Great play, that introduced the word "robot" into English, looks to a future in which all workers are automatons. They revolt when they acquire souls (i.e., when they gain the ability to hate) and the resulting catastrophe make for a powerful and deeply moving theatrical experience. Paul Selver translation.
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Czech
Original Language: Czech
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22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Today Karel Capek's R.U.R. is most famous as the work that introduced the word "robot" (from the Czech word "robit," meaning "work") and for its conceptualization of a bio-mechanical device in human form. Written in 1920, the play startled European audiences, but perhaps had its greatest impact on the New York stage in 1922, where it had particular relevance in the American upward-rush of industrialization of the roaring '20s.
Although the ideas that Capek broached remain extremely influential, the play itself is difficult to evaluate from a modern point of view because in many respects it conforms to then-popular but now outmoded ideas about dramatic structure. Even so, the story of a world gradually consumed and ultimately destroyed through its own technology remains a powerful one--as does the image of the robot, which gradually acquires an unexpected sense of identity and begins to vie with man for domination of the earth.
By and large, plays are written to seen rather than to be read, and this may be particularly true of R.U.R., which proves very difficult to visualize from the page. The seriocomic first act with its emphasis on exposition feels awkward to the modern mind, and the progression of the story has an obvious and awkwardly episodic feel. But it is worth pointing out that if R.U.R. seems obvious to us today, this is because its ideas have been so often used; everything from METROPOLIS to FORBIDDEN PLANET to TERMINATOR, from I ROBOT to RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA has borrowed from it heavily.
Ultimately, the play asks us to consider who will inherit the earth: man or what man has created? Audiences of the 1920s found this an extremely disconcerting question--and if anything, audiences and readers of the present day will find it more disconcerting still.... Read more ›
Although the ideas that Capek broached remain extremely influential, the play itself is difficult to evaluate from a modern point of view because in many respects it conforms to then-popular but now outmoded ideas about dramatic structure. Even so, the story of a world gradually consumed and ultimately destroyed through its own technology remains a powerful one--as does the image of the robot, which gradually acquires an unexpected sense of identity and begins to vie with man for domination of the earth.
By and large, plays are written to seen rather than to be read, and this may be particularly true of R.U.R., which proves very difficult to visualize from the page. The seriocomic first act with its emphasis on exposition feels awkward to the modern mind, and the progression of the story has an obvious and awkwardly episodic feel. But it is worth pointing out that if R.U.R. seems obvious to us today, this is because its ideas have been so often used; everything from METROPOLIS to FORBIDDEN PLANET to TERMINATOR, from I ROBOT to RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA has borrowed from it heavily.
Ultimately, the play asks us to consider who will inherit the earth: man or what man has created? Audiences of the 1920s found this an extremely disconcerting question--and if anything, audiences and readers of the present day will find it more disconcerting still.... Read more ›
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By S. A Dotson
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very lean version, with some characters being removed or merged with other characters. Whole sections of original dialogue have been removed, or at best, changed. Avoid this version like a robot plague.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By KNO2skull
Format:Paperback
Looking for the first appearance of the word 'robot'? Look no further! Czech author Karel Kapek coined the term in this classic play. It is not only the first appearance of the word 'robot', (though, not the first appearance of a mechanical man), it is also a great sciene fiction story (although 'science fiction' was not a widely used term at the time).
Essentially, the story surrounds a manufacturing company that makes robots, and continues to make them in mass quantities even with the looming suspicion they are out of control. The robots revolt, and humanity is all but destroyed and replaced.
Very humorous and biting satire, R.U.R. should satisfy virtually any taste for a well written piece of fiction. Essential for sci-fi fans, and this edition, printed beautifully by Dover, at a very small price, is well worth obtaining ownership and then some!
Essentially, the story surrounds a manufacturing company that makes robots, and continues to make them in mass quantities even with the looming suspicion they are out of control. The robots revolt, and humanity is all but destroyed and replaced.
Very humorous and biting satire, R.U.R. should satisfy virtually any taste for a well written piece of fiction. Essential for sci-fi fans, and this edition, printed beautifully by Dover, at a very small price, is well worth obtaining ownership and then some!
