Michael
The War with the Newts is a satirical, dystopian, speculative fiction novel by Karel Čapek. Čapek was a Czechoslovakian writer of the interwar years and War with the Newts was written in 1936. It skewers politics (liberal, democratic, and fascist), Hollywood, newspaper reporters, and even pretentious university professors, and he seems to hold a special contempt for the politicians of the day. In addition, Hitler’s presence was looming over central Europe and the Nazis rightly considered this novel subversive (they did try to arrest Čapek after the invasion, but they hadn’t realized he had died, so they arrested his wife instead).
The novel is in 3 parts. The first part relates the discovery of a species of giant newts or salamanders who are I think around 4 feet tall. They walk on two legs and are amphibious. Part two is about the exploitation of the newts. It is full of newspaper articles and “scientific” articles and contains copious footnotes. They are essentially turned into slaves and since there are so many of them, they are considered expendable. There are the beginnings of arguments among the maritime countries of the world about the newts. The third part is about…well, you can see it in the title.
Due to the type of novel and the large cast of characters, who are heavily satirized, it was impossible for me to identify with any of them, apart from Mr. Povondra. I really liked him. The style strikes me as very 1930s, and the translation is faithful to this style. However, I really liked this novel and appreciated the mirror it held to 1930s Europe and the US. It is a mirror that could be held up to the world as it exists today, as well. I am not well-read enough to understand the details as they relate to the world at that time.
I think there are people who have read this and do not like the way it ended—the last chapter is titled “The author talks with himself.” I thought it was perfect.
The War with the Newts is a satirical, dystopian, speculative fiction novel by Karel Čapek. Čapek was a Czechoslovakian writer of the interwar years and War with the Newts was written in 1936. It skewers politics (liberal, democratic, and fascist), Hollywood, newspaper reporters, and even pretentious university professors, and he seems to hold a special contempt for the politicians of the day. In addition, Hitler’s presence was looming over central Europe and the Nazis rightly considered this novel subversive (they did try to arrest Čapek after the invasion, but they hadn’t realized he had died, so they arrested his wife instead).
The novel is in 3 parts. The first part relates the discovery of a species of giant newts or salamanders who are I think around 4 feet tall. They walk on two legs and are amphibious. Part two is about the exploitation of the newts. It is full of newspaper articles and “scientific” articles and contains copious footnotes. They are essentially turned into slaves and since there are so many of them, they are considered expendable. There are the beginnings of arguments among the maritime countries of the world about the newts. The third part is about…well, you can see it in the title.
Due to the type of novel and the large cast of characters, who are heavily satirized, it was impossible for me to identify with any of them, apart from Mr. Povondra. I really liked him. The style strikes me as very 1930s, and the translation is faithful to this style. However, I really liked this novel and appreciated the mirror it held to 1930s Europe and the US. It is a mirror that could be held up to the world as it exists today, as well. I am not well-read enough to understand the details as they relate to the world at that time.
I think there are people who have read this and do not like the way it ended—the last chapter is titled “The author talks with himself.” I thought it was perfect.