Karel Capek's Books

Believe in People

The Essential Karel Capek

By: Karel Capek

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Believe in People

The Essential Karel Capek

By: Karel Capek

Playful and provocative, irreverent and inspiring, Capek is perhaps the best-loved Czech writer of all time. Novelist and playwright, famed for inventing the word 'robot' in his play RUR, Capek was a vital part of the burgeoning artistic scene of Czechoslovakia of the 1920s and 30s. But it is in his journalism - his brief, sparky and delightful columns - that Capek can be found at his most succinct, direct and appealing. This selection of Capek's writing, translated into English for the first time, contains his essential ideas. The pieces are animated by his passion for the ordinary and the everyday - from laundry to toothache, from cats to cleaning windows - his love of language, his lyrical observations of the world and above all his humanism, his belief in people. His letters to his wife Olga, also published here, are extraordinarily moving and beautifully distinct from his other writings. Uplifting, enjoyable and endlessly wise, Believe in People is a collection to treasure.

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Page Count

394

Publisher

Faber & Faber

Published Date

ISBN 10

0571271707

ISBN 13

9780571271702

Toward the Radical Center

A Karel Čapek Reader

By: Karel Čapek

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Toward the Radical Center

A Karel Čapek Reader

By: Karel Čapek

Capek's best plays, stories, and columns take us from the social contributions of clumsy people to dramatic meditations on mortality and commitment. The Reader includes a new and, at last, complete English translation of R.U.R., the play that introduced the literary robot.

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Page Count

420

Publisher

Catbird Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0945774079

ISBN 13

9780945774075

The Absolute at Large

By: Karel Capek

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The Absolute at Large

By: Karel Capek

The Absolute at Large (Továrna na absolutno in the original Czech, literally translated as The Factory for the Absolute), is a science fiction novel written by Czech author Karel Čapek in 1922. The first sentence opens the story on New Year's Day 1943 -- a future date at the time of writing -- and describes the fundamental transformations in society as the result of a new mystical source of virtually free energy.

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Page Count

175

Publisher

Wildside Press LLC

Published Date

ISBN 10

1667661116

ISBN 13

9781667661117

The Gardener's Year

By: Karel Capek

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The Gardener's Year

By: Karel Capek

The Gardener’s Year is a charming and light-hearted insight into the life of an amateur gardener. Structured loosely around what to plant, grow or cultivate each month, Karel Capek takes us on a rollicking journey through a year in his own small garden. Complete and unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features lively black and white illustrations by Czech artist Josef Capek and is translated by M. and R. Weatherall. From making puddles with an untamable hose to sowing luxuriant weeds instead of grass, Capek reveals how a gardener grows into his surroundings ‘spurred on by each new failure’. Subverting the tradition of a ‘how to’ gardening book, he teaches his readers about the magic of seeds, the perils of planting vegetables and the thrilling surprises of a rock garden. As the year progresses and frail buds turn from flowering stems to drooping bulbs and falling leaves, Capek’s small garden buzzes with life, wisdom and humour.

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Page Count

134

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

1529096251

ISBN 13

9781529096255

Three Novels

Hordubal ; Meteor ; An Ordinary Life

By: Karel Čapek

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Three Novels

Hordubal ; Meteor ; An Ordinary Life

By: Karel Čapek

This trilogy of novels was the culmination of Karel Capek's career. The novels share neither characters nor events; instead, they approach the problem of knowing people--of mutual understanding--in a variety of ways. Detectives faced with a murder reconstruct the crime, but not the character of the man who was murdered. Three people tell stories about a dying pilot they know almost nothing about; each story is as full of truth as it is devoid of facts. And one man looks back on his life and discovers all the people he might have been. Together, these three short novels form a readable philosophical novel unique in world literature.

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Page Count

484

Publisher

Catbird Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0945774087

ISBN 13

9780945774082

Essential Novelists - Karel Capek

Czech Science Fiction

By: August Nemo,Karel Capek

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Essential Novelists - Karel Capek

Czech Science Fiction

By: August Nemo,Karel Capek

Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels of Karel Capek which are The Absolute at Large and The War with the Newts. Karel Čapek was a Czech writer, playwright and critic. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts and play R.U.R., which introduced the word robot. He also wrote many politically charged works dealing with the social turmoil of his time. Influenced by American pragmatic liberalism, he campaigned in favor of free expression and strongly opposed the rise of both fascism and communism in Europe. Novels selected for this book: - The Absolute at Large - The War with the NewtsThis is one ofmany books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.

