Reviews

I didn’t care much for this one. I like a satirical novel and I thought the premise was clever but near the middle it felt like the book was jabbing me in the back and going “Do you get it?” over and over. And yeah, man, I get it. Calm down. You’re super-smart and cool. Basically this book is that annoying guy at a party who wants to have a Real Conversation and you’re struggling to remember who you know who knows him because you’ve never met him before in your whole life.

wasiakolga's review against another edition

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dark funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

carlaribeiro's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

aliteracja's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

laurenguydan's review against another edition

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2.0

Can't categorize this as a must read, but it was interesting. It helped to keep in mind the context of the writer; 1920s in newly formed Czechoslovakia, and that it is meant to be political satire. Certainly the main premise could be just as relevant now. An entity, an all powerful spirit is released into the world, having all the characteristics of God. Of course every religion wants it to be their God only, and war ensues. I wish the translation to English was better, I felt like there were a lot of nuances I was missing.

antananarywa's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

stewreads's review against another edition

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4.0

"You know, the greater the things are in which a man believes, the more fiercely he despises those who do not believe in them. And yet the greatest of all beliefs would be belief in one's fellow-men."

Plotwise, this book follows a similar trajectory to Capek's later work, War With the Newts, which, in my opinion, is the better of the two. However, The Absolute at Large is an interesting novel in its own right, and should not be missed. As I mentioned in my last Capek review, the author's cynical humanism is so clearly a huge inspiration for Vonnegut that it's hard not to compare the two. Compared to Vonnegut's charmingly plotless books, Capek seems more concerned with ideas than characters, going as fourth-wall-breakingly far as to lament the fact that he cannot stay with his characters longer because he needs move the story forward.

The Absolute at Large isn't essential, but it's recommended reading for people like myself who pretend that we like science fiction, but really want something more personal.

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