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Apocryphal Tales
The stories in this collection tackle great events and figures of history, myth, and literature in unexpected ways, questioning views on such basic concepts as justice, progress, wisdom, belief, and patriotism.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
About the author
Karel Čapek
482 books826 followersKarel Čapek is one of the the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He wrote with intelligence and humour on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known for their interesting and precise descriptions of reality, and Čapek is renowned for his excellent work with the Czech language. His play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) first popularized the word "robot".
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May 2, 2016
According to wikipedia, apocrypha are works, usually written works, that are of unknown authorship, or of doubtful authenticity, or spurious, or not considered to be within a particular canon. In other words: lies and fabrications.
But who's ready to swear that things didn't happen exactly as Karel Capek describes them in his delightfully satirical and thought provoking collection of revisionist history? Written between two world wars of unprecedented savagery and irrational hatred, these stories that started as newspaper articles go way beyond the clever and funny literary bagatelle and become a humanist manifesto and a weapon against tyranny and discrimination everywhere. I was saddened, but not surprised, to find out that Karel Capek was number two on the list of enemies of the state when Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938. Anybody who reads his stories, especially today in the third millenium, can see clearly that the more distant the past described in these sketches, the closer the mesasge is to contemporary issues.
I could be lazy and finish my review with the words of praise from Arthur Miller in 1990: "I read Karel Capek for the first time when I was a college student long ago in the Thirties. There was no writer like him...prophetic assurance mixed with surrealistic humour and hard-edged social satire: a unique combination...he is a joy to read." , but I have several pages of notes and bookmarks to share with you in illustration of the qualities underlined by Miller.
First exhibit is the prologue, The Moving Business , where the author acidly proposes that we solve the problems of our modern society by escaping into the past :
Let's say some gentleman comes to me who wants to move somewhere out of this damned century; he's had it up to the eyeballs, he says, right up to the eyeballs with wars, the arms race, bolsheviks, fascism and, for that matter, progress in general. I let him go on cussing, and then I say: Please be so good, sir, as to select some other era; here are some brochures for several different centuries.
A longer quote serves even better to see the despair behind the laughter, a despair that is so poignat I find it hard to believe this particular piece of writing comes from 1936 and not 2016:
Now let's say you tell yourself that this century's not for you. There are people who prefer peace and quiet; there are people who get sick to their stomachs when they read in the paper about what's going on these days, that there is or will be war, that people are being executed somewhere or other, or that somewhere else a few hundred or a few thousand people are killing each other off. That sort of thing can get on your nerves, friend, and some people can't take it. Some people don't like it when every day there's violence breaking out somewhere in the world, and they think: why should I have to stand by and watch it happening? Here I am, a civilized, temperate family man, and I don't want my children growing up in such a strange and disord - ... I could even say, a deranged and dangerous world, right? Well, there are lots of people who think that way, friend, and once you start traveling down that road, you have to admit we can't really be certain about anything these days: not about life or position or finances, no, not even about family. No question about it, there used to be more certainty in this world. Anyway, there are plenty of good, decent people who don't like these times at all, and some of them are downright unhappy if not disgusted at having to live on a street that's so blighted and brutal they don't even poke their noses outside. There's nothing they can do about it; but if this is life, they want out.
Where would you like to go? Which century do you think will offer a better chance at prosperity, healthy and peaceful living? Maybe the 19 century industrial revolution with its child labor and rampant pollution? The Illuminism and its guillotine? Medieval Spain at the times of the Inquisition? England when it was visited by its northern neighbors, the Vikings? Or prehistory among the dinosaurs and the pterodactyls? Take your pick, and stop complaining!
Capek does exactly that, and takes us on a trip through history from the ancient to the contemporary times, focusing on key episodes from mythology, religious or history books. When exactly did we start complaining about 'les neiges d'antan', about the things getting worse every day and about how the kids are paying no respect to their elders? When did we become xenophobIC? Apparently, it goes all the way back to the Stone Age ( Times Aren't What They Used To Be ):
As if anything good ever came from foreigners! Never, never have any dealings with foreign riffraff! No, do as our forefathers's experience teaches us to do: when you see a foreigner, strike first and bash his head in, no fuss and no formalities. That's what we've done since time began: no chitchat, just kill him.
Why exactly was Prometheus punished and by whom? When did we replace democracy and the rule of law with rumour mongering, character assassination and judgement by media campaigns? ( Just Like Old Times )
"Wait just a minute; how can they shout that he's innocent when they don't know for certain what he's accused of?"
"It doesn't matter; everyone's heard something, and they just talk about what we've heard, don't we?
