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Rating: 
Summary: Worthy new translation
Review: ...This translation deserves the exposure that Amazon provides. The translators try to operate in the same realm that Hasek/Svejk were operating in. A worthy challenge, well-met. I look forward to the follow-up volumes. (The translators remind us that "Svejk" is pronounced like "shake" with a "v" inserted.)
Rating:
Summary: A Translation That Serves Justice To Hasek's Language
Review: As someone who has lived in the Czech Republic for a number of years and who speaks Czech at an intermediate level, I can safely say that this translation is far superior than the Cecil Parrot one. As a student of Hasek's work, I have read the Parrot translation three times, so when I picked up Zenny's translation and started to read, I was electrified. Here was the language that most Czechs were sure could never be translated. Instead of holding back as Parrot did, Zenny unleashes the full volley of Hasek's humor, not afraid to use the vulgar language that Hasek often employed. This book brings the reader much, much closer to the spirit and character of the wonderful Svejk. I praise Zenny for a job well done and can't wait to read the next installation of the book.So for all those Czechs out there who thought that this book was not translatable, read this one. You will sure be surprised. And for those of you who don't know who is this Good Soldier Svejk, I suggest that you get your hands on this book and start reading. Hasek employs the type of humor that has you laughing and crying at the same time, because he uses humor, irony, satire and a healthy dose of truth to expose the absurdities of our modern world.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Translation
Review: Having looked forward to this translation because of the supposed improvements in it, I was very disappointed to see all the poor and erroneous English usage. Its and It's are confused repeatedly; lay and lie are also misused. It is as though the translators may understand Czeck but aren't sensitive to English! These points would surely have been caught by any kind of editor--my book group decided that there must not have been one at work here. All of us were most unhappy that the promised, and hyped, good reading was not ours! And several members had read the earlier translations, with more pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Satire
Review: I bought the old translation of this book for a class, and then I happened upon this translation on amazon.com. I ended up buying it, and now my only regret is that I will have to read Books Two and Three from the old version. The translation allows for fluid, enjoyable reading, filled with an irony and humor that I have rarely found in translations of any book. Only the new translation of Andrei Bely's "Petersburg" comes close to the satire of this work, among the books I have recently read. If you are looking for a book about the absurdity of war and the resilience of a man who stands ready to fight it with his own foolishness, you should read this book. I will be eagerly awaiting the further translations by Zenny Sadlon and Mike Joyce, because the older translation does not even compare to the older, and, frankly, less funny translations. This book is not just a humorous book, however; it is a biting satire of a world gone mad in the midst of the Great War, a time when nations turned against each other as if they were merely playing a game of chess, with consequences for the lives of good citizens of many nations. Svejk presents a constant front of simpleton patriotism, one which the military and medical officials believe can only be mocking or ironic. This in itself reflects the contrived and ridiculous nature of the imperial fealty that was demanded of subjects during and after the First World War: even the most trained and disciplined soldiers find Svejk's constant and vocal patriotism ridiculous; it must be a parody. By admitting this with their punishment of him, they say very little about Svejk and a great deal about the false nature of blind patriotism and imperial loyalty, a sentiment only truly found in a few characters of the book, such as the archduchess who comes to give Svejk gifts in response to his idiotic screams in the street in support of the Great War. By reflecting on the false nature of patriotic war-mongering among the elite, Svejk stands to protest the mistakes of leaders by following them absolutely and enthusiastically, parroting the propaganda he is fed to such a level that even the propagandists are embarassed. Unlike other anti-war protestors or observers in most other anti-war tracts, Svejk stands out as someone who accepts the premises of the ruling class to such a degree that they are, themselves, embarassed to have set them forth. I thank goodness that this new translation lets that shine through, far from the old and stilted language of past translations. It is worth the money and time to wait for the new volumes of Books Two and Three to be published, and to buy Book One in this new translation, rather than to waste any time and money on an old translation that misses the point and insults the spirit of the genius Jaroslav Hasek who so beautifully and hilariously told the story of Svejk the good soldier and his fateful adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, there can be a near-perfect translation
Review: I own this book and the Czech original. Before I got this particular
translation, I used to feel sorry that my American son would never be
able to get a glimpse into the mentality of a nation living at the
bottom of the food chain, powerless but never defeated. This book
captures perfectly the spirit of Svejk,his seemingly pointless
rambbling, apparent half-wit, and his truly folk origin.
