Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin (Non-Classics) (1975), Paperback, 160 pages
Description
Translated from the Czech by Norma Comrada A grand collection of tales and fables from one of Czechoslovakia's most respected writers that approach great events and figures of history, myth and literature in startling ways. Jesus's loves and fishes miracle is described from the viewpoint of a baker. Townspeople argue about who's to blame for the approaching hordes of Attila the Hun. Humorous, thought-provoking, and sometimes frightening, they show Capek at his very best.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
The great Czech writer Karel Capek is best known for his sci fi works – RUR, the play where the term ‘robot’ first appeared, and War of the Newts, a novel pitting mankind against intelligent amphibians – but his writings were impressively varied. His work includes a book on gardening, an
The stories are casual and funny; they usually have one interesting or humorous idea and end after a few pages. Capek’s conversational style emphasizes that people have been the same throughout history and will always be complaining, nostalgic, prejudiced and a little self-delusional. The day-to-day irritations are more important to his characters than the history that they are living. This is especially true in the Apocryphal Tales. Capek didn’t intend for the stories to be a collection and they were written between 1920 and 1938. However, one would never know that when reading them straight through. This book organizes them by time period and Capek touches on well-known moments in Western history (and literature). There are stories about the Greeks and Romans, Jesus Christ and biblical characters, Attila and Napoleon, Don Juan and characters from Shakespeare. Usually we see the story from a side character or a different angle. Alexander the Great has a whole string of justifications for his conquests. A baker is appalled at Jesus’ miracle with the loaves; Lazarus lives in fear of dying again after being brought back to life. Hamlet struggles over his desire to be both a poet and an actor and a priest tells the real story of Romeo and Juliet.
The other set of stories are the Would-Be Tales and they are set in Capek’s present day. These stories feature an ersatz libertine, an out of control lawsuit, a man who can fly, and a solution to the problem of being the first guest to arrive at a party. Some of the Apocryphal Tales can be seen as a comment on the political events of the day – the stories include vicious mobs, blind nationalism and unquestioning prejudices. Still, Capek’s warmth and humor make the stories less depressing than they might be otherwise. Two from the Would-Be Tales also touch on the atmosphere in 1938. The Anonymous Letter has a journalist who receives vicious hate mail (much like Capek was at the time) accidentally bumps into one of his persecutors. The man is polite but insignificant, at odds with all his detailed threats. The journalist feels surprise and finally pity and I thought of internet trolls who are probably for the most part normal people except for the online hate that they spew. In Ten Centavos, ostensibly set in Lisbon, Manoel Varga isn’t concerned about the new regime but suddenly finds himself accused of corrupting the nation and spreading subversive ideas due to his support of adult education. Capek has a happy ending for that one as Varga finds out that not everyone shuns him. Overall, very enjoyable stories.
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idiosyncratic biography of T.G. Masaryk, travel writing and short stories in several genres. I greatly enjoyed Capek’s Tales from Two Pockets, a collection of short mysteries. I don’t know if I would have been impressed had I only read one or two but the whole collection is rather impressive in its sheer variety and the humorous but affectionate way Capek exposes his characters’ foibles and faults. Despite the fact that the occasional murder pops up, I always remember the book with a smile. Capek’s Apocryphal Stories has similar pleasures.The stories are casual and funny; they usually have one interesting or humorous idea and end after a few pages. Capek’s conversational style emphasizes that people have been the same throughout history and will always be complaining, nostalgic, prejudiced and a little self-delusional. The day-to-day irritations are more important to his characters than the history that they are living. This is especially true in the Apocryphal Tales. Capek didn’t intend for the stories to be a collection and they were written between 1920 and 1938. However, one would never know that when reading them straight through. This book organizes them by time period and Capek touches on well-known moments in Western history (and literature). There are stories about the Greeks and Romans, Jesus Christ and biblical characters, Attila and Napoleon, Don Juan and characters from Shakespeare. Usually we see the story from a side character or a different angle. Alexander the Great has a whole string of justifications for his conquests. A baker is appalled at Jesus’ miracle with the loaves; Lazarus lives in fear of dying again after being brought back to life. Hamlet struggles over his desire to be both a poet and an actor and a priest tells the real story of Romeo and Juliet.
The other set of stories are the Would-Be Tales and they are set in Capek’s present day. These stories feature an ersatz libertine, an out of control lawsuit, a man who can fly, and a solution to the problem of being the first guest to arrive at a party. Some of the Apocryphal Tales can be seen as a comment on the political events of the day – the stories include vicious mobs, blind nationalism and unquestioning prejudices. Still, Capek’s warmth and humor make the stories less depressing than they might be otherwise. Two from the Would-Be Tales also touch on the atmosphere in 1938. The Anonymous Letter has a journalist who receives vicious hate mail (much like Capek was at the time) accidentally bumps into one of his persecutors. The man is polite but insignificant, at odds with all his detailed threats. The journalist feels surprise and finally pity and I thought of internet trolls who are probably for the most part normal people except for the online hate that they spew. In Ten Centavos, ostensibly set in Lisbon, Manoel Varga isn’t concerned about the new regime but suddenly finds himself accused of corrupting the nation and spreading subversive ideas due to his support of adult education. Capek has a happy ending for that one as Varga finds out that not everyone shuns him. Overall, very enjoyable stories.
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LibraryThing member gbill
Czech author Karel Čapek continues to impress me as I traipse through his oeuvre. Published in newspapers between 1920 and 1938, the year of his death, the short stories here are imaginative takes on stories or figures from classic literature, the Bible, or history. He’s playful and light, but
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usually writes with a point, making his readers think about current events or the nature of mankind. He was a voice of reason and humanity during a frightening time in Europe, with fascism and hatred on the rise, and while he never preaches, it’s easy to see why he was wanted by the Gestapo. One can’t help but see parallels to some of today’s politics, as well, and Čapek’s central observations, including the wisdom of kindness, are timeless. Show Less
LibraryThing member setnahkt
An amusing collection of short stories, by Karel Čapek, author of R.U.R. and War With the Newts. These are gently satirical takes on figures from history and literature – Prometheus, Alexander the Great, the Nativity, Hamlet, and so forth. A fun read.
LibraryThing member FPdC
Karel Čapek, the most important czech writer (writing in the czech language) of the first half of the 20th Century, author of the famous War With the Newts, wrote, in this collection of short stories, one of the funniest and most serious books I ever read. Originaly published postumously in czech
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in 1945 with the title Kniha Apokryfu, this book consists in twenty nine short stories, written between the two world wars, in which the author tries to see the ''other side'' of well known historical or mythical episodes: the inner workings of the court that condemned Prometheus, the small talk of an elderly stone age couple complaining about the youth, the chat of a group of former Cesar's legionaries, around a bottle of wine, years after the end of Galia's campaign, the indignation of a Jerusalem's baker with Jesus' miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, and numerous other stories about biblical, literary, and historical episodes. Not all of the stories are funny but nearly all of them are brilliant and with wonderful punch lines. A book I very much enjoyed reading and will likely return to from time to time. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
Czech
Original publication date
1932
Physical description
160 p.; 7 inches
ISBN
0140038604 / 9780140038606