Rossumīs Universal Robots - Softcover

Capek, Karel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770833188 ISBN 13: 9781770833180

Publisher: Theophania Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. R.U.R. is a science fiction play in the Czech language by Karel Capek. R.U.R. stands for Rossum's Universal Robots, an English phrase used as the subtitle in the Czech original. It premiered in 1921 and introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people called "robots". Unlike the modern usage of the term, these creatures are closer to the modern idea of androids or even clones, as they can be mistaken for humans and can think for themselves. They seem happy to work for humans, although that changes and a hostile robot rebellion leads to the extinction of the human race. After finishing the manuscript, Capek realized that he had created a modern version of the Jewish Golem legend. He later took a different approach to the same theme in War with the Newts, in which non-humans become a servant class in human society. R.U.R is dark but not without hope, and was successful in its day in both Europe and the United States.

About this title

About the Author:

Karel Capek (1890–1938) was one of the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He is the author of The Absolute at Large, Apocryphal Tales, The Gardener's Year, Tales from Two Pockets, and War With the Newts, among others. Arthur Miller (1915–2005) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and essayist. A major figure in American theater, his plays include The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. 

Review:

"There was no writer like him . . . prophetic assurance mixed with surrealistic humor and hard-edged social satire: a unique combination."  —Arthur Miller, author, The Crucible

"A bracing parody of totalitarianism and technological overkill, one of the most amusing and provocative books in its genre."  —Philadelphia Inquirer on War With the Newts

"Masterpieces of moral irony."  —Booklist starred review on Apocryphal Tales

"Capek's delightfully inventive tales . . . stretch the detective story to its limits and, in the process, tell us much about the mysteries of human existence."  —The New York Times Book Review on Tales from Two Pockets

About this edition

• Publisher: Theophania Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1770833188
• ISBN 13: 9781770833180
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 92