War with the Newts (European Classics) - Softcover

Capek, Karel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810114682 ISBN 13: 9780810114685

Publisher: Northwestern University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Working in the fantastic satiric tradition of Wells, Orwell, and Vonnegut, Karel Capek chronicles the discovery of a colony of highly intelligent giant salamanders on an Indonesian island. Capek sardonically portrays 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 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)

Synopsis:

First published in 1936, a story which focuses on the discovery by humankind of a species of intelligent reptiles which also live on Earth. People have exploited these creatures, but what would happen if the reptiles turned on their overlords?

About this edition

• Publisher: Northwestern University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0810114682
• ISBN 13: 9780810114685
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 384