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Page Count

504

Publisher

Tacet Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

8577773124

ISBN 13

9788577773121

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

By: Karel Capek

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R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

By: Karel Capek

A visionary work of science fiction that introduced the word "robot" Written in 1920, premiered in Prague in 1921, and first performed in New York in 1922—garnered worldwide acclaim for its author and popularized the word robot. Mass-produced as efficient laborers to serve man, Capek’s Robots are an android product—they remember everything but think of nothing new. But the Utopian life they provide ultimately lacks meaning, and the humans they serve stop reproducing. When the Robots revolt, killing all but one of their masters, they must strain to learn the secret of self-duplication. It is not until two Robots fall in love and are christened “Adam” and “Eve” by the last surviving human that Nature emerges triumphant. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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Page Count

116

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0141182083

ISBN 13

9780141182087

Karel Capek Fairy Tales - With One Extra as a Makeweight and Illustrated by Joseph Capek

By: Karel Capek

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Karel Capek Fairy Tales - With One Extra as a Makeweight and Illustrated by Joseph Capek

By: Karel Capek

Karel Capek Fairy Tales is a delightful collection of ten classic children's stories, written by Karel Capek. It is beautifully illustrated throughout, with striking black-and-white images of Karel's brother; Josef Capek. The narratives of 'Capek Fairy Tales' include: 'A Long Tale about a Cat', 'The Dogs' Tale', 'The Birds' Tale', 'The First Bandits' Tale', 'The Water Sprites' Tale', 'The Long Police Tale', and many more. Karel Capek (1890 - 1938) was a Czech writer, best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts and the play, R. U. R, which introduced the word, 'robot'. He maintained a close relationship with his brother Josef (1887 - 1945), and the two lived and worked together for most of their adult life. Together, the Capeks produced books and plays on themes as diverse as detective stories, full-novels, philosophy, fairy tale collections, theatre plays, and even a book on gardening.

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Page Count

225

Publisher

Read Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473381886

ISBN 13

9781473381889

Capek Four Plays

R. U. R.; The Insect Play; The Makropulos Case; The White Plague

By: Karel Capek

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Capek Four Plays

R. U. R.; The Insect Play; The Makropulos Case; The White Plague

By: Karel Capek

There was no writer like him. . . prophetic assurance mixed with surrealistic humour and hard-edged social satire: a unique combination" (Arthur Miller) This volume brings together fresh new translations of four of his most popular plays, more than ever relevant today. In R. U. R., the Robot - an idea Çapek was the first to invent - gradually takes over all aspects of human existence except procreation; The Insect Play is a satirical fable in which beetles, butterflies and ants give dramatic form to different philosophies of life; The Makropulos Case is a fantasy about human mortality, finally celebrating the average lifespan; The White Plague is a savage and anguished satire against fascist dictatorship and the virus of inhumanity.

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Page Count

269

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1408148560

ISBN 13

9781408148563

The Absolute at Large

By: Karel Čapek

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The Absolute at Large

By: Karel Čapek

In this satirical classic, a brilliant scientist invents the Karburator, a reactor that can create abundant and practically free energy. However, the Karburator’s superefficient energy production also yields a powerful by-product. The machine works by completely annihilating matter and in so doing releases the Absolute, the spiritual essence held within all matter, into the world. Infected by the heady, pure Absolute, the world’s population becomes consumed with religious and national fervor, the effects of which ultimately cause a devastating global war."--Publisher's description.

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Page Count

242

Published Date

ISBN 10

0883551330

ISBN 13

9780883551332

The Gardener's Year - Illustrated by Josef Capek

By: Karel Čapek

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The Gardener's Year - Illustrated by Josef Capek

By: Karel Čapek

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

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Page Count

139

Publisher

Read Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1444659642

ISBN 13

9781444659641

Karel Capek Fairy Tales - With One Extra as a Makeweight and Illustrated by Joseph Capek

By: Karel Capek

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Karel Capek Fairy Tales - With One Extra as a Makeweight and Illustrated by Joseph Capek

By: Karel Capek

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225

Publisher

Read Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473381886

ISBN 13

9781473381889

Essential Novelists - Karel Capek

czech science fiction

By: Karel Capek,August Nemo

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Essential Novelists - Karel Capek

czech science fiction

By: Karel Capek,August Nemo

Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels of Karel Capek which are The Absolute at Large and The War with the Newts. Karel apek was a Czech writer, playwright and critic. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts and play R.U.R., which introduced the word robot. He also wrote many politically charged works dealing with the social turmoil of his time. Influenced by American pragmatic liberalism, he campaigned in favor of free expression and strongly opposed the rise of both fascism and communism in Europe. Novels selected for this book: - The Absolute at Large - The War with the NewtsThis is one ofmany books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.

