Reviews

Inwazja Jaszczurów by Karel Čapek

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zzt's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this a few decades ago, good to to back and see how it is still relevant

canadajanes's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved it! 1930s scifi is so much better than 1950s scifi. The author skewered racism, religion, and many other topics, and the end was excellent. Highly recommend.

lindy_b's review against another edition

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3.0

No doubt it makes a difference to business when part of the world sinks into the sea! (331)

First published in 1936, War with the Newts is a dark satirical novel/eventual fable by Czech author Karel Čapek. The main targets are globalized capitalism, nationalism, and twentieth century race science. Reading this in the midst of a twenty-first century pandemic with the ever escalating background of climate change and right wing nationalism was sure something.

mducks's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this a few decades ago, good to to back and see how it is still relevant

vudemn's review against another edition

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5.0

Ako ljudi ne unište sami sebe, uništiće ih njihova tvorevina. Tako može da glasi pouka izvučena iz ove izuzetno zanimljive knjige.
Čapek mi je bio poznat autor odavno, iako nisam dublje ušao u njegov opus (što će sada biti potrebno ako budem po planu izučavao modernu češku književnost). Kako se sećam njegovog Foltina, ta knjiga potpuno odudara od ove po pristupu i tematici.
Veoma je značajan način na koji je Čapek pristupio određenoj temi i obradio je gotovo na postmodernistički način, sa osvrtima na pitanje dokumenata, uz razvijanje fabule kroz intervjue, novinske članke, poziva se i na naučnu literaturu gradeći nepostojano. Sve je to model postmodernističkog stvaranja priče, a Čapek je, može se reći, preteča svega toga.
Priča je sasvim zanimljiva i za prosečnog čitaoca: ljudi pokušavaju da eksploatišu novu vrstu životinja, i to im se potom obije o glavu. Ipak, može se ići veoma dublje, kao što je slučaj u svakoj satiri, i tu možemo naići na prikaz modernog društva koje eksploatiše slabije zarad građenja sopstvenog. Kapitalizam, konzumerizam, jašta.
Čudesno je kako se malo stvari otad promenilo, te i sad ova knjiga izgleda izuzetno moderna. A bezvremenost jeste odlika klasika.

megea's review against another edition

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5.0

What a find! I loved this book! It's a great satire that touches on (foresees?) all aspects of contemporary life: capitalism, globalization, the environment, etc, and it's frequently very funny. I feel like it was especially relevant to me, an ecologist. It kept making me think about invasive species, but that's my background. Read it in the context of what you know. See if it doesn't resonate particularly with some area of your expertise.