The visionary Czech writer Karel Capek (1890-1938), one of the century's great authors, first gained fame during the 1920s & '30s when his short st...
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Nov 06, 2011
Nancy
rated it: 
A Dutch captain discovers giant talking newts on a remote island and teaches them to use tools, fight off predators, and collect pearls for him. They are eventually exploited by international corporations and the newts challenge man's place at the top of the animal kingdom.
Capek covers a multitude of issues and subjects in this wonderful satire -- capitalism, militarism, racism, and even Hollywood. A great read!
Capek covers a multitude of issues and subjects in this wonderful satire -- capitalism, militarism, racism, and even Hollywood. A great read!
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Jul 04, 2011
Joerg
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Eine bisher unentdeckte Molchart, die von den Menschen im Tausch von Perlen gegen Waffen zum Selbstschutz gegen Haie ausgerüstet wird, schwingt sich durch hohe Fertilität zur neuen dominierenden Gattung auf, die Menschen verstehen es nicht und lassen sich die Welt von den Molchen abkaufen, indem sie anfangs Küstenstriche, später ganze Kontinentalteile von den Molchen abgraben und ins Meer versinken lassen.
Für mich ein Gleichnis auf die Globalisierung - wir, der Westen lagern kleinweise alle More...
Für mich ein Gleichnis auf die Globalisierung - wir, der Westen lagern kleinweise alle More...
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Nov 01, 2009
Pavel
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One of the most enjoyable books I ever read, and definetely only one distopia I really ever liked.
Main concept of this book was repeated many many times after, for example in Starship Troopers. Goverment finds a public enemy, moves it ahead, unleashes society and mass-media on it, eventually organizes a war against it...Heroes, tragedies, war crimes.. for what? Newts!
(well we could find examples of this not only in literature, won't we).
BUT, as oppossed to We or More...
Main concept of this book was repeated many many times after, for example in Starship Troopers. Goverment finds a public enemy, moves it ahead, unleashes society and mass-media on it, eventually organizes a war against it...Heroes, tragedies, war crimes.. for what? Newts!
(well we could find examples of this not only in literature, won't we).
BUT, as oppossed to We or More...
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Apr 24, 2008
Robert
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A brilliant book. This book is one of the high peaks between Swift and Twain and later broad scale social critics in fiction such as Kurt Vonnegut. Published in 1936 it takes it chops up a broad sample of contemporary politics, culture and values. Most of what it has to say about mankind and its collective arrogance holds up today with astounding clarity. This book has not dated at all in any significant way.
The book is about the discovery of an intelligent species of water dwe More...
The book is about the discovery of an intelligent species of water dwe More...
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Apr 09, 2007
Ryan
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Synopsis: Kapek wrote in the post-WW1 era. In the book, a sea captain finds a bay that harbors giant newts, about the size of a ten year old human, complete with digits and all. The newts are intelligent, and he trains them to capture pearls for him. Eventually, a company forms that sends the Newts to all parts of the world for slave labor. Because of their intelligence (about equal to humans) and the training and supplies given them by man, the Newts spread all over the world (they get up t
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Jan 10, 2010
Tyler
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1985 was the worst year of my life. The previous summer our family had moved from Calgary to Saskatoon and I had left behind a group of very close friends. I had just graduated high school and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I did know that I would rather go to school than get a job, so for perhaps the first time in my life I really applied myself academically in a last ditch effort to get accepted into University. I pulled off a 99% in a summer school Chemistry class, which must
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Jul 11, 2011
Carien
rated it:
While in Prague I decided I should try a book by a Czech author. I picked up War with the Newts as the concept of intelligent newts sounded intriguing.
It was a very interesting and at times funny read.
It's build up in three parts and of these part one is the most funny and the most like an actual story. Part two is rather dry and written like a collections of articles, although there's lots of humor in this part as well. Part three is the most grim and written like the recoun More...
It was a very interesting and at times funny read.
It's build up in three parts and of these part one is the most funny and the most like an actual story. Part two is rather dry and written like a collections of articles, although there's lots of humor in this part as well. Part three is the most grim and written like the recoun More...
Nov 27, 2011
Sokolik
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Svět po první světové válce propadl iluzi, že udělal vše pro to, aby se už podobné hrůzy neopakovaly. Avšak ve třicátých letech se stále více ukazovalo, jak byly tyto představy naivní. Svět naplno prožívá hospodářskou krizi, a mnoho lidí hledá podporu v extremistickych hnutích, jak by se daly nazvat všechny ty ...ismy na vzestupu. A právě takové společnosti nastavuje ve svém románu Válka s mloky Karel Čapek zrcadlo. Nabízí světu nový způsob, jak se vymanit z krize, zlepšit blahobyt všech. Avšak
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Apr 17, 2011
Fred
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A funny little story about newts. The opening was the best, the odd spectacle (and economic possibilities) of intelligent newts making for some good scenes. The humor is sometimes too broad or obvious, but often hits home, and Capek is an equal opportunity offender, with no axe to grind. The war itself, although it had a certain awful logic (reminiscent of our conquest of America), was not as well done. Opportunities for genuine horror were avoided in preference to a comic summary of the act
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Apr 29, 2010
David
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The book begins with the discovery of an isolated population of salamanders the size of 10-year-old boys and with the intelligence of perhaps stone age humans. From there, short-sighted humans make decisions to use the salamanders for short-term benefits. Generally, the people aren't mean-hearted, just oblivious to later consequences or having biased perspectives. Over time, various people using various means to use the salamanders for gain move ahead a process creating a growing problem. To
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Sep 14, 2010
Leslie
rated it:
A strange mixture of satire, science fiction and cautionary tale -- an obvious statement about the rise of Nazi Germany, but aside from some old-fashioned language, there were many similarities to today's world. The chapter entitled "Earthquake in Louisiana" was particularly eerie, in light of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The book was slow-going in places but I would recommend it.
