier, but a great radio comedy.

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I enjoyed this immensely when I first heard it on the radio more than 20 years ago, in fact so much that I read the book. So when I found it again here I couldn't wait to listen again, still just as funny and entertaining; some humour would seem to be timeless. I liked the use of English accents which might, on the face of it, seem odd but added to the characterisations.



The odd thing is I could have sworn there was more, an incident with some "iron water". This obviously means I'm going to have to find the book.

I'm going to have to read this again!

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This has been a favorite book of mine since it turned up in my local library 15 years ago. This is an appraised version but captures the anarchic desolate humor. If you listen to this then you will read the book as the illustrations by Josef Lada complete the experience.

A guide to anti-establishment behavior.

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