translations of Hasek

[David L. Cooper]

The Parrott translation's main advantage is that it is complete, not
abridged and bowdlerized to correct Hasek's supposed lack of form and
decorum. But Paul Selver was a much better translator than Parrott, and
when it comes to the very important role played by various levels of
colloquial and common Czech in the characterization of Svejk and other
characters, Parrott's all-too-proper English consistently fails to
accomodate. Read Parrott to get the whole story, read Selver to get the
flavor.

I should also note that I have heard of a new translation by Zenny K.
Sadlon and Mike Joyce that is supposed to have gotten it right. The
translators were unable to find an American publisher (surprise!), so
they made it available through print-on-demand on the web. I don't know
how one would go about getting it, though, sorry.

David Cooper

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