The book was slow-going in places but I would recommend it.
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Jan 03, 2011
pinknantucket
rated it: 
"War with the Newts" featured rather a lot less war than I expected, being more an account of the events leading up to the said war than a detailed account of the war itself. I enjoyed it a great deal, though my enthusiasm waned during a long chapter "Along the steps of civilisation" which featured lots of footnotes referencing (fictional) news items. I'm not good at footnotes, especially when they span multiple pages; I find it hard to concentrate on the narrative. (Even tho
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Mar 22, 2011
Annika
rated it:
If you ever want to learn something about how the human mind/society works - read this book.
This book left a deep impression on me - on the one hand because of Mr. Capeks visionary sight (mind the date when he wrote the book when you might read it) and on the other hand by his very profound (and unfoturnately true) charaterization of "civilazition".
There are very detailed reviews on Amazon so I won't repeat what lots of people have written already once. Like Francis Bacon More...
This book left a deep impression on me - on the one hand because of Mr. Capeks visionary sight (mind the date when he wrote the book when you might read it) and on the other hand by his very profound (and unfoturnately true) charaterization of "civilazition".
There are very detailed reviews on Amazon so I won't repeat what lots of people have written already once. Like Francis Bacon More...
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Dec 09, 2010
Velma
rated it:
Satire, dark humor, a race of quasi-intelligent super-amphibians that take over the world: a recipe for a happy Velma, indeed. If you want an antidote to today's pessimistic, over-the-top political climate and end-times culture wars: avoid this book like the plague. If, instead, you want a neo-Swiftian dystopian romp of an all-that-is-old-is-new-again, hey-didn't-we-DO-colonialism-slash-fascism-slash-arms-racing-Armageddon-already, we-haven't-come-a-long-way-baby sweet read, then crack the spine
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Aug 05, 2011
Julia
rated it:
Im Jahre 1939 vom Tschecken Karel Capek geschrieben, eine Utopie, der der Mensch nur allzu gerecht wird:
Ein Kapitän stößt bei der Perlensuche auf eine gar sonderbare Molchart, die sich für seine Suche einsetzen lässt. Die Existenz der Salamander bleibt nicht lange geheim, die Menschheit ist zunächst ob ihrer Hässlichkeit entsetzt, beginnt jedoch rasch, sie für ihre Zwecke zu nutzen und zu knechten. Die Molche, friedfertig und behäbig ... oder doch nicht? Wie ich finde ein ganz wunderbares Stückl More...
Ein Kapitän stößt bei der Perlensuche auf eine gar sonderbare Molchart, die sich für seine Suche einsetzen lässt. Die Existenz der Salamander bleibt nicht lange geheim, die Menschheit ist zunächst ob ihrer Hässlichkeit entsetzt, beginnt jedoch rasch, sie für ihre Zwecke zu nutzen und zu knechten. Die Molche, friedfertig und behäbig ... oder doch nicht? Wie ich finde ein ganz wunderbares Stückl More...
Feb 07, 2012
Frank
rated it:
This was really quite a strange and bizarre novel. I really did enjoy it. Capek took a stab at most everything in society with his satire of the Newts. This included slavery and segregation in America, the arms race, fascism and Nazi Germany - at one point the Germans even point out that their Newts are a superior Nordic Newt race! There was a lot of humor in the book but also a lot of disturbing images including the mistreatment and experimentation on the Newts. Overall, I would rank this book
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Jun 12, 2011
Michaela
rated it:
Biting satire. I have some discomfort with the author's seemingly cavalier treatment of some Jewish characters but it is impossible for me to know if this was meant to be part of the satire or is part of the author's own prejudices. Still the writing is brilliant and prescient (written in 1936.) A quote from one of the journalist characters, "I lost that game. It suddenly struck me that every move in chess was old and had already been played by someone. Perhaps our history has already
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Jun 08, 2011
Angela
rated it:
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
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Nov 19, 2011
Lorenzo
rated it:
VÁLKA S MLOKY: A RECIPE
It may not be a conventional Czech or Slovakian speciality, but a válka s mloky is an excellent and tasty alternative to the unbearable lightness of being when a metamorphosis into an engineer of the human souls is too loud a solitude.
