War With the Newts

Rating:
Summary: The greatest book....
Review: Of all the books I have ever had to read for a class, this was the greatest book of them all. I've had the horrible experience of an assigned book, but this book makes up for almost all of that. A brilliant satire on the world, I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone (and have many times since reading it). This book can be applied to any situation or time period. In the end, this book is great! [sorry it's not a more descriptive explanation, but anything more and the plot of the book would be revealed :) ]

Rating:
Summary: A Novel Still Worth Reading
Review: Though perhaps best known for coining the word "robot" in his wonderful play R.U.R., Capek also wrote a number of stories and novels. Of his novels, War With the Newts is probably the best known. And with good reason. It is an excellent story.

Flirting with the apocalyptic tradition in science fiction, this novel tells the story of the discovery of large, intelligent sea creatures off a small island "west of Sumatra." Initially curiosities, their intelligence makes them excellent workers for underwater projects for humans. Unfortunately for humans, these creatures are in fact quite smart enough and, over the course of a few years, develop to the point where they can challenge people for the domination of the earth. Which they do quite effectively.

Written in a number of styles--journalistic and scientific in addition to straightforward prose that switches points of view--it is very engaging. Granted, the prose is a little more formal as befits a novel written in the 1930's and the translator has kept that formal feeling but I am quite fond of this style. And Capek's perceptive examination of the politics of this period in his tale of newts and man is impressive.

Capek is often thought of as a science fiction writer but, as is the case with many writers of this genre, his appeal is much wider. Otherwise, why would his novels and plays still be read nearly 80 years later. Anyone with a taste for good, intellectual writing would enjoy this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Colonialism, Imperialism all wraped into one
Review: To get a good look at what colonialism did to the Africa and the like, then read this book. There are a few flaws, I think, in that those colonized want to seek revenge. However, this is a great book for young people and adult to read and analyze without getting too caught up in race.

Rating:
Summary: The Newts Today
Review: War With the Newts is a Swiftian social satire from the Czech science fiction writer Karl Capek. Gulliver's Travels uses humanlike animals to represent or critique human traits. The principal difference is that here, the Newts come to us. Newts are intelligent, amphibious salamanders that Capek, in what he probably doesn't realize is a digression into mysticism, calls Nature's other attempt to achieve the pinnacle of evolution. After being discovered on the verge of extinction by a pearl-hunting sea captain, the Newts quickly develop an advanced civilization in the context of twentieth century Earth.
The Newts serve two allegorical purposes for Capek. They represent the worst of humanity, and they bring out the worst in humanity. At first, they are treated to typical ugly colonialism and have visited upon them every atrocity and indignity one could imagine humanity inflicting on a weaker race. We also see Capek's political views, at least to the extent that he thinks all the major political movements of his time were just silly. His disdain for communism explains the fifty-year gap between first and second printing of the novel. Nazism is presented as buffoonish, capitalism as plain evil. As we look more closely at the Newts, however, they become menacing in their racial lack of interest in art, science, recreation, or anything beyond the rudimentary religion. By the end of the book, it is clear that we are rooting for humanity as the war comes. Man does not live by bread alone, but the Newts live solely on oysters.
I had thought to read Newts as a diatribe against war, starting it as we begin our unlawful invasion. But pacifism isn't the point of the book; if there's a moral, it's that we must treat each other decently and responsibly. But the last chapter could have been written by an Iraq hawk, as the world community mulishly refuses to unite against the growing menace of the Newts, to its ultimate doom. Newts is a Frankenstein story, like R.U.R, and a good one. But ultimately its target audience should have been WWII Germans, and today its trenchant pronouncements on the dangers of technology seem poignantly obsolete...too late.