The Absolute at Large (Classics of Science Fiction) (English and Czech Edition)
Language: English
Published by Hyperion Pr, 1974
- Hardcover
- New
Condition: New
£ 97.46
Quantity: 1 available
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Seller Inventory # 0883551047
- Title
- The Absolute at Large (Classics of Science Fiction) (English and Czech Edition)
- Author
- Capek, Karel
- Publisher
- Hyperion Pr
- Publication year
- 1974
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0883551047
- ISBN 13
- 9780883551042
This story centers on the invention of a reactor that can annihilate matter to produce cheap and abundant energy. Unfortunately, it produces something else as a by-product, the absolute. The absolute is a spiritual essence that according to some religious philosophies allegedly permeates all matter. It is associated with human religious experience, as unsuspecting humanity is to find out all too soon in the story. The widespread adoption of the reactors causes an enormous outpouring of pure absolute into the world. This leads to an outburst of religious and nationalist fervor, causing the greatest, most global war in history.
R. D. Mullen called the novel "one of the genuine masterpieces of SF", but noted that due to its originality "it has surely had no great influence on popular SF".
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"Capek offers the tale of a machine capable of generating limitless energy that also releases the unknown spiritual essence locked within physical matter, with cataclysmic results."―Library Journal (Library Journal)
"The Absolute at Large goes beyond the religious fervor of Nazism, foreshadowing the collectivization of Communism and the emergence of a free market too wide for any known West."―Village Voice (Village Voice)
"A satirical science fiction classic. . . . Though Capek wrote The Absolute at Large more than 80 years ago, it absolutely retains its wit and relevance today."―Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, News Review (Donna McCrohan Rosenthal News Review)
"Capek's dialog is fantastic, his characters richly drawn. But his vision of a world transcendently captivated by an apparent higher calling and then hoodwinked into war for nine years over a source of fuel is so prescient, it makes the novel seem like it was written today."―Cara Hoffman, NPR's All Things Considered (Cara Hoffman NPR's All Things Considered)
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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