R.U.R.
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4.5 • 10 Ratings
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
One of the classics of twentieth-century theater, this brilliantly conceived and exquisitely executed play by Czech playwright Karel Čapek (1890–1938) looks to a future in which all workers are automatons, or "robots" — a word this play made a permanent part of the language. The robots revolt when their manufacturing formula is changed to make them more irritable and to give them the human ability to hate, and the resulting catastrophe makes for a powerful and deeply moving theatrical experience.
"It is murderous social satire, done in terms of the most hair-raising melodrama," wrote Alexander Woolcott in his 1922 review of the first U.S. performance of this universally admired play. Heywood Broun wrote, "Čapek is potentially one of the great men in the modern drama. He has devised a scene at the end of the third act as awesome as anything we have ever seen in the theatre." This is the scene in which one of the last remaining humans, knowing himself and his species to be doomed, muses: "It was a great thing to be a man. There was something immense about it."
Customer Reviews
Which R.U.R is which? A classic
It's a quick read and much of the culture of the times can be puzzling to the modern mind. Simplistic, yet in its vision, quite remarkable. A story of mans creation of the robot slave and resulting revolt. The theme of the book is, there are dues to pay and heavy consequences from playing God.
This version has a few typos, but not enough to distract from the book. I noticed there were as many as five different books of the same title and author, ranging in price from free to $9.99.
I looked at most of them. The free children's version is all in its original language. The others are all various attempts at translating the play. The most expensive appears to be a more literal translation, using language of the era. This version is much easier to read, it's grammar more in line with today's style. I can't fathom the reason for the pricing discrepancies. For me, this is the best of all the copies available in the Itunes store.
If you are a fan of fiction or science fiction, this is a must read classic. I'm a slow reader and even I was able to finish the book inside of three hours.