Discussion for War with the Newts

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

Start discussion here for War with the Newts by Karel Čapek.

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

About the Book

This legendary but previously hard-to-get novel is a hilarious dystopian satire about the choice between ecological catastrophe and making your quarterly financial goals. As both a commentary on capitalism and the rise of fascism, as well as an early work of science fiction, it is one of the most important books of the twentieth century.

When the curmudgeonly sailor Captain von Toch discovers a breed of large, intelligent newts in far-off Polynesia, he realizes that, with a little training, they could be used as a virtual army of complacent pearl-divers in shark-infested waters. Then von Toch’s financial backers realize that the newts can be trained for all kinds of underwater civil engineering projects, or to build new islands, even to defend shorelines—wielding weapons, no less!

There’s only one problem: released from their previous environment, the newts replicate like, well, aqua-bunnies. And soon they aren’t so complacent anymore.

Acclaimed by many as the first dystopian novel, and others as the best book of science fiction ever written, Karel Capek’s masterpiece remains all that and more: smart, funny, and relevant.

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".

[[deleted user]]

I forced myself to finish this book as I unfortunately didn't enjoy it. I understood why Capek focused on such a topic and liked the 'friendly' style of the narration that showed some humour but the idea seemed too farfetched and it became a bit of a farce. And there was no firm character(s) or storyline to get behind to keep me interested.

What did others think?

[Diane , Armchair Tour Guide]

This is an amazing book. I tend avoid reading sci-fi books, yet I always seem to enjoy them. I am glad I finally got around to reading this one. It is the story about the discover of some large amphibian newt-like creatures by Europeans in Indonesia. Their populations had been kept in check by the sharks of the area. Humans provided them with ways to defend themselves against the sharks. As the years went on, humans exploited these creatures for their own benefit. The creatures were fast learners and became more resourceful and communicative. It was also discovered that they had some features that made them more resilient to things that humans were not. The title tips you off to what finally occurs.

This book provides an accurate description of the flaws in human society. It's timing makes me wonder how much of it is allegorical to Nazi Germany. The speculative aspects of this book are brilliant and well-researched/ imagined. I didn't give it a 5 since many parts of it are too scientific for my taste (hence my avoidance of sci-fi in general).

[Rosemarie]

I finally have a copy of this book and will be reading it soon.

[Herrholz]

I am currently half way through. I am finding out that satire is not a genre that appeals to me - at least in the literary form. I think that personally I prefer to tackle the issues more head on rather than disguising them in satirical allegory and humor. But that`s just me!

[Rosemarie]

I have finished the book and enjoy the satirical aspects of the book. It shows what happens to a society that puts business and profit before common sense. As well as showing how difficult it is for nations to look at the bigger picture of saving the world instead of local issues.
It is a good companion work to R.U.R, which shows what happens when people become too dependent on machines.

[Suki]

I liked Newts better than R.U.R., but there were certainly parts that were hard to read. It is stunning to see how casually cruel humans can be to those they consider beneath them (poor Hans!!), and how they could take a peaceful race like the newts and twist them into humanity's conquerors-- and how short-sighted they were about it all. Ironically, the newts will end up defeating themselves because they have become too much like humans.