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Man-made men have been in the imagination since man first made anything at all - there were golems and many others. Rossum's Universal Robots were the first robots to be called by that name, though. It's a name that stuck, and stuck in the world's imagination.
This story stands well next to Shelley's "Frankenstein." It's about the made thing that was made too closely in the maker's image. Shelley's story is about intellectual hubris, but Capek's is a bit closer to home. It's about financial hubris, about the dividend above all else, and about what a life is worth - $150, including clothing, plus shipping.
R. U. R. is in the form of a play, which always slows my reading. It's very short, though, and perhaps a bit over-wrought. I guess that packing so much emotional response into such a short script tends to leave that feeling, though. It's also interesting to note that the one visible woman was the downfall of this technological Eden, even if the somehat interchangeable men had been nurturing the apple tree before she got there.
This is a brief story, very readable, and very much to the point for anyone who works with technology. There's always that question, or there should be: what if this one really works?
//wiredweird
This story stands well next to Shelley's "Frankenstein." It's about the made thing that was made too closely in the maker's image. Shelley's story is about intellectual hubris, but Capek's is a bit closer to home. It's about financial hubris, about the dividend above all else, and about what a life is worth - $150, including clothing, plus shipping.
R. U. R. is in the form of a play, which always slows my reading. It's very short, though, and perhaps a bit over-wrought. I guess that packing so much emotional response into such a short script tends to leave that feeling, though. It's also interesting to note that the one visible woman was the downfall of this technological Eden, even if the somehat interchangeable men had been nurturing the apple tree before she got there.
This is a brief story, very readable, and very much to the point for anyone who works with technology. There's always that question, or there should be: what if this one really works?
//wiredweird
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This play is an excellent commentary on globalization that is still valid today. Consider the following segment of conversation that occurs when Helena Glory first meets Harry Domin, the general manager of the robot factory:
Domin: "What sort of worker do you think is the best from a practical point of view?"
Helena: "Perhaps the one who is most honest and hardworking."
Domin: "No; the one that is the cheapest."
This was probably a cutting insight in 1922 when RUR appeared on Broadway. Colonialism was then at its peak but the citizens of Europe and America believed that their superior wealth was due to cultural values of honesty and hard work.
It is also interesting to see that the same story which introduced the word "robot" to the English language introduced the theme of robots running amok by refusing to obey humans. Sharing this theme (as well as minor details like the production capacity of exactly 1,000 robots per day), the recent movie "I, Robot" directed by Alex Proyas bears more resemblance to "RUR" than to Isaac Asimov's stories.
Despite the superb satire and historical significance, I rate "RUR" only as 3 because the plot and character development are unsophisticated by today's standards.
Domin: "What sort of worker do you think is the best from a practical point of view?"
Helena: "Perhaps the one who is most honest and hardworking."
Domin: "No; the one that is the cheapest."
This was probably a cutting insight in 1922 when RUR appeared on Broadway. Colonialism was then at its peak but the citizens of Europe and America believed that their superior wealth was due to cultural values of honesty and hard work.
It is also interesting to see that the same story which introduced the word "robot" to the English language introduced the theme of robots running amok by refusing to obey humans. Sharing this theme (as well as minor details like the production capacity of exactly 1,000 robots per day), the recent movie "I, Robot" directed by Alex Proyas bears more resemblance to "RUR" than to Isaac Asimov's stories.
Despite the superb satire and historical significance, I rate "RUR" only as 3 because the plot and character development are unsophisticated by today's standards.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
If you never read introductions,
don't skip this one - it's the best part of the play. "R.U.R.", from the author of "The War with the Newts", is a major disappointment. Read more
Published on November 4, 2006 by James Arbuckle
4.0 out of 5 stars
The origin of species,
This is only a short and very dated play, but it's also a significant piece of literature in it's own right. Read more
Published on September 17, 2003 by @
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK
this play was ok...it was a little on the freaky side..but it is ok. I had to read it for school and its a lot better than other plays we have read so far...i liked it i guess
Published on March 9, 2003
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