Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (1988), Paperback, 368 pages
Description
One of the great anti-utopian satires of the twentieth century, an inspiration to writers from Orwell to Vonnegut, at last in a modern translation. Man discovers a species of giant, intelligent newts and learns to exploit them so successfully that the newts gain skills and arms enough to challenge man's place at the top of the animal kingdom. Along the way, Karel Capek satirizes science, runaway capitalism, fascism, journalism, militarism, even Hollywood.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
Before (or after?) he initiated a worldwide apocalyptic war in The Absolute at Large, G.H. Bondy also contributed to the rise of intelligent newts which would have similarly disastrous results. War with the Newts compares to the earlier book in other ways as well – both examine the world
War with the Newts opens with Captain van Toch discovering the “devils” living near a small island off the coast of Sumatra – a race of large, intelligent newts. He takes a liking to them and arms them to help ward off predators. The captain comes to think of
them as his children and finds that they are easily trained to retrieve pearls. Back in Czechoslovakia, van Toch starts a business enterprise with G.H. Bondy. Bondy also appeared in The Absolute at Large and is supposed to be the money-obsessed entrepreneur who sets off the chaos. However, in both books I couldn’t help liking him as he seems more stuck in his role and thinks sentimentally of the captain out having adventures and caring for his newts. Mr. Povondra, Bondy’s doorman, is the one who lets van Toch present his business arrangement to Bondy and for years afterwards thinks of his role in the spread of the newts. Povondra is Čapek’s Czech everyman and periodically the author checks in with him. Povondra also amasses a collection of articles and papers about the newts which make up a good portion of the book.
van Toch’s intervention results in a massive newt expansion and they start showing up far from their native island. Čapek describes several encounters between newts and other sailors or vacationing people. With Bondy’s help, the world is introduced to the newts and there are scientists analyzing them or zookeepers making new discoveries. Newts are used for underwater projects or manual labor instead of just pearl fishing. Povondra’s cuttings are fun to read and add a nice verisimilitude to the story of the newts, as well cataloging their spread over the years. They also cover a variety of issues related to newt-human relations. One issue, for example, is whether newts have a soul and Čapek provides amusing quotes from famous people (Toscanini – I have never seen a Newt, but I am convinced that creatures which have no music do not have a soul either. G.B. Shaw – They certainly have no soul. In this they resemble man.). The treatment of worker newts is another problem, and a newts-rights movement springs up, much like the movement for any other oppressed group. Some call for education or regulation and the lives of a couple exceptional “model” token newts are described. Human workers also have issues with competition and employer unfairness and push for protectionist laws. As in The Absolute at Large, Čapek is able to cover the opinions and thoughts of a wide range of society using this journalistic method. It’s also very interesting to read. The horrible treatment of the newts – for example, the illegal newt trade, which involves brutally capturing wild newts, or vicious attacks on worker newts – bears comparison to plenty of historical atrocities.
The third section is the one that actually covers the war. Descriptions of fighting, however, are related in a similar reporting fashion, the same style as in The Absolute. Čapek narrates the actions of various governments or the thoughts of ordinary people. It is entirely appropriate that he ends with Mr. Povondra. The Absolute at Large also had a global war/apocalypse but the ending was almost back to normal, with ordinary characters sighing over the foibles of humanity. The later novel ends on both a depressing note and a final, questioning, open chapter. Readers might think that the ending is a cop-out but I thought it was a fitting end to this odd, metafictional work. Čapek, in fact, did not live to see all the atrocities perpetuated by the Nazis (nor would he have fared well under the Communists, given that he wrote an essay titled “Why I Am Not a Communist” where one of his reasons is “because I am on the side of the poor.”) In light of what would come, the last perplexed, uncertain chapter is entirely appropriate.