I found only one(!) place were the translation did not convey a
possible double meaning of the original, which is
absolutely remarkable. If the reader does not "get" the book,
it is not because of the translation. In fact, amongst my fellow Czechs and
Slovaks, there are only two groups of people when it comes to Hasek's
Svejk: those who love it and those who despise it. So the fact that there are
the two extremal types of reviews of this particular translation constitutes the
ultimate testimony of the translator's success.
Rating:
Summary: Worth checking out
Review: Prior to some incidental contact with the translator, I had no idea there was another translation of Svejk available. The Parrott version ... is good, but far from perfect; I've recommended it ... because of its importance in understanding the social conditions at the fall of the Austrian Empire, rather than for any particular literary value. I read the first chapter of this translation, and I am favorably impressed. This is an important book, and so it's worth checking this translation out, both because of Hasek's work, and also to support the worthy efforts of independent translators and writers. Hopefully we'll see Book Two soon!
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: Svejk is not an easy book to translate - after all, Hasek was an anarchist. I've read the Penguin translation and it wasn't bad but stilted and very British English. This new and improved translation is quite simply terrible. A translator needs to know not only the words in both languages, but correct grammar as well. And this English speaker/writer does not. Stick with the older translations.
Rating: 
Summary: New translation doesn't match Parrott's
Review: Three stars for the translation but at least seven for the book.
This is my favourite book, so much so that I'll buy another English translation just as an excuse to re-read it. I was hoping that the new translation, particularly as it is by a Czech, would offer new insights into the book, but it was not to be. I wish I could say that it improved upon Parrott's translation but I don't think it is as good. A pity, as I applaud their efforts.
I was disappointed by the comments the translators, Sadlon and Joyce, made about Parrott for a couple of reasons:
1. Parrott was a keen scholar of the Czech language, a prominent professor of South-Eastern European studies. To write him off as an upper-class British Ambassador with no idea of the language just will not do.
2. Parrott's autobiography of the author, Hasek, is interesting and informative.
3. Whilst working abroad in the USA, I found a second-hand copy of the book, translated by someone before Parrott, and this was pale compared to Parrott's translation.
What I liked most about Parrott's translation is its savage irony, which I didn't feel was there in the new translation. Maybe there was more irony around in England in the 1970s than there was in the United States in the 1990s: I'd be a little disappointed if this irony is all Parrott's contriving - since I don't speak Czech I cannot tell with any certainty, but I know a number of Czechs and they all have a strong anarchic, and generally mucky, humour, so I'm inclined to think that Parrott's translation works on Hasek's level.
My reservation about Parrott is how can the ambassador of a government possibly translate the work of an anarchist? Sadly, this new translation is the work of someone who worked for a government mouthpiece (Voice of America), and indeed has translated for the US head of state, which one could say is no less venal an occupation (to employ a word that Parrott was criticised for using).
This book must be read as a reminder of the corrupt nature of governments and their servants. I agree that Parrott's language seems tame (after all, the translation is thirty years old) with few expletives, but it is a good translation of its time. Being written by an English professor there are no split infinitives.
Until the work is translated by a socialist or anarchist (well worth waiting for), or at least someone sufficiently distanced from organised government, I'd recommend Parrott.
But however you read it, whether you have to learn Czech yourself to do, or cajole someone into translating it for you, you must read The Good Soldier Svejk.
Rating:
Summary: New translation doesn't match Parrott's
Review: Unfortunately, even with a new translation this book is a failure in English. Many of the subtle jokes and jibes are simply not recognizable to Western readers. Characters such as the vulture Bretschneider, raving Police Inspector Braun, the savage Dr. Grunstein, the drunken Chaplain Otto Katz, and all the others are simply the same character moved around a bit. Essentially, the same thing happens over and over. The English reader comprehends about half of it, and is left wondering why in the world he bought the book in the first place. I know I am.
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