The Absolute at Large

Have just started it, but I was immediately struck by the quirky, but wonderful English. However, I can find no mention of a translator. Did Capek translate it himself?

Reading the The Absolute at Large, and knowing what we know now and what Capek(the best Czech author of the 20th century) could only imagine in 1922 was fascinating. Here was a man who had just witnessed the crumbling of the Austria Hungarian, German and Russian empires and the enormous waste of human life, especially of young men. Life in Central Europe in the early 20s was bitter and people saw a bleak future and their view of God the Absolute was hardly positive. Looking 20 years into a future four years after the end of The Great War and foretelling The Greatest War between 1944 and 1953 was amazing, and unfortunately very close to what actually happened. But it was Capeks biting satire on how man always believes he is right and others are wrong, especially when it comes to religion, that was especially interesting. The failure of man to think broadly and see the world through others eyes is a story as old as man. Capek tells the story brilliantly. The book itself is poorly published and obviously photocopied from another source. Buy the paperbook instead of the hard copy.

Capek was way ahead of his time (and way ahead of many today). Very witty, very sharp and very much on point. I really enjoy his style.

Funny, but true? True, but funny.

Written in the 1920s, this novel is set in the immediate future - the 1940s - where inventor Marek has just invented the Karburator. A sort of atomic engine, this features perfect combustion, where every scrap of matter is used: one kilogramme of coal, if it underwent complete combustion, would run a good-sized factory for several hundred hours. But despite the vast potential, Marek sells out to industrialist Bondy - he has become aware there is a massive price to pay... And here what starts out as a simple sci-fi story becomes a very clever look at war, politics and religion. Because as matter is combusted, it frees something else: Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that God is contained in all forms of physical matter, that He is, as it were, imprisoned in it. And when you smash this matter up completely, He flies out of it as though from a box ... immediately the whole cellar is filled with the Absolute. Its simply appalling how quickly it spreads. As religious mania takes over the world, and as the Absolutes powers have factories working constantly, creating more stuff than anyone can cope with, the economy is wrecked. And as different factions each promote their own take on the Divinity, it seems War is at hand... This is a really clever and thought-provoking work. Capeks view of a future War is certainly not far from what actually transpired; and his observations are very true: Everyone believes in his own superior God, but he doesnt believe in another man or credit him with believing in something good. People should first of all believe in other people and the rest would soon follow. The greater the things are in which a man believes, the more fiercely he despises those who do not elieve in them. And yet the greatest of all beliefs would be belief in ones fellow-men. A fairly quick read (168p) but both amusing in places and with a deeper message...

“Everyone has the best of feelings towards mankind in general, but not towards the individual man. Well kill men, but we want to save mankind. And that isnt right, your Reverence. The world will be an evil place as long as people dont believe in other people.” ― Karel Čapek, The Absolute at Large As the Robots take over the world in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., so the Absolute, that is, the God of Spinoza, the God imminent in all of nature, escapes and explodes from entrapment in gross material form by means of a newfangled invention, the Karburator, to take over the minds of all the humans on the face of the earth. Where will this God-infused human experience lead? As a way of answering this question, below are a number of the novel’s philosophical moments. And please keep in mind Karel Čapek’s stance of acceptance and pluralism, a recognition that each person has their own version of the truth, however slight that truth might be, and no one person possesses, however all-tight their logic might appear, access to the whole truth. The owner of a kid’s merry-go-round, a man by the name of Jan Binder, is overtaken by the effects of the Kaburator and founds his own mystical sect. I have a strong sense the author was thinking of another Jan, Czech mystic Jan Hus who rebelled against the Church one hundred years prior to Martin Luther and was subsequently burned at the stake for heresy. There’s also a Mr. Rejeck, whose beliefs and revelations echo 14th century Flemish mystic Jan van Ruusbroec. All in all, Karel Čapek doesn’t overlook many opportunities to portray the dire consequences of people and society lacking a grounding in mutual respect and tolerance. All varieties of religious phenomenon bursts out: illumination, miracles, levitations, and above all, religious faith. As history has proven, especially during those times of strong religious belief such as the Protestant Reformation in Europe during the 16th century, bloodshed is all too common. But, since this novel takes place in the 20th century, religious belief is linked in subtle and not so subtle ways to Fascism and Communism. At one point, one of the main characters refers to “mystical Communism.” In one chapter, a scholar links the Karburator’s influence to various religious phenomenon throughout history: animism, shamanism, the 16th century Anabaptists, superstition, witchcraft, occultism, mysticism and necromancy, the medieval Flagellants, the Crusaders and Millenarians. Thus, devastating violence is inevitable since it is one thing to have your own religious experience but when you try to force your beliefs on others – watch out! Put another way, if everybody is certain they have exclusive access to the absolute truth . . . well, is it any wonder this Karel Čapek features world-wide war. This short sci fi novel is a lively read. Highly recommended!

Great read.

I agree in part with both of the previous reviews. This was a very good book and Ill read more of Karel Capek. It has a very clever theme and is not only good fiction but a social commentary as well. However, I would buy the paperback instead of this hardback edition. It has obviously been photocopied and has many defects, including almost no periods at the ends of sentences, very strange spacing and a few duplicated paragraphs. Some pages were truncated at the edges (copy machine), and there were many extraneous marks. Note that the preview on Amazon is the paperback and does not display those defects. That being said, it was still readable. If you cant get a better print copy, get this one. It is still readable and the content more than makes up for the defects.

Perhaps as a companion piece to War with the Newts this one should have been titled War with God, since this book attacks religious intolerance with the same gentle, sad, hilarious ridiculousness that he employed with devastating effect against racial intolerance in Newts. As a novel it violates most every rule of how a good novel should be written, in terms of structure, plot, cohesiveness, restraint, character development, etc and as such it is a fine book. And, of course, it is very very Czech.

I love this book. I read it in college, and had to read it again. Book was in great shape, and I received it in a few days.