Appearance
War With the Newts
"If you were to look for the little island of Tana Masa on a map" today, you probably wouldn't find it. It must surely have been obliterated by the tsunami of 2004. But the prescient, wonderous and disasterous story of Capt.van Toch, G.H. Bondy, Mr. Povondra, and, above all, Andy (Andrias Scheuchzeri) will, fortunately, always be available to warn, entertain, enthrall and amaze us. In several languages, some of them unknown, in addition to English. Very highly recommended.
War With the Newts
Karel Capek is best known for RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), which gave us our modern word "robot" from the Czech "robota".In "War with the Newts", Capek satirizes human society, nationalism, and science. First, humans think the newts are devils. Next, they are killed and examined. Once their strengths are understood, they are exploited by greedy manufactures. Until war breaks out...Response to the newts varies by country: Germany does terrible experiments on them, in France there is labor unrest, England bans them from entering the country, etc.Throughout, Capek's ironic sense of humor sparkles.An excellent read --- and lesson to learn.
War With the Newts
This title doesn't often come up in lists of the best sf works of all time, but it definitely has a place there. Profoundly hilarious, this book and its characters have influenced many a science fiction writer since its release (anybody see a little bit of the Newts in the "Gungan" from the most recent Star Wars film?). Read it or suffer.
War With the Newts
To get a good look at what colonialism did to the Africa and the like, then read this book. There are a few flaws, I think, in that those colonized want to seek revenge. However, this is a great book for young people and adult to read and analyze without getting too caught up in race.
War With the Newts
I've been going back and forth between three and four stars with this one for some time now. I want to be fair, but also want to avoid being too "top-heavy" or overly-positive with everything. That said, I must finally admit that while this is certainly a good book, I don't think it will become one of my favorites. Three stars, I think, is my final decision, and I mean that positively - it's a book deserving fully of three stars.Capek was certainly important to science fiction, an accomplished writer, and possessing of generous wit. I found myself laughing out loud from time to time despite the overly serious undertones contained throughout. The middle section dragged a bit with its profuse and long footnotes, which grew irritating after a time. I know Capek was being as "authentic" as possible with a work of fiction, but I myself am glad that it has not been much emulated since. There are a few obvious religious parallels and of course political messages. But at the heart, it is an enjoyable science fiction story. I consider three stars to be a good rating for a good book, and I encourage skeptical readers to push their way through it.
War With the Newts
Karel Capek wrote this book against the dark clouds of the unholy duos of communism and nazism, of the world of Hitler's and Stalin's. The pessimistic, yet humorous outlook on humanity and the adversities befalling it at the nimble hands of the newts, is as valid today, as it was in 1936, when this book was first published. Shrouded in a wealth of detail, the "War With The Newts" anticipated much of what happened in the decades after the 1930s, anything from the population explosion to the horrors of World War II. Capek's book is to literature, what Herge's "Tintin" is to comic books. You will not regret reading it - warmly recommended!