Why did the Achaeians attack the Trojans? Was it for the beautiful face of Helen? ( Thersites )
.. you don't seem to get it. We Hellenes are fighting, first of all, so that old fox Agamemnon can rake in a sackful of loot; in the second place, so that fop Achilles can satisfy his outrageous ambition; in the third place, so that crook Oddysseus can steal our military supplies; and finally, so that a certain bought-off street singer, Homer or whatever the bum's name is, for a few grubby pennies, can heap glory on the greatest of all traitors to the Greek nation.
Look at me laughing, all the way down to the gallows, as I see history repeating itself time and time again. An old philosopher named Agathon holds forth on the meaning of wisdom, and all I can think of is the pitiful theatre of US elections in 2016:
I know, men of Boeotia, that you are occupied at the moment with elections to the city council, and at times such as this here there is no room for wisdom, not even for reason; elections are an opportunity for cleverness.
Agathon continues his expose by explaining to the audience what is the difference between cleverness, reason and wisdom:
In short, cleverness is a gift or talent, reason is a quality of strength, but wisdom is a virtue. Cleverness is usually cruel, malicious, and selfish; it seeks a weakness in its neighbor and exploits it for its own gain; it leads to success. Reason is frequently cruel to man, but it is true to its ends and intents; it seeks to profit everyone; if it finds weakness or ignorance in its neighbor, it attempts to remove it through enlightenment or correction; it leads to improvement. Wisdom cannot be cruel, for it is pure generosity and good will; it does not seek to profit everyone, for it loves man too much to love instead some more distant goal; if it finds weakness and wretchedness in its neighbor, it forgives it and loves it; it leads to harmony.
What drove Alexander the Great to lead his armies all the way to India? It was sheer political necessity. he writes in a letter to his mentor Aristotle, an antique version of the Lebensraum advocated by the Nazis and a theory reiterated in another famous scene, that of Archimedes confronting the Roman soldier over his circles drawn in the sand:
"Rome must be the strongest of all the lands in the world"
"Why"
"To maintain her position. The stronger we are, the more enemies we have. Tht's why we must be the strongest force."
Political expediency rears its ugly head also when Capek tackles Biblical times, always a thorny issue, and Pilates explains the facts of life to a young idealist:
"Keep in mind, young man, the interests of our homeland take precedence over any law."
Which brings me to the central theme of the whole collection, the monopoly religions claim over truth and the need for apocryphal tales and for men of vision who can transcend the ordinary and petty concerns of the few with an eye for the greater good of many. Pilates Creed deserves to be quoted in full, as the artist's humanist manifesto, the foundation of this shelter against the coming fascist storm that Capek is building here:
You are a strange people and you talk a great deal. You have all sorts of pharisees, prophets, saviors and other sectarians. Each of you makes his own truth and forbids all other truths. As if a carpenter who makes a new chair were to forbid people sitting on any other chair that someone else had made before him. As if the making of a new chair canceled out all the old chairs. It's entirely possible that the new chair is better, more beautiful, and more comfortable than the others, but why in heaven's name shouldn't a tired man be able to sit on whatever wretched, worm-eaten, or rock-hard chair he likes? He's tired and worn, he badly needs a rest, and here you drag him forcibly out of the seat into which he's dropped and make him move over to yours. I don't understand you, Joseph.
[...]
"It is not my truth," said Joseph or Arimathea. "There is only one truth for all."
"And which is that?"
"The one in which I believe."
"There you have it," Pilates said slowly. "It is only your truth after all. You people are like children who believe that the whole world ends at their horizon and that nothing lies beyond it. The world is a large place, Joseph, and there is room in it for many things."
[...]
The world would have to be immensely vast, spacious, and free for each and every actual truth to fit into it. And I think it is, Joseph. When you climb to the top of a high mountain, you see the things somehow blend together and level out into a single plain. Even truths blend together from a certain height. Of course, man does not and cannot live on a mountaintop; it's enough for him if he sees his home or his field close by, both of them filled with truths and such things. There is his true place and sphere of action. But now and then he can look at a mountain or the sky and say to himself that from there his truths and such things still exist and nothing has been stolen from him; rather, they have blended together with something far more free and unbounded that is no longer his property alone. To hold fast to this wider view while tilling his own small field - that, Joseph, is something almost like devotion.
[...]
I believe that each of us has his share of it, both he who says yes and he who says no. If those two joined together and understood each other, the whole truth would be known. Of course, yes and no can't join together, but people always can; there is more truth in people than in words. I have more understanding of people than of their truths, but there is faith even in that, Joseph of Arimathea, and it is necessary to sustain this faith with ardor and exultation. I believe. Absolutely and unquestionably, I believe. But what is truth?