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undergoing extreme upheavals, through quick-cut scenes of ordinary people and a journalistic eye, resulting in novels with a fairly unconventional structure. (He also used this structure by necessity in some of his plays – the famous R.U.R, where a robot rebellion was shown through the discussion of his characters, and The White Plague, where the effects of a horrible pandemic were shown by quick cuts to multiple people at all levels of society.) The Absolute at Large was written after the tumult of WWI and describes another pan-European conflict. War with the Newts, published in 1936, shows the newly discovered intelligent newt race as both an oppressed group and aggressors bent on expanding their dominion, reflecting the rising nationalist, fascist and far-right movements in the 1930’s. This might make it seem as if both would be pretty depressing reads but they are quite entertaining and occasionally comical. Čapek’s warm humanistic outlook fills the pages but War with the Newts is a considerably darker book. War with the Newts opens with Captain van Toch discovering the “devils” living near a small island off the coast of Sumatra – a race of large, intelligent newts. He takes a liking to them and arms them to help ward off predators. The captain comes to think of
them as his children and finds that they are easily trained to retrieve pearls. Back in Czechoslovakia, van Toch starts a business enterprise with G.H. Bondy. Bondy also appeared in The Absolute at Large and is supposed to be the money-obsessed entrepreneur who sets off the chaos. However, in both books I couldn’t help liking him as he seems more stuck in his role and thinks sentimentally of the captain out having adventures and caring for his newts. Mr. Povondra, Bondy’s doorman, is the one who lets van Toch present his business arrangement to Bondy and for years afterwards thinks of his role in the spread of the newts. Povondra is Čapek’s Czech everyman and periodically the author checks in with him. Povondra also amasses a collection of articles and papers about the newts which make up a good portion of the book.
van Toch’s intervention results in a massive newt expansion and they start showing up far from their native island. Čapek describes several encounters between newts and other sailors or vacationing people. With Bondy’s help, the world is introduced to the newts and there are scientists analyzing them or zookeepers making new discoveries. Newts are used for underwater projects or manual labor instead of just pearl fishing. Povondra’s cuttings are fun to read and add a nice verisimilitude to the story of the newts, as well cataloging their spread over the years. They also cover a variety of issues related to newt-human relations. One issue, for example, is whether newts have a soul and Čapek provides amusing quotes from famous people (Toscanini – I have never seen a Newt, but I am convinced that creatures which have no music do not have a soul either. G.B. Shaw – They certainly have no soul. In this they resemble man.). The treatment of worker newts is another problem, and a newts-rights movement springs up, much like the movement for any other oppressed group. Some call for education or regulation and the lives of a couple exceptional “model” token newts are described. Human workers also have issues with competition and employer unfairness and push for protectionist laws. As in The Absolute at Large, Čapek is able to cover the opinions and thoughts of a wide range of society using this journalistic method. It’s also very interesting to read. The horrible treatment of the newts – for example, the illegal newt trade, which involves brutally capturing wild newts, or vicious attacks on worker newts – bears comparison to plenty of historical atrocities.
The third section is the one that actually covers the war. Descriptions of fighting, however, are related in a similar reporting fashion, the same style as in The Absolute. Čapek narrates the actions of various governments or the thoughts of ordinary people. It is entirely appropriate that he ends with Mr. Povondra. The Absolute at Large also had a global war/apocalypse but the ending was almost back to normal, with ordinary characters sighing over the foibles of humanity. The later novel ends on both a depressing note and a final, questioning, open chapter. Readers might think that the ending is a cop-out but I thought it was a fitting end to this odd, metafictional work. Čapek, in fact, did not live to see all the atrocities perpetuated by the Nazis (nor would he have fared well under the Communists, given that he wrote an essay titled “Why I Am Not a Communist” where one of his reasons is “because I am on the side of the poor.”) In light of what would come, the last perplexed, uncertain chapter is entirely appropriate.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
War With the Newts by Czech author Karel Capek is both a satire based on mankind’s trait to exploit any new found life-form that we find and also, due to his concern over what was happening in Europe at that time, a rather obvious dig at the rise of National Socialism that was occurring in
The book starts with a much lighter tone than that which develops later. A sea captain stumbles upon these creatures on an island near Sumatra and quickly learns to utilize them for collecting pearls. Eventually this operation is expanded and then the lizards are put to work on many different projects. As the men control and direct these lizards, teaching them to use tools and even weapons, they in turn are watching and learning. All too soon these enslaved creatures are being mistreated and the tension between humans and lizards builds until fights break out and then escalates into a full scale war.
War With The Newts deftly shows how our human habit of exploitation leads to bigotry, greed, cruelty and ultimately to our own downfall. Although written over eighty years ago, it is very sad and very obvious that not much has changed in today’s world. The author manages to skewer religion, capitalism, fascism and even social reform during the course of this short book, making War With the Newts a fascinating and unusual read.
