Karel Capek

After inventing an explosive that could devastate humanity, an obsessed scientist struggles to keep his deadly discovery out of sinister hands. As threats multiply, he faces manipulation, betrayal, and moral conflicts in a tense race against those determined to exploit his work. His quest takes him across a volatile 1930s Europe, as he confronts the destructive potential of human ambition and begins to question the limits of science and responsibility in an increasingly unstable world. A classic science fiction thriller from the author of Rossum's Universal Robots. Features an updated and revised translation, plus a new introduction by science fiction scholar Karl Wurf.

Karel Capeks Salamanderkriget från 1935 är en munter och burlesk men också mörk satir om kolonialism, fascism, segregation, konsumtionshets och överproduktion. Träffande i sin samtid, men också otäckt aktuell för oss. En äventyrlig sjökapten upptäcker en okänd salamanderart i Ostindien. Djuren är mycket läraktiga och samarbetsvilliga. Kaptenen lär dem att hämta upp pärlmusslor och gör sig en förmögenhet på dem. Snart lär de sig tala några ord, och särskilt intelligenta salamandrar blir ledare för de övriga. Efter några år upptäcks deras existens av vetenskapsmän, affärsmän och politiker. Man utnyttjar dem som billig och effektiv undervattensarbetskraft, de lär sig att hantera verktyg och sprängämnen, de får bygga hamnar och till och med militära anläggningar. Salamandrarna förökar sig och blir allt mäktigare. Snart finns det fler salamandrar än människor på jorden. Upproret är oundvikligt ...

Nyt omslag, nyt forord af Søren Vester. Et år med min have er et charmerende og morsomt indblik i en amatørgartners liv. Bogen er både en praktisk guide til havearbejde og samtidig en lille litterær perle, der på underfundig vis beretter om årets gang i haven. Bogen udkom i 1929 og er en sand klassiker inden for fortællende havebøger. Forfatteren formår at underholde, så selv læsere uden grønne fingre føler sig fanget af hans sprog og humor. Man kan for eksempel læse om utæmmelige haveslanger, frøs magi, hængende løg og fordelen ved frodigt ukrudt. I mange år har Et år med min have kun været muligt at få antikvarisk, men nu udkommer den som gavebog i et praktisk lommebogsformat med illustrationer af forfatterens bror. Denne udgave har desuden forord af haveejer og tv-vært Søren Vester.

A new translation of Karel Capek’s play R. U. R.—which famously coined the term “robot”—and a collection of essays reflecting on the play’s legacy from scientists and scholars who work in artificial life and robotics. Karel Capek's “R. U. R.” and the Vision of Artificial Life offers a new, highly faithful translation by Štepán Šimek of Czech novelist, playwright, and critic Karel Capek’s play R. U. R.: Rossum’s Universal Robots, as well as twenty essays from contemporary writers on the 1920 play. R. U. R. is perhaps best known for first coining the term “robot” (in Czech, robota means serfdom or arduous drudgery). The twenty essays in this new English edition, beautifully edited by Jitka Cejková, are selected from Robot 100, an edited collection in Czech with perspectives from 100 contemporary voices that was published in 2020 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the play. Capek’s robots were autonomous beings, but biological, not mechanical, made of chemically synthesized soft matter resembling living tissue, like the synthetic humans in Blade Runner, Westworld, or Ex Machina. The contributors to the collection—scientists and other scholars—explore the legacy of the play and its connections to the current state of research in artificial life, or ALife. Throughout the book, it is impossible to ignore Capek’s prescience, as his century-old science fiction play raises contemporary questions with respect to robotics, synthetic biology, technology, artificial life, and artificial intelligence, anticipating many of the formidable challenges we face today. ContributorsJitka Cejková, Miguel Aguilera, Iñigo R. Arandia, Josh Bongard, Julyan Cartwright, Seth Bullock, Dominique Chen, Gusz Eiben, Tom Froese, Carlos Gershenson, Inman Harvey, Jana Horáková, Takashi Ikegami, Sina Khajehabdollahi, George Musser, Geoff Nitschke, Julie Nováková, Antoine Pasquali, Hemma Philamore, Lana Sinapayen, Hiroki Sayama, Nathaniel Virgo, Olaf Witkowski

