The Good Soldier Svejk
Sincere, simple, brilliant! One of the less heavy anti-war tomes.

On the flip side - B. Bryson - as enriching as candyfloss.
(roysin, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 15:03, 7 replies)

Meh, it ain't no Sven Hassel.
Peter Rabbit Tank Killer FTW
( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Tue 10 Jan 2012, 15:32, closed)

I was wondering if anyone would mention Sven Hassel on here! Used to enjoy reading those. Brutal.
(anvil, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 16:15, closed)

I enjoyed The Good Soldier Svejk
but did think it was a teeny bit longer than it needed to be.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 15:50, closed)

it didn't get finished though
Hašek died before he could complete it
(Luftcancer can insult your mum in tamil, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 17:44, closed)

I don't like Bill Bryson's stuff, either

(IHateSprouts is baking a huge pie shaped like an enormous pie, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 17:41, closed)

you never found out if he was acting like an idiot to wriggle his way out of fighting
or a genuine idiot.
(shezam slouching towards nirvana., Tue 10 Jan 2012, 18:46, closed)

Click
I don't suppose there's much clicking going on this week but you get one for mentioning this lovely book. I've read it several times over the years and it's one of my favourites. The criticism that it goes on too long is probably valid - it consists of a lot of anecdotes which tend to get a bit samey after a while. The first part is definitely the best and as Hašek didn't finish it, you come away feeling that it's a bit top-heavy.

I promise I'm not posing here but the humour is so Czech that much is lost in the (very decent) translations and it's more amusing when read in the original language. I've only done this once so far and my Czech (I'm now a resident in Prague) wasn't particularly good at the time so it was a bit hard going but worth it. Thanks for your reminder that I must pick it up again soon!
(eesnahk, Tue 10 Jan 2012, 22:34, closed)