I am often asked if I am an atheist, and I answer like Pilates here that no, I am a believer. I believe in this higher truth that blends together all the other small truths religions are so fond of fighting over, and I believe people are more important than ideas. I am skeptical that any one person or creed holds in his hands the ultimate truth, but I also believe that a fragment of this truth resides in the deep core of every human being. It's called humanism and to my ears it sounds better and more accurate than the word 'atheism'.
After the fiery speech of Pilates, I almost felt like putting the book aside, but the journey is not yet finished. Capek continues with his satirical sketches, taking on artistic expression in a debate between a Byzantine mosaic layer and an iconoclast; rewriting the famous Hamlet monologue to ponder on the responsibility of the artist to be either an entertainer, a poet or a revolutionary; asking us to reconsider the greatest love of all (Romeo and Juliet) as the tantrums of moody teenagers :
"A great love? I think that is when two people are able to get along together throughout the whole of their lives ... devotedly and faithfully ..."
War and intransigence are recurring themes in the collection, from Napoleon to the recent (1930's) rising of chickenhawks nationalists who believe mercy and kindness are destroying the moral fiber of tha nation (sounds familiar?):
"Give?" Master Hynek Rab was amazed. "I wouldn't have done that, father-in-law. Why pamper lazy churls? If they can't earn their living, let 'em drop dead. Let 'em drop dead," he repeated forcefully. "What's needed in times like these, father-in-law, is an iron hand. No charity and no dole! It only makes them soft, and that's a fact!
My edition of the tales contains also a couple of pages of Easter Eggs. Under the heading of Fables the author offers us a series of slogans and short aphorisms from historical figures. Replace said figure with the current politician of your choice. I have selected three of the dictums for illustration:
Attila : We too have come to save the world.
<<>><<>><<>>
Conquistador : You know, merciful God, that inhumanity is alien to my nature. But of course Aztecs aren't human.
<<>><<>><<>>
Cato the Elder : What's that? Hunger? Poverty? A poor harvest? No matter - first Carthage must be destroyed.
<<>><<>><<>>
The final section of the book is called Would-be Tales , contemporary short stories that do not fit with the historical setting of the previous ones, but stories that are nevertheless similar in message and tone.
The Man Who Knew How To Fly [1938] is a visionary tale of genius beind ignored by narrow-minded bureaucracy. It is also an excellent forerunner of the style embraced a couple of generations later by Italo Calvino and Douglas Adams, proof that every age has its champions of irreverent thinking (Aesop, La Fontaine, Montesquieu, Swift, etc)
The Anonymous Letter is another example of the visionary clarity of Capek. The man who invented the word "robot" is describing here to perfection the concept of "internet trolls".
It's monstrous what hatred and viciousness there is in people sometimes.
Ten Centavos is the story of a man who is subjected to a newspaper led witchhunt. It was written in 1938, but it's message applies equally to Nazi death camp, Siberian gulags and McCarthy's black lists. Senor Manuel Varga is another alter ego of the author:
He simply believed in cultural improvement, and he loved people; that was all there was to it. [...] How can a man accommodate himself to the fact that people hate him? Perhaps he, too, must begin to hate, is that it? And how can he accommodate himself to hating when his entire life has been spent teaching people to love one another?
<<>><<>><<>>
I believe the last quote is a good stopping point for my review. I left a lot of the individual sketches out of my commentary, but I hope what I included is enough to tickle your interest. I know I will try to read more from Karel Capek.
Recommended for fans of Douglas Adams, Sir Terry Pratchett, Italo Calvino and The Monty Pythons.
January 2, 2016
I visited Karel Čapek's grave in Prague back in 1992, before I had actually read any of his works. When I finally got round to reading him I realised that here was a superb writer of satirical fantasy who was infused with a genuine feeling for humanity. Čapek was one of the great reasonable men in an age of extremes and he achieved the distinction of having his works banned by both the Nazis and the Communists in his native Czechoslovakia (as his native country was then called).
Apocryphal Stories was a volume I knew about long before I obtained a copy. The science fiction writer Philip José Farmer wrote a series of stories he called 'Polytropical Paramyths' in which the events of real history were shown to be not quite what we have always believed. Farmer's efforts were compared with Čapek's. Finally last year, in the west of Ireland, in a second hand bookshop, I chanced on this volume.
There are 29 stories that range history (and prehistory) from elderly cavemen complaining about the negative changes in society when the youngsters prefer to construct bone spears to flint weapons through various Greek (the death of Archimedes) and Roman (soldiers arguing about what actually happened on various military campaigns during the time of Caesar) eras, all the way up to the time of Napoleon. A large chunk of the book is concerned with Biblical incidents (including a baker complaining about the miracle of the loaves and how such miracles lower the prices of his product).
