Karel Capek

"There was no writer like him...prophetic assurance mixed with surrealistic humour and hard-edged social satire: a unique combination" (Arthur Miller) This volume brings together fresh new translations of four of his most popular plays, more than ever relevant today. In R. U. R., the Robot - an idea Capek was the first to invent - gradually takes over all aspects of human existence except procreation; The Insect Play is a satirical fable in which beetles, butterflies and ants give dramatic form to different philosophies of life; The Makropulos Case is a fantasy about human mortality, finally celebrating the average lifespan; The White Plague is a savage and anguished satire against fascist dictatorship and the virus of inhumanity.

Modern fairy tales mix fairies, elves, talking animals, and supernaturual beings with detectives, mailmen, secret police, and Hollywood stars

Karel Capek's The Gardener's Year is a timeless classic of wit and wisdom, sure to capture the heart and imagination of every gardener--indeed, everyone who has pursued any hobby with a passion that occasionally overrides good common sense. Originally published more that fifty years ago in Czechoslovakia, it transcends the years with grace and ease. Whether Capek is talking about the lack or surfeit of rain, the fruitless search for space to plant just a few more perennials, or the unfathomable mystery of the green thumb, his words strike chord upon chord within every gardener, in every time and place. Fifty-eight sprightly drawings by Karel Capek's brother Josef Capek, lend themselves perfectly to the artful simplicity and humour of this book. Through the year, Capek does battle with the garden hose, learns the value of patience in spring, prays to the Lord for rain (but only on certain parts of the garden, please), buys far too many plants at every opportunity, curses raspberry canes that invade from his neighbor's garden, routs stones from the soil (they seem to grow from spores), and agonizes continually about the garden while he is on vacation in August. In short, Karel Capek is a gardener, timeless, with all the frailties, hope, and boundless optimism necessarily shared by all gardeners. After the sun sets, he leans on his spade and sighs with deep content: "I have sweated today "