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Germany. Originally published in 1936 this work of science fiction concerns the discovery of a race of intelligent sea-dwelling lizards on a remote Pacific Island. The book starts with a much lighter tone than that which develops later. A sea captain stumbles upon these creatures on an island near Sumatra and quickly learns to utilize them for collecting pearls. Eventually this operation is expanded and then the lizards are put to work on many different projects. As the men control and direct these lizards, teaching them to use tools and even weapons, they in turn are watching and learning. All too soon these enslaved creatures are being mistreated and the tension between humans and lizards builds until fights break out and then escalates into a full scale war.
War With The Newts deftly shows how our human habit of exploitation leads to bigotry, greed, cruelty and ultimately to our own downfall. Although written over eighty years ago, it is very sad and very obvious that not much has changed in today’s world. The author manages to skewer religion, capitalism, fascism and even social reform during the course of this short book, making War With the Newts a fascinating and unusual read.
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LibraryThing member gbill
As with all good science fiction, this brilliant book from 1936 by Czech author Karel Čapek holds a mirror up to mankind while telling the story. In this one, evolved, three-foot-high newts have been discovered in the South Pacific, and man quickly begins exploiting them. Čapek is brilliant at
1936 was an extraordinary time for this novel, with Hitler’s rise to power and Czechoslovakia increasingly at risk. Čapek makes his views about Germany known so well that he would be named “public enemy number two” by the Gestapo, and Nazi intimidation of the Nobel committee may have denied him the prize he was nominated seven times for, which I find tragic. However, this is not a book about Germany, it’s a book about man, and Čapek also points out unsavory things about other nations, such as the lynching of blacks in America, and the extreme cultural arrogance of England. Despite how serious all of that is, the book does have a certain lightness to it, and Čapek has a deft touch.
I also really appreciated the outstanding introduction in this edition by Ivan Klíma, which explains Čapek’s views on life beyond the book, and which frame it perfectly. In an age of great turmoil and political movements, Čapek was leery of generalizations and simplifications, and leery of those seeking power. Most of all, he was acutely aware of the paradox within those wanting to lead mankind and professing great love for it, but at the same not being tolerant or even loving individual men. This is best revealed in the quote Klíma includes from another work by Čapek’s, ‘The Factory of the Absolute’:
“In The Factory of the Absolute everyone believes he has found the true god and that he will save others by bringing them his god and inculcating his own faith and concept of love. People are filled with messianic idealism, but their ideals are contradictory and lead to disputes; the disputes grow into wars. While professing lofty intentions, they overlook other people and justify their own intolerance. At the end of the book one of the heroes confessies ‘A person might think that another belief is the wrong belief, but he mustn’t think that the fellow who holds it is bad, or common, or stupid.’ And later, ‘You know, the greater the thing somebody believes in, the more passionately he despises those who don’t believe in it. But the greatest belief would be to believe in people…Everybody’s just great at thinking about mankind, but about one single person – no. I’ll kill you, but I’ll save mankind…It’ll be a bad world until people believe in people…’
Indeed. And consider these passage in light of Donald Trump’s successful bid for the presidency:
“Čapek doubted that anything posed a greater threat to mankind than uncontrolled Faustian desire. A man who feels equal to the creator labors under the delusion that he can and should make the world conform to his own idea. In reality, he simply ceases to perceive its complexity, disturbs one of its subtle, imperceptible structures, and triggers calamity.”
“A culturally leveled intelligentsia ceases to fulfill certain obligations on which most higher values depend…If culture breaks down, the ‘average’ person – the simple, ordinary man, the farmer, the factory worker, the tradesman, with his normal thoughts and moral code – will not be heard, and will go off in search of something that is far beneath him, a barbaric and violent element … Destroy the hierarchical supremacy of the spirit, and you pave the way for the return of savagery. The abdication of the intelligentsia will make barbarians of us all.”
A couple of other quotes:
On recurrence:
“Perhaps our history has already been played too, and we shift our figures with the same moves to the same checks as in times long past.”
On human progress and machines, actually from Čapek’s article, ‘Rule by Machines’:
“Isn’t our admiration for machines, that is, for mechanical civilization, such that it suppresses our awareness of man’s truly creative abilities? We all believe in human progress; but we seem predisposed to imagine this progress in the form of gasoline engines, electricity, and other technical contrivances…We have made machines, not people, our standard for the human order…There is no conflict between man and machine…But it’s another matter entirely when we ask ourselves whether the organization and perfection of human beings is proceeding as surely as the organization and perfection of machines…If we wish to talk about progress, let’s not rave about the number of cars or telephones but point instead to the value that we and our civilization attach to human life.”