Throughout these tales, Čapek always maintains his sympathy for the human animal. The stories are deeply ironic and yet never cruel or morbid, even when the subject matter is rather grotesque ('Brother Francis' for example). There is kindness here as well as cleverness and irony.
My favourite story in this collection is 'Ophir', which is a masterful fantasy that is also a magnificently ironic satire on gullibility and truth.
Apocryphal Stories was a volume I knew about long before I obtained a copy. The science fiction writer Philip José Farmer wrote a series of stories he called 'Polytropical Paramyths' in which the events of real history were shown to be not quite what we have always believed. Farmer's efforts were compared with Čapek's. Finally last year, in the west of Ireland, in a second hand bookshop, I chanced on this volume.
There are 29 stories that range history (and prehistory) from elderly cavemen complaining about the negative changes in society when the youngsters prefer to construct bone spears to flint weapons through various Greek (the death of Archimedes) and Roman (soldiers arguing about what actually happened on various military campaigns during the time of Caesar) eras, all the way up to the time of Napoleon. A large chunk of the book is concerned with Biblical incidents (including a baker complaining about the miracle of the loaves and how such miracles lower the prices of his product).
Throughout these tales, Čapek always maintains his sympathy for the human animal. The stories are deeply ironic and yet never cruel or morbid, even when the subject matter is rather grotesque ('Brother Francis' for example). There is kindness here as well as cleverness and irony.
My favourite story in this collection is 'Ophir', which is a masterful fantasy that is also a magnificently ironic satire on gullibility and truth.
October 14, 2019
Il lamento del fornaio
E' Čapek: potrebbe bastare questo per stuzzicare il potenziale lettore.
Meglio, è Čapek che gioca con la storia, la tradizione biblica e quella letteraria, rimescolando le carte e fornendo versioni apocrife, altamente divertenti e tragicamente plausibili, profondamente umane. Lo sguardo è il solito: acuto, compassionevole ma consapevole delle debolezze degli uomini, del rischio di scivolare nell'orrore e nella tragedia (mala tempora..., visto che molti racconti risalgono agli anni '30).
Ventinove brevi, brevissimi racconti, alcuni sublimi, altri semplicemente piacevoli, che spaziano dalla preistoria all'Impero napoleonico, con tappe nella storia e mitologia greca, soste a Sodoma, lettere di Alessandro il Grande che giustifica di fronte al maestro Aristotele ogni sua azione, compresa l'ascensione al rango di divinità, con la "necessità politica". E ancora, la Natività che mostra l'inutilità del maschio, qualche pinta in compagnia di legionari dalla memoria corta, l'insostenibile pesantezza di essere Marta (con Maria al centro dell'attenzione e Lazaro...Lazaro che non è più stato lo stesso da quella volta), qualche appunto sulla Passione e su Pilato. Oppure, facendo un salto in avanti, un tuffo nell'immaginario shakespeariano, da Amleto a Re Lear, passando per Giulietta e i suoi magnifici otto figli.
Elenco sterile, utile giusto a mostrare la varietà delle situazioni manipolate e rimodellate da Čapek. Qualche personale favorito? Il problema dei giovani cavernicoli, con le loro nuove mode, che prefigura in un certo senso il Lewis de Il più grande uomo scimmia del Pleistocene (Times Aren't What They Were); l'esilarante discussione tra Abramo e Sarah, alla ricerca di dieci "giusti" per salvare Sodoma e Gomorra; Marta, Maria e Lazzaro (quando arriva J.C., ma è giorno di bucato, la casa è un disastro, Maria non aiuta e bisognerà pur offrire qualcosa al Maestro per rifocillarsi; quando bisogna andare a Gerusalemme, J.C. è in prigione, ma qualcuno dovrà rimanere a casa a curare i polli e le capre...e Lazzaro). Il fornaio, che approva quanto predica il Messia, ma non può proprio sorvolare sulla questione dei pani moltiplicati: così si uccide il mercato! Il quartetto di racconti sulla condanna e crocefissione, giù il cappello (Benchanan, The Crucifixion, Pilate's Evening, Pilate's Creed... "I believe. I believe absolutely and unhesitatingly. But what is truth?"). La delicata questione delle immagini religiose (ovvero, meglio nessuna arte che della cattiva arte. Soprattutto se gli artisti sono altri). I meravigliosi paesi dell'Africa (Ophir, dove ancora ci si domanda cosa sia - e dove stia - la verità, riportando alla mente non solo la Bibbia e Salomine, ma anche le favole sul regno del Prete Gianni). E altro ancora, a dire il vero (Goneril, Romeo e Giulietta, Don Giovanni).
