Crossroads

by Karel Čapek

Written during and right after World War I, this volume pairs two short story collections from Karel Capek, considered one of the greatest Czech writers. The first collection, “Wayside Crosses,” presents an agonized and unsuccessful search for God and truth. These metaphysical tales are not about finding God as much as they are about discovering man’s limitations, his terror and helplessness, and understanding the value of the ongoing search. The second collection, “Painful Tales,” contains more realistic stories of characters being forced to make choices in which one good conflicts with another.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Czech Literature, Literature

Published January 1, 2007

About the author

Karel Čapek is one of the the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He wrote with intelligence and humour on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known for their interesting and precise descriptions of reality, and Čapek is renowned for his excellent work with the Czech language. His play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) first popularized the word "robot".

(Arabic: كارل تشابك) (Hebrew: קארל צ'אפק) (Japanese: 카렐 차페크) (Russian: Карел Чапек)

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

started in 1904ish but from 1917 1921, so not prewwi, but "most popular" czech author and widely translated and printed in uk and usa. was a heady time for the new country and all looked bright, before world depression and hitler, and stalin. uff

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Čapek's books, so I was really looking forward to reading this, another book I thought I would read in honour of the recent celebration of Czechoslovakia's centennial, but in the end I was disappointed. With a few exceptions, most of the stories were too bleak and hopeless. Nothing good ever happens to these characters. While that can be fine to a certain extent, here it is too condensed. I don't know if it is these times we are living in, but I just needed some scrap of optimism to catch hold of, and I didn't get it here.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this mainly because of my recent vacation to Prague. The first section (Wayside Crosses) I'd give 2 stars on its own, with only "The Waiting Room" and "Help!" being what I would consider notable. The second section (Painful Tales) was far superior. The characters and their dilemmas were much more relatable, as strange as some of their predicaments may be. All of the stories in this collection were at least average, with "Three", "Helena" and "Money" reaching greatness.

[Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

he gives miraculously visceral descriptions of so many different forms of human transcendent emotion and i dont understand why he;s not ranked up with borges.

thank you and good night

[Peter]

I think I easily relate to Capek; however the translation is not the best so far.

[Alan Fricker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my least favouriite Capek to date

[Saravana Sastha Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing collection of short stories. Karel Capek work is bliss.