Karel Čapek
Paperback | Pages: 248 pages Rating: 3.86 | 1618 Users | 148 Reviews
Describe Books Concering The Absolute at Large
| Original Title: | Továrna na absolutno |
| ISBN: | 0803264593 (ISBN13: 9780803264595) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Description Supposing Books The Absolute at Large
In this satirical classic, a brilliant scientist invents the Karburator, a reactor that can create abundant and practically free energy. However, the Karburator’s superefficient energy production also yields a powerful by-product. The machine works by completely annihilating matter and in so doing releases the Absolute, the spiritual essence held within all matter, into the world. Infected by the heady, pure Absolute, the world’s population becomes consumed with religious and national fervor, the effects of which ultimately cause a devastating global war. Set in the mid-twentieth century, The Absolute at Large questions the ethics and rampant spread of power, mass production, and atomic weapons that Karel Capek saw in the technological and political revolutions occurring around him. Stephen Baxter provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.Point Regarding Books The Absolute at Large
| Title | : | The Absolute at Large |
| Author | : | Karel Čapek |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Frontiers of Imagination |
| Pages | : | Pages: 248 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 2006 by Bison Books (first published 1920) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Science Fiction. European Literature. Czech Literature. Classics |
Rating Regarding Books The Absolute at Large
Ratings: 3.86 From 1618 Users | 148 ReviewsJudgment Regarding Books The Absolute at Large
Capek's pioneering works are indeed worthy to read; yet, a modern reader- already divulged by the perennial dreary image of dystopian future, when the rebellious robots and machines will threaten the human race- may ironically find his novels and plays, which were once original and indeed seminal, cliché and outdated. Nevertheless, 'the absolute at large' sounds original and even surprising.Capek machinates stores of interesting ideas and brings them into this novel, wherein each of those ideasAs the Robots take over the world in Karel Čapeks R.U.R, so the Absolute, that is, the God of Spinoza, the God imminent in all of nature, escapes and explodes from entrapment in gross material form by means of a newfangled invention, the Karburator, to take over the minds of all the humans on the face of the earth.Where will this God-infused human experience lead? As a way of answering this question, below are a number of the novels philosophical moments. And please keep in mind Karel Čapeks
Very clever, very funny, very dark. I can hardly believe this was written all the way back in the 1920s. What happens - or rather - how people react when the pure substance of 'God', or the Absolute, appear in the world. Quite prophetic really (World War II and other wars of the last and our century)but almost a hundred years on it doesn't seem to me we have progressed that much from Capek's characters.
"You know, the greater the things are in which a man believes, the more fiercely he despises those who do not believe in them. And yet the greatest of all beliefs would be belief in one's fellow-men."Plotwise, this book follows a similar trajectory to Capek's later work, War With the Newts, which, in my opinion, is the better of the two. However, The Absolute at Large is an interesting novel in its own right, and should not be missed. As I mentioned in my last Capek review, the author's cynical
The God FactoryWhat genius! The talent to creatively and productively rubbish an entire intellectual tradition would be enough to establish Čapek as a master-satirist. That he does it with such wit, humour and self-effacement puts him in a class of his own, perhaps as the court jester of Modernism who tweaks everyones beard and becomes the more loved for it.Platonic monism is arguably the most enduring conception of the world we live in. And not just among philosophers. The monistic attitude is
Upfront: After reading a number of books about the catastrophe of our present administration and, then, one of the most heart-rendering and depressing Holocaust memoirs, namely, Jakob Littners Aufzeichnungen aus einem Erdloch (Notes Jotted Down from a Hole in the Ground), I needed an uplifting read. So I chose Karel Capeks classic satire The Absolute at Large, as I had already become a fan of Karel Capek a few years ago, when I read his book War of the Newts, which is, so far, my favorite satire
I first heard about this novel a couple of weeks ago on NPR's You Must Read This series, which, in case you aren't familiar with it, features well-known authors recommending books other than their own for your consideration; your favorite authors' favorite reads, if you will. I was not familiar with the author who recommended this, and I can't remember her name now, but when she described the plot, I knew I needed to read it. Apparently, Capek was a well-known Czech novelist and playwright (whom
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