In Ofir, probabilmente, abbondavano anche i diamanti. Pare che l'inno nazionale fosse generosamente concesso da De Beers https://youtu.be/Mqmbz8W1-tA
E' Čapek: potrebbe bastare questo per stuzzicare il potenziale lettore.
Meglio, è Čapek che gioca con la storia, la tradizione biblica e quella letteraria, rimescolando le carte e fornendo versioni apocrife, altamente divertenti e tragicamente plausibili, profondamente umane. Lo sguardo è il solito: acuto, compassionevole ma consapevole delle debolezze degli uomini, del rischio di scivolare nell'orrore e nella tragedia (mala tempora..., visto che molti racconti risalgono agli anni '30).
Ventinove brevi, brevissimi racconti, alcuni sublimi, altri semplicemente piacevoli, che spaziano dalla preistoria all'Impero napoleonico, con tappe nella storia e mitologia greca, soste a Sodoma, lettere di Alessandro il Grande che giustifica di fronte al maestro Aristotele ogni sua azione, compresa l'ascensione al rango di divinità, con la "necessità politica". E ancora, la Natività che mostra l'inutilità del maschio, qualche pinta in compagnia di legionari dalla memoria corta, l'insostenibile pesantezza di essere Marta (con Maria al centro dell'attenzione e Lazaro...Lazaro che non è più stato lo stesso da quella volta), qualche appunto sulla Passione e su Pilato. Oppure, facendo un salto in avanti, un tuffo nell'immaginario shakespeariano, da Amleto a Re Lear, passando per Giulietta e i suoi magnifici otto figli.
Elenco sterile, utile giusto a mostrare la varietà delle situazioni manipolate e rimodellate da Čapek. Qualche personale favorito? Il problema dei giovani cavernicoli, con le loro nuove mode, che prefigura in un certo senso il Lewis de Il più grande uomo scimmia del Pleistocene (Times Aren't What They Were); l'esilarante discussione tra Abramo e Sarah, alla ricerca di dieci "giusti" per salvare Sodoma e Gomorra; Marta, Maria e Lazzaro (quando arriva J.C., ma è giorno di bucato, la casa è un disastro, Maria non aiuta e bisognerà pur offrire qualcosa al Maestro per rifocillarsi; quando bisogna andare a Gerusalemme, J.C. è in prigione, ma qualcuno dovrà rimanere a casa a curare i polli e le capre...e Lazzaro). Il fornaio, che approva quanto predica il Messia, ma non può proprio sorvolare sulla questione dei pani moltiplicati: così si uccide il mercato! Il quartetto di racconti sulla condanna e crocefissione, giù il cappello (Benchanan, The Crucifixion, Pilate's Evening, Pilate's Creed... "I believe. I believe absolutely and unhesitatingly. But what is truth?"). La delicata questione delle immagini religiose (ovvero, meglio nessuna arte che della cattiva arte. Soprattutto se gli artisti sono altri). I meravigliosi paesi dell'Africa (Ophir, dove ancora ci si domanda cosa sia - e dove stia - la verità, riportando alla mente non solo la Bibbia e Salomine, ma anche le favole sul regno del Prete Gianni). E altro ancora, a dire il vero (Goneril, Romeo e Giulietta, Don Giovanni).
In Ofir, probabilmente, abbondavano anche i diamanti. Pare che l'inno nazionale fosse generosamente concesso da De Beers https://youtu.be/Mqmbz8W1-tA
January 10, 2019
למעשה לא מדובר כאן בסיפורים גנוזים של המחבר אלא בסיפורים אפוקריפיים - סיפורים שהם מחוץ לקאנון המקובל. בדומה ל"חיים דמיוניים" של מרסל שווב יש כאן אוסף סיפורים קצרצרים על דמויות מפורסמות מן ההיסטוריה או מהספרות המציגים מעין היסטוריה חלופית לזו הידועה או המקובלת אודותן. היתרון בסיפוריו של צ'אפק הוא כפול. ראשית צ'אפק יודע לכתוב. למעשה הוא אחד המספרים המוכשרים שאני מכיר. הוא כותב כאן בשלל סגנונות (חיקוי של שייקספיר, הברית החדשה, סגנון תנ"כי ועוד..) ויודע לשלב בכתיבתו ניואנסים קטנים, אותנטיים לכאורה, המונעים יבשושיות. יש בצ'אפק משהו המזכיר לי את קאלווינו, עוד סופר אהוב עלי (או אולי ביתר הוגנות משהו בקאלווינו המזכיר לי אותו). הוא אינו מסתפק בתיאור של ההיסטוריה החלופית אלא מצייר לנו קטעי חיים, דמויי מחזות זעירים ומרבה לשלב בכתיבתו דיאלוגים ומונולוגים. כמו כן הוא בעל חוש הומור – דבר המוסיף חיוך לפניו של הקורא. שנית צ'אפק הוא כותב חכם. כל סיפור מגלם בתוכו אמירה, תובנה או אבחנה פילוסופית או פסיכולוגית. רוב הסיפורים (אך לא כולם) מבטאים בעצם ביקורת או סאטירה על החברה הצ'כית הבורגנית יותר מאשר בחינה באור חדש של דמות מפורסמת.