Preparation time: 1936-1937
Cooking time: approximately 3 days
You will need:
- An aquarium
- An atlas reporting the pre World War II borders
- Around 100 newts of both genders
- Sea salt
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It may not be a conventional Czech or Slovakian speciality, but a válka s mloky is an excellent and tasty alternative to the unbearable lightness of being when a metamorphosis into an engineer of the human souls is too loud a solitude.
Preparation time: 1936-1937
Cooking time: approximately 3 days
You will need:
- An aquarium
- An atlas reporting the pre World War II borders
- Around 100 newts of both genders
- Sea salt
More...
Jan 14, 2010
Ivan
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 10, 2008
Michael
rated it:
I don't think I can explain this book very well but I will try. It's about a species of intelligent newts that are discovered in the pacific ocean. These newts can walk on two legs and are about four feet tall. After being discovered, they are used in industrial projects around the world, building ports and canals and even new continents, driving humanity into a new age of prosperity.
Such a prosperity is short lived as, like the Golem, these tools of mankind become the germ of it's destruction.
D More...
Such a prosperity is short lived as, like the Golem, these tools of mankind become the germ of it's destruction.
D More...
Aug 23, 2011
Hugo
rated it:
Un libro mordaz y de humor negro. Sin tener un protagonista definido (varia desde un loco Capitán de barco navegante de las islas del Pacifico, un empresario capitalista, el secretario de este empresario, etc.) la historia narra como la humanidad asimilaría una nueva raza inteligente de salamandras subacuáticas, tan listas como para resolver cualquier problema matemático y trabajar sin quejarse, el trabajador perfecto. Ambientado después de la primera guerra mundial, las salamandras son adoptada
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Mar 13, 2011
Tyler
rated it:
I asked for this book for Christmas after I saw it on Yehudi's list here and it sounded neat.
And indeed.
Writen by a Czech author in 1936, as Central Europe (and the world, I guess) blundered into Fascism, racialism as politics, and eugenic abstractions, this is a really weird and funny comment on the seemingly inevitable crappiness of humankind.
The way District 9 simply HAD to be made in post-Apartheid South Africa, War With The Newts simply HAD to be writt More...
And indeed.
Writen by a Czech author in 1936, as Central Europe (and the world, I guess) blundered into Fascism, racialism as politics, and eugenic abstractions, this is a really weird and funny comment on the seemingly inevitable crappiness of humankind.
The way District 9 simply HAD to be made in post-Apartheid South Africa, War With The Newts simply HAD to be writt More...
Apr 20, 2010
Jason
rated it:
Although it suffers a little as a novel by having no single protagonist to draw one through the decades, War With The Newts is an exceptionally witty and mischievous satire - on just about everything. A species of large and smart newts are discovered, trained and quickly enslaved by humanity, before organising their own inevitable rebellion. This frame provides opportunities for taking the mickey out of scientists, business, politics, religion, you name it. Lots of fun.
Jul 24, 2011
Great fun.
The story of mankind's downfall and destruction as caused by human hubris.
The tensions and ambitions of Imperialist Europe find new expression once a species of super-newt is discovered. To the suprise of all the newts eventually turn against the humans, but in a nice touch they hire human lawyers to represent their interests at the peace talks.
There is a thematic overlap here with the abuse and revolt of labour in Capek's RUR.
Recommen
The story of mankind's downfall and destruction as caused by human hubris.
The tensions and ambitions of Imperialist Europe find new expression once a species of super-newt is discovered. To the suprise of all the newts eventually turn against the humans, but in a nice touch they hire human lawyers to represent their interests at the peace talks.
There is a thematic overlap here with the abuse and revolt of labour in Capek's RUR.
Recommen
Nov 06, 2011
Bettie
rated it:
Fossil of the extinct giant salamander Andrias scheuchzeri, the basis for Čapek's newts
blurb - When humans discover a race of intelligent reptile hominids, will the world survive?
Starring Dermot Crowley and Sally Hawkins.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01...
Feb 21, 2011
Moem
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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 and lots of historical people make a brief appearance.
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 and lots of historical people make a brief appearance.
If you're into European history, this may very well be the book for you.
Aug 10, 2010
Lisa
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A science fiction ground breaker, written between the first and second world wars. Intelligent Newts have been discovered, and each of the countries in Europe responds according to thier cultural natures: befriend them? Enslave them? Exploit them? Worship them? What do the relationships we make with other creatures say about who we are? Still relevant after all of these years.
Sep 14, 2011
Michele
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An odd little book but with a good deal of quirky (if dark) charm. Written in the form of a historical account of events interspersed with story interludes, it relates the accidental beginnings and -- once begun -- inevitable consequences of the domestication of Andreas Schusteri, the Giant Newt of the order Salamandridae. The Salamanders are a singularly humorless bunch, but the book has any number of very funny bits indeed. Not least of these is the Chief Salamander's choice of musical inte
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Apr 15, 2009
Artnoose
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Yet another book read for the dystopian science fiction book club. This delightful book was written in the 1930's and tells of the discovery of a population of newts who, in addition to being much taller and dexterous than your average variety, are also capable of being taught speech and mechanics. They are of course bred into a race of slaves for corporate capitalism. And why not breed millions of intelligent salamanders and arm them with explosives, technology, and weapons? What could go wrong
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