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Cátedra

War with the Newts

War with the Newts

Our Review

War with the Newts is one of the most brilliant and entertaining satires we have ever read. It is a fierce and visionary critique of colonialism, savage capitalism, and human stupidity, disguised as an incredible science fiction novel. Through the story of docile newts exploited by humanity, Čapek holds up a mirror to us, and the reflection is as comical as it is terrifying.

What would happen if we discovered a new intelligent species and the first thing we did was turn them into cheap labor? This is the premise of this masterpiece, the first great catastrophic science fiction novel. The story of how the newts go from being a curiosity to becoming a global threat is a journey that will make you laugh and, a second later, chill you to the bone.

It is a book that, almost a century later, remains painfully relevant. A must-read.

Furthermore, given the complexity of its collage-like structure, its reading in the Cátedra edition is especially interesting, as it includes a very good introduction and some notes by researcher and translator Cristian Cámara Outes. 

Book Details

Synopsis

Captain Van Toch discovers a strange new species of giant salamander on a Polynesian island, incredibly intelligent and capable of learning to use tools. Soon, human greed sees an unbeatable business opportunity: the newts are distributed around the world, exploited as cheap labor to search for pearls and build dikes. But the newts learn, multiply, and begin to have their own ideas, unleashing a global crisis that threatens to sink civilization.

About the author

Karel Čapek (Czech Republic, 1890-1938) is one of the most important Czech writers of the 20th century and a founder of modern science fiction. His play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) was the one that introduced the word "robot" into all languages of the world. In his later years, he was very concerned about the rise of totalitarianism in Europe. He died of pneumonia a few months before the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia and planned his arrest.

Technical Specifications

  • Pages: 368

  • Author: Karel Čapek

  • Publisher: Cátedra

  • Binding: Paperback

  • Edition: 2023

  • ISBN: 9788437646466

Regular price €19,90 EUR
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