R. U. R., or Rossum's Universal Robots, is a play written in 1920 by Karel Čapek, a Czech writer who authored many plays and novels, many with science-fiction and dystopian themes. R. U. R. is perhaps the best known of these works because it brought the word robot into the English language. Robot is derived from the Czech word meaning "worker." The play is set in the island headquarters of the R. U. R. corporation. The corporation has been manufacturing artificial beings that resemble humans but are tireless workers. They can be mass-produced in large numbers and are being adopted as laborers in many countries. In the play's first scene, they are visited by a young woman, Helena Glory, who aspires to relieve the lot of the robots, whom she sees as oppressed. However, in what must be the fastest seduction scene in all of drama, she is wooed by and agrees to marry Harry Domin, the factory manager she has just met. She still aspires to improve the life of robots and find a way to give them souls. Ultimately, however, this admirable desire leads to disaster for humankind. The play was translated into English and slightly abridged by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair in 1923. This version quickly became popular with both British and American audiences and was well received by critics. The play is wildly entertaining, a delight to read. But it also foreshadows many of the issues we face in the widespread use of automation and artificial intelligence. What could possibly go wrong?

In this extraordinary collection of nine stories, called in the original Czech Painful Tales (Trapn pov dky), one of the masters of twentieth century fiction details human situations where the heartbreak and blockedness in life predominate. In Money a brother is trapped between warring and manipulative sisters; in Helena a mismatched pair come to further grief through misunderstanding; in Three a cuckolded husband's plan of attack is outplayed by his miserable wife; in The Shirts a thieving housekeeper uses emotional blackmail to gull her employer; in The Insult two brothers at odds come to an awkward understanding through the younger's crisis in love and work; in The Tribunal a disembodied voice tells dark truths to an uncertain officer trapped in army bureaucracy; in The Bully a wealthy businessman confronts his wife's lover, bringing on an existential crisis of his own; in Two Fathers a little girl is buried while her stepfather is mocked for his heartbroken love for her; and in At the Castle a young governess is at war with her own emotions, and finds herself trapped, not only in her situation, but also within the expectations of her times. With fierce spats and grim disunion, desperate reconciliations and exhausted resignations, Capek unravels the black spots in human nature with astonishingly consistent skill, lighting on what makes for trouble with unerring accuracy and occasional delicious satire. This collection was first published in Czech in 1921, and then in English in 1930.

Selvom Tjekkiets mest oversatte forfatter, Karel Capek, skrev sine noveller i den første halvdel af det 20. århundrede, er historierne fortsat aktuelle. Endnu hundrede år efter de blev skrevet, har de ikke mistet noget af deres læseværdighed. “Kriminalhistorier” er en samling af korte historier, hvor forfatteren reflekterer over spørgsmål som lov og ret, godt og ondt, forbrydelse og straf. Historiernes helte er politikommissærer, agenter og gendarmer, men også kriminelle, ægteskabssvindlere eller fanatiske samlere. Capek er ikke kun en stor fortæller, men også mester i paradokser, som på en kultiveret måde og med indsigt og humor beskriver sine helte og fører læseren gennem historierne. Capeks detektivhistorier blev i første omgang publiceret periodevis i et magasin i 1929 og udkom senere som to bøger, henholdsvis med titlen “Historier fra den ene lomme” og “Historier fra den anden lomme”. Novellerne hører til den moderne tjekkiske prosas perler, som i dag tæller blandt klassikerne. Novellerne er oversat til utallige sprog og er i flere omgange blevet filmatiseret. “Kriminalhistorier” er et udvalg af de bedste historier fra begge bøger. En bog, som du ikke vil kunne lægge fra dig og vil læse igen og igen.

The Gardener’s Year is a charming and light-hearted insight into the life of an amateur gardener. Structured loosely around what to plant, grow or cultivate each month, Karel Capek takes us on a rollicking journey through a year in his own small garden. Complete and unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features lively black and white illustrations by Czech artist Josef Capek and is translated by M. and R. Weatherall. From making puddles with an untamable hose to sowing luxuriant weeds instead of grass, Capek reveals how a gardener grows into his surroundings ‘spurred on by each new failure’. Subverting the tradition of a ‘how to’ gardening book, he teaches his readers about the magic of seeds, the perils of planting vegetables and the thrilling surprises of a rock garden. As the year progresses and frail buds turn from flowering stems to drooping bulbs and falling leaves, Capek’s small garden buzzes with life, wisdom and humour.