The Švejk Prequels and Other Stories
Review of the Loomingu Raamatukogu Kuldsari nr. 1 paperback edition (2020) reissue of the Estonian translations Geniaalne idioot (1983) & Huumori kool (1958) translated from the original Czech language books Dobrý voják Švejk před válkou a jiné podivné historky (The Good Soldier Švejk Before the War and Other Strange Stories) (1912), Dobrý voják Švejk v zajetí (The Good Soldier Švejk in Captivity) (1917), Škola humoru: povídky (School of Humour) and various other sources (1911-1921)

The main draw here is definitely the early Švejk stories which predate the classic The Good Soldier Švejk (1923). I actually could not find an English translation of those or of many of the other stories that appear in this Estonian translation anthology edition. The Bachura Scandal and Other Stories and Sketches (2004) is probably the closest equivalent, based on the descriptions I’ve read, but I don’t think it has the Švejk stories.

The stories contained in Geniaalne idioot / Huumori kool (An Ingenious Idiot / The School of Humour) continue Hašek’s dominant theme of parodying the incompetence of authority and bureaucracy, not only in the Austro-Hungarian military, but also in the areas of politics, the judiciary and business. The publisher Loomingu Raamatukogu maintains its usual high standards of editorial commentary by reproducing the original translators’ Inserts and Afterwords and by adding an additional afterword Kuidas Hašek Švejki julgestusel Eesti vallutas (How Hašek conquered Estonia with the security of Švejk) by Toomas Kall. The introduction by Geniaalne idioot translator Lembit Remmelgas records the birth of the concept of Švejk by Hašek’s wife Jarmila.

One night in May, Hašek came home bone-tired, but he still had enough perseverance and will that he wrote down in a few words a creative idea that later occupied him relentlessly. He had barely opened his eyes in the morning when he began to look for the small sheet of paper on which he had, as he asserted, written his original idea, but which he had forgotten by the morning. In the meantime, I had thrown the paper away into the garbage. Hašek stormed through it, and was blissfully happy when he found the crumpled piece of paper. He carefully pried it open, read through it, scrunched it together again and threw it away. I picked it up again and kept it. The octavo sheet has the clearly legible and underlined title of the story: "The Company Idiot". Below that is a sentence from which one can read "He puts himself to the test to see if he can perform properly as a soldier..." This is followed by several confusing words. - translated from pg. 7 of Geniaalne idioot / Huumori kool

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