חלק מהסיפורים חביבים או מעניינים – נהניתי לקרוא אותם אך לא ברור איזה חותם יותירו בזיכרוני. חלק מהם נהדרים, זיקוקי דינור של כתיבה "קלה" – למשל הסיפור על ניתוץ הצלמים או על נפוליון. הציון הוא לכן ממוצע.
חלק מהסיפורים חביבים או מעניינים – נהניתי לקרוא אותם אך לא ברור איזה חותם יותירו בזיכרוני. חלק מהם נהדרים, זיקוקי דינור של כתיבה "קלה" – למשל הסיפור על ניתוץ הצלמים או על נפוליון. הציון הוא לכן ממוצע.
May 15, 2013
Y bueno. De la nada aparece este pequeño libro, arrumbado en la cima de uno de los múltiples alteros que tiene papá en su habitación.
¿Cuánto tiempo llevaba ahí? Ni idea. Me llamó la atención el nombre del autor, esas consonantes con signos encima de ellas me han dejado buen sabor de boca.
Después el título retador. El formato de bolsillo y una edición de esas lindas, bonitas, de buen papel y buena impresión.
Luego la contraportada que menciona algo del autor y su obra, una de ellas titulada R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) "—donde se emplea por primera vez la palabra «robot» referida a autómatas mecánicos—".
Y ya con eso era suficiente para captar toda mi atención.
Luego, más abajo en esa misma contraportada viene la descripción de este libro "treinta relatos breves... visión satírica y desmitificadora de la Historia y de algunos de sus conspicuos protagonistas", y listo.
Čapek (1890-1938) es un ducho. Con humor y gracia, con elegancia, va desatornillando sus relatos de una manera muy concisa. A veces, en breves parpadeos y de un plumazo nos cuenta "historias" completas.
En otras, abarca complejidades como la patria y el ser en ella. La cuestión hamletiana de qué ser, si el protagonista o el escritor de nuestra historia, la pugna entre el pasado y la modernidad, el hambre de poder de los gobernantes, la insulsa nadería del hombre a lo largo de su historia.
Estos relatos saben bien. Invitan a la reflexión sin una gota de pedantería, y sin lugar a dudas pasa a ser un autor de aquellos que quiero leer más, y quizás, en un futuro, releer.
Si algún día doy clases, de la materia que sea, pondría de entrada a mis alumnos a leer el relato "Lot, o el patriotismo", este y otros relatos más deberían ser lectura obligada en las escuelas.
¿Cuánto tiempo llevaba ahí? Ni idea. Me llamó la atención el nombre del autor, esas consonantes con signos encima de ellas me han dejado buen sabor de boca.
Después el título retador. El formato de bolsillo y una edición de esas lindas, bonitas, de buen papel y buena impresión.
Luego la contraportada que menciona algo del autor y su obra, una de ellas titulada R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) "—donde se emplea por primera vez la palabra «robot» referida a autómatas mecánicos—".
Y ya con eso era suficiente para captar toda mi atención.
Luego, más abajo en esa misma contraportada viene la descripción de este libro "treinta relatos breves... visión satírica y desmitificadora de la Historia y de algunos de sus conspicuos protagonistas", y listo.
Čapek (1890-1938) es un ducho. Con humor y gracia, con elegancia, va desatornillando sus relatos de una manera muy concisa. A veces, en breves parpadeos y de un plumazo nos cuenta "historias" completas.
En otras, abarca complejidades como la patria y el ser en ella. La cuestión hamletiana de qué ser, si el protagonista o el escritor de nuestra historia, la pugna entre el pasado y la modernidad, el hambre de poder de los gobernantes, la insulsa nadería del hombre a lo largo de su historia.