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following this idea through to its logical conclusions in a world where the strong have always preyed on the weak, and ‘humanity’ is at odds with capitalism and often foreign to those in power. He also has a very creative and post-modern way of telling the story, through different characters, newspaper articles, scientific reports, and occasional inner dialogue. Chapters 6 and 7, ‘The Yacht on the Lagoon’, with a few young people vacationing who spontaneously want to use the newts in a movie, are fabulous, as is the report from Hamburg scientist in the second book dispassionately outlining his cruel experiments. 1936 was an extraordinary time for this novel, with Hitler’s rise to power and Czechoslovakia increasingly at risk. Čapek makes his views about Germany known so well that he would be named “public enemy number two” by the Gestapo, and Nazi intimidation of the Nobel committee may have denied him the prize he was nominated seven times for, which I find tragic. However, this is not a book about Germany, it’s a book about man, and Čapek also points out unsavory things about other nations, such as the lynching of blacks in America, and the extreme cultural arrogance of England. Despite how serious all of that is, the book does have a certain lightness to it, and Čapek has a deft touch.
I also really appreciated the outstanding introduction in this edition by Ivan Klíma, which explains Čapek’s views on life beyond the book, and which frame it perfectly. In an age of great turmoil and political movements, Čapek was leery of generalizations and simplifications, and leery of those seeking power. Most of all, he was acutely aware of the paradox within those wanting to lead mankind and professing great love for it, but at the same not being tolerant or even loving individual men. This is best revealed in the quote Klíma includes from another work by Čapek’s, ‘The Factory of the Absolute’:
“In The Factory of the Absolute everyone believes he has found the true god and that he will save others by bringing them his god and inculcating his own faith and concept of love. People are filled with messianic idealism, but their ideals are contradictory and lead to disputes; the disputes grow into wars. While professing lofty intentions, they overlook other people and justify their own intolerance. At the end of the book one of the heroes confessies ‘A person might think that another belief is the wrong belief, but he mustn’t think that the fellow who holds it is bad, or common, or stupid.’ And later, ‘You know, the greater the thing somebody believes in, the more passionately he despises those who don’t believe in it. But the greatest belief would be to believe in people…Everybody’s just great at thinking about mankind, but about one single person – no. I’ll kill you, but I’ll save mankind…It’ll be a bad world until people believe in people…’
Indeed. And consider these passage in light of Donald Trump’s successful bid for the presidency:
“Čapek doubted that anything posed a greater threat to mankind than uncontrolled Faustian desire. A man who feels equal to the creator labors under the delusion that he can and should make the world conform to his own idea. In reality, he simply ceases to perceive its complexity, disturbs one of its subtle, imperceptible structures, and triggers calamity.”
“A culturally leveled intelligentsia ceases to fulfill certain obligations on which most higher values depend…If culture breaks down, the ‘average’ person – the simple, ordinary man, the farmer, the factory worker, the tradesman, with his normal thoughts and moral code – will not be heard, and will go off in search of something that is far beneath him, a barbaric and violent element … Destroy the hierarchical supremacy of the spirit, and you pave the way for the return of savagery. The abdication of the intelligentsia will make barbarians of us all.”
A couple of other quotes:
On recurrence:
“Perhaps our history has already been played too, and we shift our figures with the same moves to the same checks as in times long past.”
On human progress and machines, actually from Čapek’s article, ‘Rule by Machines’:
“Isn’t our admiration for machines, that is, for mechanical civilization, such that it suppresses our awareness of man’s truly creative abilities? We all believe in human progress; but we seem predisposed to imagine this progress in the form of gasoline engines, electricity, and other technical contrivances…We have made machines, not people, our standard for the human order…There is no conflict between man and machine…But it’s another matter entirely when we ask ourselves whether the organization and perfection of human beings is proceeding as surely as the organization and perfection of machines…If we wish to talk about progress, let’s not rave about the number of cars or telephones but point instead to the value that we and our civilization attach to human life.”
