WHAT WOULD HUMANS do if they encountered somewhere on earth a new species, comparable to themselves in cognitive ability and physical capabilities? Would we reach out, achieve common understanding, work towards our mutual benefit? Probably not, according to this 1936 satire by Czech writer Karel Capek (whose name is pronounced CHOP-ek, by the way, and I apologize for my inability to produce the diacritic required for spelling his last name). No, sadly, we would instead exploit them for spectacle and then enslave them.
A dark take on human capacity for evil? Perhaps just an indictment of European/American imperial projects? Grim as its premise is, Capek's novel nonetheless made me laugh on almost every page with its takedowns of Hollywood, its satirical insights into the toxic politics of most European nations and the USA in the 1930s, and its still-resonant parodies of academic discourse, public relations puffery, and bureaucratic hypocrisy.
Unlike Gulliver's Travels, with its similarly sobering examination of human depravity, War with the Newts has what could almost count as a happy ending. But I won't spoil it for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment