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simon326's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
War With the Newts is a science fiction story in which the main character is the self-destructive nature of humanity itself. The dark humour in the book is a perfect fit for the way in which the author highlights the madness of human politics and progress. Written at a time when the world was barreling towards the Second World War, the author makes clear comparisons to contemporary world events which still have relevance even in our modern world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Xenophobia and War
Minor: Violence
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
Minor: Sexual assault
jstilts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This is a glorious mess of a book, difficult to read as it changes styles so often: sometimes it reads like a play, sometimes like a mockumentary, sometimes the author argues with his conscience on the page - sometimes it almost manages to have a straightforward narrative for a while. Some parts are short, some are agonisingly long. Characters flit in and out, sometimes seeming to fill the role of lead character only to vanish from the narrative and die off-screen.
But it's funny, with savagely biting satire that takes no prisoners for the whole of humankind and early 20th Century politics, racism and colonialism in particular - and some of it quite prescient, at points Čapek seems to predict the Atom Bomb and Hitler's Lebensraum well before World War II even started. Čapek takes no sides: the USA, Germany, UK, France and his own native Czechoslovakia each suffer under his painfully funny withering glare.
It's a high-concept book: "What if we discovered a new species, exploited them, enslaved them - but began to rely on them and bred them in numbers that swiftly out-grew our own?" and that the author explores every nuance of this idea to the bitter end is what makes this book worth reading.
However, when you realise that this book was published after the likes of "Brave New World" (which gets cheekily name-checked!) and well after "The War of the Worlds" it's hard to understand why this book is such an unusual collection of randomly-firing styles. It might not suit everyone, you need to be quite patient.
I probably wouldn't have picked up this book except the author wrote the play "Rossums Universal Robots" that coined the word "Robot", so I was intrigued about the rest of his work. R.U.R. has some similar themes of human folly and the uprising of enslaved peoples, but "War with the Newts" is different in almost every way imaginable!
It's ideas are interesting and worth exploring, it's wit is savage - but I have a hard time recommending this book as it's an uneven read that can be a slog at times.
But it's funny, with savagely biting satire that takes no prisoners for the whole of humankind and early 20th Century politics, racism and colonialism in particular - and some of it quite prescient, at points Čapek seems to predict the Atom Bomb and Hitler's Lebensraum well before World War II even started. Čapek takes no sides: the USA, Germany, UK, France and his own native Czechoslovakia each suffer under his painfully funny withering glare.
It's a high-concept book: "What if we discovered a new species, exploited them, enslaved them - but began to rely on them and bred them in numbers that swiftly out-grew our own?" and that the author explores every nuance of this idea to the bitter end is what makes this book worth reading.
However, when you realise that this book was published after the likes of "Brave New World" (which gets cheekily name-checked!) and well after "The War of the Worlds" it's hard to understand why this book is such an unusual collection of randomly-firing styles. It might not suit everyone, you need to be quite patient.
I probably wouldn't have picked up this book except the author wrote the play "Rossums Universal Robots" that coined the word "Robot", so I was intrigued about the rest of his work. R.U.R. has some similar themes of human folly and the uprising of enslaved peoples, but "War with the Newts" is different in almost every way imaginable!
It's ideas are interesting and worth exploring, it's wit is savage - but I have a hard time recommending this book as it's an uneven read that can be a slog at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
cynka's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is a great piece of science-fiction, ridiculing humanity. And I am totally here for it.
I thought there's going to be more character-oriented plot and to be honest it was more like a chronicle. I had to get used to it and I did find myself missing some of the character, not getting enough of them, but it's fine.
Sometimes there were sexist or racist sounding remarks, but I do blame it on the fact, that Capek was just potraying a world and not really making it up, unfortunately. But sometimes it does leave an unpleasant taste.
Over all I really, really like it! I am super happy I read this classic.
I thought there's going to be more character-oriented plot and to be honest it was more like a chronicle. I had to get used to it and I did find myself missing some of the character, not getting enough of them, but it's fine.
Sometimes there were sexist or racist sounding remarks, but I do blame it on the fact, that Capek was just potraying a world and not really making it up, unfortunately. But sometimes it does leave an unpleasant taste.
Over all I really, really like it! I am super happy I read this classic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Sexism and Violence