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LibraryThing member MusicalGlass
Čapek dissects 20th century civilization by pitting humankind against a race of intelligent salamanders, and in the process satirizes science, religion, industrialization, and ideology. Beneath the wicked black humor and sharp observations is a kind of trepidation—a realization that what we most
“Hand in hand with the material advancement has gone their civilisatory progress: they have joined the ranks of enlightened nations with compulsory education, and they can boast of hundreds of underwater newspapers appearing in millions of copies; of exemplary endowed scientific research institutes, and so forth. Obviously, this cultural progress has not always or everywhere taken place without domestic opposition; though we know exceedingly little about the Newts’ internal affairs, there are certain indications (for instance the discovery of Newts with their noses or heads bitten off) that for a longish period there reigned a protracted and fierce ideological struggle between the Old Newts and the Young Newts. The Young Newts were evidently in favour of progress without reservations or restrictions; they declared that it was imperative, even under water, to catch up with dry-land culture of all kind, not excepting football, flirtation, fascism and sexual perversion; the Old Newts, on the other hand, clung conservatively to natural Newtism and refused to give up their good old animalic habits and instincts; they certainly rejected all feverish chasing after novelty, regarding it as a decadent phenomenon and a betrayal of inherited Newt ideals.”
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vigorously strive after is ultimately what can do us in. Čapek’s form in the 1936 original—in the style of breathless publicity bulletins, coolly analytical research reports, polemical broadsides, journalistic reportage, and hilarious dialogue—is expertly captured in the 1985 translation by Ewald Osers. War With the Newts is an imaginative, artful blend of intelligent entertainment and unsettling contemplation. “Hand in hand with the material advancement has gone their civilisatory progress: they have joined the ranks of enlightened nations with compulsory education, and they can boast of hundreds of underwater newspapers appearing in millions of copies; of exemplary endowed scientific research institutes, and so forth. Obviously, this cultural progress has not always or everywhere taken place without domestic opposition; though we know exceedingly little about the Newts’ internal affairs, there are certain indications (for instance the discovery of Newts with their noses or heads bitten off) that for a longish period there reigned a protracted and fierce ideological struggle between the Old Newts and the Young Newts. The Young Newts were evidently in favour of progress without reservations or restrictions; they declared that it was imperative, even under water, to catch up with dry-land culture of all kind, not excepting football, flirtation, fascism and sexual perversion; the Old Newts, on the other hand, clung conservatively to natural Newtism and refused to give up their good old animalic habits and instincts; they certainly rejected all feverish chasing after novelty, regarding it as a decadent phenomenon and a betrayal of inherited Newt ideals.”
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LibraryThing member HeikeM
This is a very dark satire of the political and ecological situation in the Czech republic before WWII. A colony of newts is discovered, newts that can not only learn to talk, but also to use tools. As mankind discovers their abilities, they start to exploit the new found species. These animals can
This story is wonderful. Dark, humorous, absurd and brilliant and end s with a dialogue between the author and himself about a possibly better ending (or not) which in itself is a fantastic bit of writing.
The political events in the years leading up to the writing of the novel (it was published in 1936) do shine through the fiction as a dark foretelling of a future. This book is a very good mirror of the society in Europe as it was then but it's also a amazing story, full of colour and beautiful prose.
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do work humans can't and they can fight our wars for us. But of course all goes wrong and the newts, lead by the Great Salamander (Hitler?) starting to take over, the consequences of the actions nearly destroy the world. This story is wonderful. Dark, humorous, absurd and brilliant and end s with a dialogue between the author and himself about a possibly better ending (or not) which in itself is a fantastic bit of writing.
The political events in the years leading up to the writing of the novel (it was published in 1936) do shine through the fiction as a dark foretelling of a future. This book is a very good mirror of the society in Europe as it was then but it's also a amazing story, full of colour and beautiful prose.
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LibraryThing member amerynth
I definitely enjoyed reading Karel Capek's "War with the Newts," especially knowing the political and social background in the time it was written. Capek wrote the novel as he watched in horror the rise of national socialism in Germany (but also takes stabs at England, France and America too.)
In
The entire book is cleverly done and makes for a fun read. The closing chapters, in particular, really drive Capek's point home. Very glad I read this one.
In
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this black comedy, a captain discovers "sea devils" or newts in the ocean and figures out a way to exploit them to pad his pocketbook. Soon, the world economy depends on the newt workforce, which is ready to rebel against the human race. The entire book is cleverly done and makes for a fun read. The closing chapters, in particular, really drive Capek's point home. Very glad I read this one.