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Page Count

485

Publisher

Tacet Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

3967992497

ISBN 13

9783967992496

Rossum Universal Robots

By: Karel Capek

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Rossum Universal Robots

By: Karel Capek

In May 2010, US scientists succeeded in creating the first self-replicating synthetic life. The advance has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms. In 1920, Karel Capek predicted this exact scenario in his prescient Rossum Universal Robots (R.U.R.) Predating Huxely's Brave New World by two decades, R.U.R. claims the same footing in history as the earliest masterpiece that depicts the decline of Homo Sapiens and their replacement by the Post Humans. Karel Capek was the most famous author in the Czech Republic in the first half of the 20th century. His work widely translated and still inspires story tellers and movie directors the world over. R.U.R inspired Spielberg' A.I., Will Smith' I Robot and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator series, among others. "Capek's play is immortal for that one word it contributed, 'Robot', not only to English but, through English, to all the languages." Isaac Asimov

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Page Count

158

Publisher

Createspace Independent Pub

Published Date

ISBN 10

1481969536

ISBN 13

9781481969536

How a Play is Produced - Illustrated by Joseph Čapek

By: Karel Čapek

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How a Play is Produced - Illustrated by Joseph Čapek

By: Karel Čapek

This vintage text contains a comprehensive guide to producing a play, and is intended for dramatists, dramatic critics, and the general public. It explores what transformations a play must go through before it may flourish, and contains a wealth of interesting and invaluable information on the subject. The chapters of this book include: 'The First Beginnings', 'Casting the Play', 'The Production', 'Reading the Play', 'In the Rehearsal Room', 'Further Rehearsals', 'The Play Matures', 'The Dress Rehearsal – I', 'The Dress Rehearsal – II', 'The Mise en Scéne', 'The First Night', 'After the First Night', etcetera. Karel Capek (1890 - 1938) was a famous Czech writer of the early twentieth-century. He worked as a playwright, publisher, literary reviewer, and art critic, but is most remembered for his science fiction writing. We are republishing this antiquarian text in an affordable, modern edition, complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

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Page Count

129

Publisher

Read Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473394201

ISBN 13

9781473394209

R. U. R. by Karel Capek

By: Karel Capek

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R. U. R. by Karel Capek

By: Karel Capek

R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) is a science fiction play in the Czech language by Karel Capek. It premiered in 1921 and is famous for having introduced and popularized the term robot.

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CreateSpace

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496190084

ISBN 13

9781496190086

Capek Four Plays

R. U. R.; The Insect Play; The Makropulos Case; The White Plague

By: Karel Capek

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Capek Four Plays

R. U. R.; The Insect Play; The Makropulos Case; The White Plague

By: Karel Capek

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Page Count

344

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1408148579

ISBN 13

9781408148570

Toward the Radical Center

A Karel Čapek Reader

By: Karel Čapek

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Toward the Radical Center

A Karel Čapek Reader

By: Karel Čapek

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Page Count

420

Publisher

Catbird Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0945774079

ISBN 13

9780945774075

War with the Newts

By: Karel Capek

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War with the Newts

By: Karel Capek

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.

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Page Count

366

Publisher

Northwestern University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0810107007

ISBN 13

9780810107007

President Masaryk Tells His Story

By: Karel Capek

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President Masaryk Tells His Story

By: Karel Capek

This account of President Masaryk's life was taken from his own lips and set down in his own words by Karel Capek. The chapters were not told consecutively as they are given here; they have been built up from material gathered by Capek during several years of intercourse with the President. For weeks at a time Capek stayed with President Masaryk and his family in their charming country house at Topolcanky, in Slovakia; and in the course of talks on summer days in the fields, beside a bonfire in the evenings, on quiet afternoons in the rose-covered summer-house, or on picnics which the whole family joined, he learned the facts, events and theories which he has woven into this book. This early work by Karel Capek was originally published in 1924 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography.

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Page Count

195

Publisher

Read Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473392918

ISBN 13

9781473392915

Apocryphal Tales

With a Selection of Fables and Would-be Tales

By: Karel Čapek

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Apocryphal Tales

With a Selection of Fables and Would-be Tales

By: Karel Čapek

Translated from the Czech by Norma Comrada A grand collection of tales and fables from one of Czechoslovakia's most respected writers that approach great events and figures of history, myth and literature in startling ways. Jesus's loves and fishes miracle is described from the viewpoint of a baker. Townspeople argue about who's to blame for the approaching hordes of Attila the Hun. Humorous, thought-provoking, and sometimes frightening, they show Capek at his very best.

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