Estos relatos saben bien. Invitan a la reflexión sin una gota de pedantería, y sin lugar a dudas pasa a ser un autor de aquellos que quiero leer más, y quizás, en un futuro, releer.
Si algún día doy clases, de la materia que sea, pondría de entrada a mis alumnos a leer el relato "Lot, o el patriotismo", este y otros relatos más deberían ser lectura obligada en las escuelas.
December 28, 2008
This was an absolutely enjoyable read from beginning to end. Each of the stories is well paced and witty with only a couple on the didactic side. My favourites are “Times Aren't What They Used To Be” which imagines that technological progress came from human laziness, the reimagining of Hamlet, so that the famous soliloquy is about career choice, a revised Romeo and Juliet in which Juliet marries Paris and we witness her life about thirty years later, the miracle of the five loaves told from the point of view of a disgruntled baker and the nativity told from the a put-upon innkeeper. But they are all wonderfully comic which tease out the bigger themes with a light ironic touch. A must for anyone who has never read Čapek.
October 17, 2019
Amusing, mildly satirical tales, mocking historical events, biblical stories and traditional legends, spiced with political, often cynical comments of the author on society and mankind. If you read them in one sitting they tend to become a bit monotonous. I especially liked the Would-Be tales as they gave the author more freedom for his creativity. A few of the latter, about hate-mail, are even very to the point even in our time.
November 26, 2015
Just re-read this in English for the first time, and my long-ago astounded impression still stands: one of the greatest collections of fable-like satirical short tales of the 20th century, and perhaps of all time. Highly recommended, in any language.
February 23, 2019
"La verità si deve contrabbandare, si deve spargere goccia a goccia, qui un pizzico, là un altro, perché la gente ci si abitui." (Benchanan, p. 67)
"Se non ci fosse ingiustizia, non ci sarebbe storia." (La crocifissione, p. 70)
"Se non ci fosse ingiustizia, non ci sarebbe storia." (La crocifissione, p. 70)
February 5, 2020
To, że się tak długo przebijałam przez ten cienki zbiorek w sumie mówi samo za siebie :P
February 12, 2024
A collection of short stories, a string of hypothetical points of view regarding some events from past history. Some trying to complete those events. Others way off the historical path. A few crazy alternatives, like the story of Don Juan.
Two of my favourites are about the "real" ending of Romeo and Juliet and the one about the baker who became upset because Jesus performing the miracle when feeding a large crowd with only 5 breads was bad for business.
I enjoyed the collection. Short but full of twists.
Two of my favourites are about the "real" ending of Romeo and Juliet and the one about the baker who became upset because Jesus performing the miracle when feeding a large crowd with only 5 breads was bad for business.
I enjoyed the collection. Short but full of twists.
November 18, 2013
Čapek's affection for human beings in all their human imperfection and his razor-sharp moral intelligence come through on every page of this collection of fables.
Long ago, when I had to write something saying 'If I was a work of art, I would be...', I chose to be the short story 'The Icon Smashers' in this book.
The more you know history, Homer, Shakespeare, and the Bible, the more you will appreciate 'Apocryphal Stories'. You can consider it a kind of cultural driving test, if you like: if you don't 'get' a story in this book, go and find out stuff until you do, and when you are done you will be a properly educated member of Western Civilisation.
Long ago, when I had to write something saying 'If I was a work of art, I would be...', I chose to be the short story 'The Icon Smashers' in this book.
The more you know history, Homer, Shakespeare, and the Bible, the more you will appreciate 'Apocryphal Stories'. You can consider it a kind of cultural driving test, if you like: if you don't 'get' a story in this book, go and find out stuff until you do, and when you are done you will be a properly educated member of Western Civilisation.
September 1, 2020
Libro de cuentos sumamente interesante, que aporta una visión distinta, irónica y crítica de nuestra realidad, todo a través de los relatos ya conocidos (o no tanto), de la cultura popula o la historia, un libro para pensar, aprender y reír de las paradojas de la vida.
¡Imperdible!
¡Imperdible!
February 22, 2019
Čapek construyó este libro siguiendo a Schwob en su concepción de la historia -quien señalaba que había que narrar aquello de único de quienes habitaron el pasado, aquello de particular pero también universal-. Las narraciones de Apócrifos tienden a mostrar aspectos que por lo común apenas intuimos de los personajes históricos (y que el bronce de la gran Historia tiende a ocultarnos), vemos al emperador Napoleón como un niño, a Pilatos temeroso por la condena que permitió, a Martha de Betania ahogada por las responsabilidades cotidianas sin poder seguir al maestro, los ancianos nómadas prehistóricos lamentando los nuevos usos, a Tersites hostigar un levantamiento contra los jefes aqueos con la intención de dejar Troya o tomarla de una vez, a Alejandro justificar todas sus campañas como cuestión de estado ante Aristóteles, entre muchos, tanto ficticios como históricos propiamente.