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LibraryThing member clogbottom
Another book with nothing to dislike in it. It reminded me of 'Mars Attacks!' with its portrait of human hubris and ineptitude. And of Kosinski's 'Being There' with its portrait of human desire to throw paint wildly at a blank canvas. And of 'Gremlins 2' because that movie rules and so does this
But, you know, literaryer than those other things. And 30-70 years before them.
It was real good but if I had to pick a couple of things to make it less boring I would probably have to say more dinosaurs and more sword-fighting, and I couldn't understand why the newt guys were so happy all the time if they knew they didnt have souls and were going to go to hell, not bathe in the light of our lord Jesus Christ savior and redemptioner!
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book.But, you know, literaryer than those other things. And 30-70 years before them.
It was real good but if I had to pick a couple of things to make it less boring I would probably have to say more dinosaurs and more sword-fighting, and I couldn't understand why the newt guys were so happy all the time if they knew they didnt have souls and were going to go to hell, not bathe in the light of our lord Jesus Christ savior and redemptioner!
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LibraryThing member Garp83
Out-friggin'-standing! Literature, sci-fi, satire, philosophy -- call it what you will, but Capek -- writing in the mid-1930's during Hitler's rise to power -- gives us a very funny, very scary sendup of humanity. Cross Solzhenitsyn with Twain... with Vonnegut and perhaps a grade B sci-fi flick and
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you get this brilliant work! Show Less
LibraryThing member FPdC
This book is the English translation of the Czech original Válka s Mloky, one of the best known works by Čapek, arguably the greatest Czech author of the first half of the 20th Century. This book is one of the great dystopias of 20th Century's literature. A new species of giant and intelligent
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newts is discovered in Southeast Asia and their intelligence and working capacities are exploited more and more heavily by the humans. Their economic and military importance is slowly built up by small and unrelated steps until the survival of human civilization and the very existence of earth's continents are in jeopardy. An hilarious critique of human civilization and the greed and disregard for consequences inherent in much of our decisions. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
Say what you will, the Newts have brought enormous progress to the world, as well as an idea called Quantity. 'We people of the Newt Age,' is a phrase uttered with justified pride; good heavens, how can you compare us with that outmoded Human Age with its ponderous, finicky and useless fuss that
It all starts when some pacific islanders warn a Czech sea captain against going to Devil Bay in his search for pearls. What he finds there is a group of enormous newts that can walk on their hind-legs and seem strangely intelligent. He gives them knives to defend themselves against sharks in return for bringing him pearl oysters, and then starts shipping them to other islands to dive for oysters there.
From this small beginning, the newts that were originally found on just one atoll, gradually colonise the coastlines of the world, as first businessmen and then governments find them useful for underwater building, dredging harbours and defending their coasts. But the newts are much more intellgent than originally thought, and as one female can produce 100 young each year, the situation is unlikely to stay stable for long.
A 1930s satire on politics, slavery, science and much more, by the author who first invented the robot. Very good indeed!
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went by the name of culture, the arts, pure science, and what have you! Real, self-assured Newt Age people will no longer waste their time meditating on the Essence of Things; they will be concerned solely with numbers and mass production.It all starts when some pacific islanders warn a Czech sea captain against going to Devil Bay in his search for pearls. What he finds there is a group of enormous newts that can walk on their hind-legs and seem strangely intelligent. He gives them knives to defend themselves against sharks in return for bringing him pearl oysters, and then starts shipping them to other islands to dive for oysters there.
From this small beginning, the newts that were originally found on just one atoll, gradually colonise the coastlines of the world, as first businessmen and then governments find them useful for underwater building, dredging harbours and defending their coasts. But the newts are much more intellgent than originally thought, and as one female can produce 100 young each year, the situation is unlikely to stay stable for long.
A 1930s satire on politics, slavery, science and much more, by the author who first invented the robot. Very good indeed!
