Škvorecký Josef: Oklopni bataljon

Josef Škvorecký: Armored Battalion

Believe it or not, it turns out that violent non-democratic regimes are broken most successfully in a non-violent way! So, not with protests, terrorist actions or armed resistance, but with good humor and healthy laughter! And even more effective is the acrid and tenacious, ironic and sarcastic one, which sends an even more subversive message proving the meaninglessness of the very foundations on which rigid single-minded systems rest. The Velvet Revolution led by Havel is the best confirmation that a culture based on sharp and warm humor can give birth to a radical political and social upheaval, without bloodshed.
It is not an exaggeration to assert that Škvorecký, who mentally fell out of Hašek's "overcoat", is among the most deserving of the fact that the Czech peculiar mixture of sharp and good-natured humor imposed itself on the global literary public. His Armored Battalion, in which he mercilessly mocks the communist army and its monstrous environment, is without a doubt the best successor to the genius Švejk. Although it was written in 1954, Bataljon did not appear in the original Czech language until 1971, in Canada, where the author fled with his wife, due to "government" reasons. In the West, the novel was immediately declared a literary sensation and included among the best humorous and satirical works, alongside Heller's Catch 22.
Škvorecký endlessly wittily profiles and "lines up" the images and circumstances of officers and conscripts ranging from reckless careerists and sadists to swindlers, fools, liars, racists, adulterers, alcoholics, slackers and slackers of the most diverse backgrounds. Despite the difference in age and hierarchy, all of them are characterized by "single-minded" thinking: what and where to eat and drink, how to dodge obligations and "catch a curve", how to use every opportunity to unbutton the button. The officer exception is the ambitious major, who was given the nickname Little Devil because of his inexhaustible sadistic tendencies. Describing his "hero", Škvorecký brilliantly illustrates the inexorable military logic: "The Little Devil knew how much everyone hated him and how small they were in front of him. He felt quite safe in the armor protected by military discipline and subordination. They must stand still, and he can screw them at will. They can think whatever he wants, and he can tell them whatever he thinks. There has never been anything more perfect in the world than of that."
A cult novel of devastating humor with only a few rivals in the history of literature!