R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (original 1921; edition 2001)

"Do you think the soul first shows itself by a gnashing of teeth?"

"Nobody can hate men more than men. Turn stones into men and they'd stone us."

Capek's R.U.R. is credited with the invention of the term "robot," but it really shouldn't be; the term as used in the play isn't what we've come to define it as. It derives from the Czech robota, "servitude," and then from the Hebrew golem, "embryo" (I see you there, Michael Chabon), and Capek's robots should be seen as sortof an intermediary hybrid of the robots of Isaac Asimov and the creation of Dr. Frankenstein.

There's another nod to Mary Shelley, too, in Alquist's repeated description of himself as the last man. So the first three acts of R.U.R. represent a fusion of Shelley's two novels to create a storyline: Man's invention gets away from him and rises up (Frankenstein), and destroys him (Last Man). It's a great idea, and one that's been ripped off in basically every science fiction movie you've ever seen.

The really weird part doesn't come until Act IV. For more or less the only time ever, Man more or less...succeeds. Dr. Gall has, with Helena's prompting, created a viable post-human. Primus and Robotress Helena are human - maybe better than human! - and the play ends on an optimistic note. Sure, humans are destroyed, but progress moves on. I love this. I often get an unsettled feeling about apocalyptic stories like...I keep thinking of the recent pulp novel Robopocalypse here. It's always assumed that if humans ever invent themselves out of usefulness, that's a bad thing - but as Domain says, he doesn't regret it, "Not even today, the last day of civilization. It was a great adventure." (73) Why not lose? Why shouldn't we be megatherium? That's what Capek seems to suggest in his epilogue, and it's an interesting place to go.

I don't read that many plays, but I should probably read more considering that I work in theatre. I picked this one up primarily because it's famous for coining the term "robot". The creatures in Čapek's work aren't really what we typically consider robots today, though--they're more biological than mechanical.

Written in 1920 and first performed in 1921, this was way ahead of its time. The machines-rebelling-against-their-masters trope is ubiquitous in contemporary science fiction, and R.U.R. is arguably where it all started. It's a dark and apocalyptic vision of the future, but it's also a social commentary and witty satire. There are quite a few bits that are very funny. I wanted to read this for the historical contribution it has made, but it truly stands up today and I enjoyed it based on its own merit.

I'd love to be involved in a production of this. ( )

דיסטופיה של צ'אפק שממנה באה המילה רובוט​ ( )

The origin of the word robots, although they are not so much robots as golems. Only there are lots and lots and lots of them -- eventually millions. It all starts out well but ends epicly badly. It suffers somewhat from a certain didacticism about technology, Communism, and other themes, that I don't remember in War with the Newts and other Capek books. That said, it is a classic that I've been meaning to read for a long time and am glad I finally got around to it. ( )