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LibraryThing member nandadevi
There are already many excellent reviews of this novel, so it is only necessary to make a few points. Although written in 1936 it has a startlingly fresh modern air. Partly because Capek's fantasy of a race of intelligent amphibians taking over the world is timeless, and partly because Capek uses
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colloquial language so deftly. The comparison that stands out head and shoulders is Jaroslav Hasek's 'Good Soldier Svejk'. There's the same sense of hearing a story told first hand by an engaging stranger in a pub or cafe - too absurd to be believed, but then perhaps so extraordinary it must be true. I'm also reminded of Hasek's (brief) career writing articles for a nature journal in 1909. Having quickly exhausted the limited repertoire of animals he knew anything about, he started inventing them, and was only exposed after considerable public astonishment. Hasek died in 1923, but I rather think he would have been very pleased with Capek's newts. And yes there are political overtones, given Capek's absolute opposition to the rise of Nazi Germany on his doorstep, but really it seems to me to be a story directed against militarism of any kind, as Orwell's 'Animal Farm' tackled tyranny in later years. Very highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member mustreaditall
Dark, funny satire. I haven't read any other Czech fiction, so I don't know if those are typical traits of their sf and fantasy, but I'm certainly looking forward to picking up Čapek's best known work, R.U.R..
In many ways, the newts might as well be robots (a word that Čapek himself invented).
I don't know about other countries or regions, but here in the American south we are carefully taught in school about the evils of the slave trade, of the way African people were crammed into ships and allowed to rot and die all the way across the ocean, as long as the bottom line was not too affected by the loss of profit. So when Čapek tells of the newts transported in dirty, sickening water tanks (or even worse, sealed into tin barrels) after being kidnapped from their homes, the comparison is obvious. But for all that, he writes well enough that the symbolism never feels forced - if it is slightly heavy handed, I can overlook that because it still gave me a punch in the gut. When the slave traders pull off a salamander's leg or arm and just shrug and assure the narrator that it will grow back anyway, so who cares?, it got to me enough that I sat the book down for a minute.
So, there's the question that is wrestled with for most of the book - are they animals? automatons? fellow thinking beings? Do they have souls, or are they simply a resource to be sold in carefully grouped batches to the highest bidder? Is education and a decent life the best thing for them, as new members of a human society? Or is that what later leads to their victory in a war that sort of doesn't even happen?
In the end, of course, we bring our downfall on ourselves. We breed them and seed them on every coastline in the world, we arm them and train them despite agreements and warnings to the contrary, we base an entire system of worldwide advancement upon them. And then they take over our airwaves and offer to buy the very land from us, with the comment that they're going to take it either way. Čapek, speaking directly to us in the final chapter, offers some little hope, but I'm pretty sure they won out in the end.
final thought: I didn't even touch on all the references to nazis (the Master Newt Race), fascism, unchecked capitalism, environmental damage, and imperialism. In less deft hands, this would have been unreadable. I'm glad to have "discovered" Čapek.
In many ways, the newts might as well be robots (a word that Čapek himself invented).
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For most of the novel they are perfectly content to work, without much fuss or complaint, at any job presented to them. They take all abuse and violence against them in stride, as calmly as a little green anole will drop his tail when escaping a cat. It's man's inhumanity that is brought into sharp focus in the passages describing the various brutal experiments practiced upon the salamanders, not the creatures' worth as sentient beings.I don't know about other countries or regions, but here in the American south we are carefully taught in school about the evils of the slave trade, of the way African people were crammed into ships and allowed to rot and die all the way across the ocean, as long as the bottom line was not too affected by the loss of profit. So when Čapek tells of the newts transported in dirty, sickening water tanks (or even worse, sealed into tin barrels) after being kidnapped from their homes, the comparison is obvious. But for all that, he writes well enough that the symbolism never feels forced - if it is slightly heavy handed, I can overlook that because it still gave me a punch in the gut. When the slave traders pull off a salamander's leg or arm and just shrug and assure the narrator that it will grow back anyway, so who cares?, it got to me enough that I sat the book down for a minute.
So, there's the question that is wrestled with for most of the book - are they animals? automatons? fellow thinking beings? Do they have souls, or are they simply a resource to be sold in carefully grouped batches to the highest bidder? Is education and a decent life the best thing for them, as new members of a human society? Or is that what later leads to their victory in a war that sort of doesn't even happen?
In the end, of course, we bring our downfall on ourselves. We breed them and seed them on every coastline in the world, we arm them and train them despite agreements and warnings to the contrary, we base an entire system of worldwide advancement upon them. And then they take over our airwaves and offer to buy the very land from us, with the comment that they're going to take it either way. Čapek, speaking directly to us in the final chapter, offers some little hope, but I'm pretty sure they won out in the end.
final thought: I didn't even touch on all the references to nazis (the Master Newt Race), fascism, unchecked capitalism, environmental damage, and imperialism. In less deft hands, this would have been unreadable. I'm glad to have "discovered" Čapek.
