Instruct: Classify an Amazon review as either positive or negative.
Query: Another War, Another Picaresque Czech Novel

I guess this falls in that category of picaresque comic novels that is somewhat interesting and sometimes amusing, but somewhat oblique in its tone. This ironic tone taken toward those who just tried to get along with their conquerors strikes me as somehow distinctly Czech (at least I've not run across it elsewhere). The book follows the exploits of a ambitious small busboy with modern Czech history as the setting, concentrated on WWII. His apparent naivete and good humor invites comparisons to The Good Soldier Svejk--especially in the section where he obtains a Nazi girlfriend during the occupation--but there's a fair amount of bawdiness and tragedy as well. It's a novel much more likely to appeal to students of Czech history or Eastern European literature than a general reader.