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Loading... War with the Newts (1937)by Karel Čapek
  
» 14 more No current Talk conversations about this book. Both a sci-fi and a satirical read. Light on the sci-fi and heavy on the satire. This book was written in 1936 and the author takes a lot of pot-shots at the Nazis, if you know your history. He died before the Nazi's could come after him. I believe the entire premise of the book is that man must live in a homogenous society to be happy; he will annihilate anything different. I thought the first third and the last third a compelling read, but it bogged down in the middle. I think this might have been a better short story than a novel, although I'm glad I read it. (  ) Tess_W | Feb 20, 2021 |  A classic of the genre, so I am told, and I can see why. Satirizes Western Civilization & capitalism pretty effectively. It's a bit slow in the beginning, and there is an early interaction between Captain Van Toch (discoverer of the newts) and Mr. Bondy, the business magnate who brings them to the world, that does not ring true to me. But once we get past this, the story unfolds in a way best described as harsh but fair. (  ) Jon_Hansen | Dec 28, 2020 | Hihetetlenül nagy meglepetés. Zseniális regény az emberi fantázia és az emberi butaság határtalanságáról. Szinte hihetetlen, hogy 1936-ban keletkezett és mégis mennyi mindent tud a 21. századról. Avagy az ember lényege mennyire változatlan akár évezredek alatt. Komoly kritikája a kapitalizmusnak, a nácizmusnak, amit meg sem ért és a média, a tudományos nagyképűség világának, amiből csak ízelítőt kapott a szerző. Élvezetes volt olvasni elejétől végig. Fordulatos, bár egyáltalán nem meglepő cselekmény, remek karakterek, végigvitt tények és sorsok. Bámulatosan jól bánik az alapanyaggal. Fanyar humor, mert minden poén betalál nem csak az elmébe, hanem a szívbe is. (  ) gjudit8 | Aug 3, 2020 | This was a pleasant surprise! And a total satire, too! 1935 and lambasting fascism in a very funny and totally SF way. Little 4 ft lizards as smart as us who can breed like CRAZY, who are totally literal, and who (mostly) follow orders like good soldiers. Of course, quickly outnumbering the human race at 20 billion, things get a bit hairy despite how much all the leaders of industry love their huge workforce. :) It was funnier than anything, but the SF concept was nothing to sneeze at. I loved how much humans mistook all their actions and their intelligence, how souls, self-consciousness... even sexiness is so much more important than asking a simple little question... "Is this really a good idea?" We all miss the point. It's damn fine satire. ( ) bradleyhorner | Jun 1, 2020 | Marvellous. Although written in 1939, still very relevant. ( ) HendrikSteyaert | Feb 29, 2020 | no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher Series
Originally written in 1936, two years before Capek's death and three years before the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, War with the Newts is considered by many to be Capek's greatest book. Working in the "fantastic" satiric tradition of Wells, Orwell, and Vonnegut, Capek chronicles the discovery of a colony of highly intelligent giant salamanders off the coast of an Indonesian island. Capek sardonically details all the reactions of the civilized world - from horror to skepticism, from intellectual fascination to mercantile opportunism - and the ultimate destruction from which it (and the newts) might not escape. No library descriptions found. |
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