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LibraryThing member thefink
Brilliant satire, it was a shame I couldn't find this book in a Barnes and Noble! Quite arguably "the" classic science fiction writer. Invented the term robot! Although not used in this novel, the "newts" might as well be. There is so much satire in this work, it literally blew my mind. Back to
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back laughs at humanity, politics, religion, capitalism, the list goes on. At some points he is so right on it makes you cringe. Some very prophetic criticisms on Nazis and racial intolerance. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
The humor in this book is pretty biting. As usual humanity always seems to want to put everything into a neat little package and sell it. It's when the package rebels that the fun starts.
LibraryThing member Zmrzlina
I love this story...as true now as it was in early 20th century. It is about so much, but mostly about treating those who are deemed inferior as something less than human, which proves to be a fatal mistake, even when the creature is not human
LibraryThing member technodiabla
I had to constantly check and re-check when this book was written. 1936. I could have been written in 2010. Although I'm quite sure Capek had certain contemporary political, social, and economic issues in mind when he wrote the story of the humans and newts, the story is timeless. The issues he
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highlights: consumerism, capitalism vs. socialism, racism, "human" rights, are timeless. I did appreciate that he did not seem to be preaching on one side or another, but rather, used satire to highlight issues that are often difficult to see clearly when they are your reality. He leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions about what should have been done differently, whether Newt culture is better than Human. A fascinating read. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Between the two World Wars, Čapek wrote a biting satire about modern government and society. Told in a series of vignettes, Čapek takes on racism, colonialism, nationalism, capitalism…Unfortunately, there’s no real plot, every one of the characters are loathsome, and the scenario is so
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disgusting and dumb as to be ridiculous rather than horrifying. Show Less
LibraryThing member colmeags
An almost forgotten classic, this book is enormously entertaining. The book can be read as "just" a very good, imaginative SF story but it is also chock full of satire and ultimately has a very simple but truthful message - people can be really, really stupid.
LibraryThing member Moem
I actually wanted to give this book 3 1/2 stars. Because I liked it, I really did. I just didn't love it.
It's an odd book. It's not as funny as I hoped, but entertaining enough; the writer's style doesn't really flow easily but it's readable enough. The subject matter is original and interesting
If you're into European history, this may very well be the book for you.
It's an odd book. It's not as funny as I hoped, but entertaining enough; the writer's style doesn't really flow easily but it's readable enough. The subject matter is original and interesting
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and lots of historical people make a brief appearance.If you're into European history, this may very well be the book for you.
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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Capek is justly famed for adding the word "Robot" to the English language. This is a lesser work than "R.U.R", but still interesting. An intelligent species the "newts" are discovered, and then they are placed in a condition of peonage by an exploitative capitalist regime. Eventually figuring out
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their position, the newts start blowing up the cities of the world, in order to expand their shoreline ecology. So, they have to go. But they are last seen fighting back successfully against the humans. A chilling parable, written by a Czech in 1937. Show Less
LibraryThing member sarcher
Glad I found a copy of this. Simply wonderful, only eclipsed by modern works that have the luxury of a longer page count.
LibraryThing member HendrikSteyaert
Marvellous. Although written in 1939, still very relevant.
LibraryThing member LizzySiddal
interesting premise but wordy and lacking in pace in many places.
LibraryThing member Charon07
A first-rate satire, on a par with Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut. There are jabs at fascism, sure, given that it was written in late-1930s Czechoslovakia, but also communism, capitalism, and just about any ‑ism people in their benighted self-interest and ideological blinders can invent. It could have
“The world will probably disintegrate and become inundated—but at least it will do so for universally accepted political and economic reasons, at least it will do so with the aid of science, engineering and public opinion, with the application of all human ingenuity!”
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ended with the penultimate chapter and been perfectly satisfying, but the final chapter, the metafictional “The Author Talks to Himself,” is the icing on the cake. “The world will probably disintegrate and become inundated—but at least it will do so for universally accepted political and economic reasons, at least it will do so with the aid of science, engineering and public opinion, with the application of all human ingenuity!”
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1936
ISBN
0141180951 / 9780141180953
Other editions
War with the Newts by Karel Čapek (Paperback)