War with the Newts - Softcover

Capek, Karel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141180951 ISBN 13: 9780141180953

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1998

Synopsis

The human world is stunned to discover that there is another intelligent species on the planet - a race of sophisticated, bipedal amphibious reptiles, ripe for exploitation by mankind. These creatures can use tools, fashion products and do the workno real person would wish to do. And fight. And perhaps even turn on those who had taken them for granted for so long. Written in 1936, WAR WITH THE NEWTS is a darkly humorous commentary on the cruelty and venality of man, the folly of exploitation, and the seeds of conflict. As Europe moved ever closer to the Second World War, the allegory within WAR WITH THE NEWTS was proved savagely right.

About this title

Review:

A great writer of the past who speaks to the present in a voice brilliant, clear, honourable, blackly funny and prophetic (Kurt Vonnegut)

His satire still packs a punch, and the storytelling is brilliant. (The Times)

This [series] is a wonderful idea ... They are absurdist parables, by turns hilarious, unsettling and enigmatic. (Nicholas Lezard Guardian)

[The series] sheds remarkable light on the literature, culture and politics of the region...anyone coming fresh to the field will be captivated by the richness, variety, humour and pathos of a classic literature that, through a shared historical experience, transcends national and linguistic boundaries. (CJ Schüler Independent on Sunday)

I urge you to go and read them. (Adam Thirlwell New Statesman)

This new series of Central European Classics is important well beyond simply providing 'good reads'. (Stephen Vizinczey Daily Telegraph)

From the Back Cover:

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 intellectual fascination to mercantile opportunism - and the ultimate destruction from which it (and the newts) might not escape.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0141180951
• ISBN 13: 9780141180953
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368