Karel Capek: In Pursuit of Truth, Tolerance, and Trust

KAREL CAPEK is the most important, most versatile, but also the most neglected Czech writer of the 20th century. His plays R.U.R. and From the Life of Insects created a sensation in London in the 1920's: his word robot was introduced into the Oxford English Dictionary while his other plays as well as novels, short stories, essays, travelogues and causeries followed in English translations in qiuick succession until cultural links were broken off by the war. Because of his liberal, anti-war views Capek's works were blacklisted by the Nazis occupying his homeland, as well as later by the communists. Presenting a study of all genres Capek used, Bradbrook's book pays the debt history owes to Capek. It is also the first original book on Capek published in the UK. Both as a writer an as a journalist, Capek sought the truth: in the epistemological sense, how we acquire knowledge; in the moral one, how we apply it to our behaviour. Recongizing great differences between individuals, Capek recommends torerance and mutual trust as the best way towards the improvement of democratic human relations. His philosophical trilogy - HODUBAL, METEOR and AN ORDINARY LIFE - is the best artistic expression of these ideas; as a journalist, he conveyed them explicitly. Capek's science fiction works show his admiration for the achievements of science and technology; he forecast the use of nuclear power, but also strongly warned against its abuse. His English readers particularly appreciated his common sense, wit and humor. Karel Capek was a man who taught through laughter.