Escrito con una gran ironía Čapek se preocupa por comprender y entender a sus personajes lo que permite una gran empatía hacia ellos y al momento que atraviesan.
Escrito con una gran ironía Čapek se preocupa por comprender y entender a sus personajes lo que permite una gran empatía hacia ellos y al momento que atraviesan.
April 28, 2024
Relatos sencillos, de tono satírico o humorístico. Los más interesantes, para mí, los de tema bíblico.
Read
March 29, 2020Kdyby se to mělo stát zvykem, že by kdekdo pěti chleby a dvěma rybičkami nasytil pět tisíc lidí, pak aby se šli pekaři pást, nemám pravdu?
October 24, 2023
Beautiful
June 21, 2022
In a similar but less cruel and ironic style as Marcel Schwob's Imaginary Lives.
December 23, 2023
Els protagonistes són personatges històrics als quals podem conèixer des d"una mirada nova, molt divertida. D'entre tots, trio l'apòcrif "Santa nit", és una meravella.
Per cert, si no heu llegit La guerra de les salamandres, tb de Capek, feu-ho, que us agradarà.
Per cert, si no heu llegit La guerra de les salamandres, tb de Capek, feu-ho, que us agradarà.
August 8, 2014
Einige Geschichten sind klug und witzig, andere nur klug. Die meisten unterhaltsam. Meine Favoriten sind Die Strafe des Prometheus, Von den fünf Broten, Kaiser Diokletian, Die Beichte des Don Juan, sowie Romeo und Julia. In jedem Fall beweist Capek wieder einmal, dass wir uns schämen sollten, seine Bücher nicht zu kennen.
June 6, 2020
Como todo libro de recopilaciones tiene los cuentos que valen un 5, los que 4 y los que 2. Entonces un 4 es una buena nota. Sin embargo, es un libro que merece ser leído por esos textos que merita el 5 al guardar en textos cortos un pensamiento del autor muy válido. Además, al libro y a los pensamientos lo complementan el humor en ciertos pedazos.
December 25, 2022
My impression is like read stories in the way of child: Just enjoy the happinest while read and not questioning the context of the stories. Cause i doesnt have a bacground as european or christian/Catholic,maybe there are so many jokes,satire,or message that i cannot rellate. But,it's a joyfull ride actually reading this short storries from Capek
October 3, 2011
Small sketches based on famous people or fictional characters, retold. I liked the Greek stuff; I loved the Shakespeare; I was completely confused by the Bible material (no frame of reference). The author clearly has a great mind, but the pieces are limited vignettes. I want to try a novel next.
February 1, 2016
Compilation of short stories focused on the various famous real or fictional people and their dealing with particular moral dilemma, which rose around them. The inspiration was taken from Bible, Greek myths or Shakespeare and even some real historical event were put in display.
June 7, 2012
Una buena colección de relatos escritos con maestría y fina ironía que además normaliza algunos de los grandes clásicos.
September 10, 2016
This was a reread for me. While this is not my favorite work of his, Capek is still amazing.
April 17, 2016
Me encanto. Es un libro que da el punto de vista y los pensamientos de personajes históricos y literarios.
July 7, 2018
O escritor tcheco Karel Čapek (1890-1938) já foi objeto de estudo de dois textos aqui na Escotilha. Nos dois casos, tivemos contato com um dos veios criativos do autor: a ficção científica. Neste texto, gostaria de discutir um outro Čapek: o contista genial.
Em Histórias Apócrifas (Editora 34, 1994; tradução de Aleksandar Jovanovic), Čapek brinda-nos com questionamentos como que às margens de histórias muito conhecidas: como teria sido a noite de Pilatos após a crucificação de Cristo? Qual teria sido a discussão do tribunal que condenou Prometeu? O que um casal de “vovós da caverna” temeria em relação às modernidades?
O recurso de usar o passado para refletir acerca do presente não é exclusividade de Čapek. Para que nos mantenhamos no mundo eslavo, Zbigniew Herbert (poeta polonês, 1924-1998) faz uso deste recurso de modo consistente ao longo de sua obra, como que em busca de uma ética pré-cartesiana perdida que, parece, seria a única possibilidade de sobreviver no mundo pós-Auschwitz. O caso de Čapek é menos sisudo e, certamente, faz rir. Não apenas rir, naturalmente: o grande autor tcheco é mestre em usar o humor para fazer pensar.
Por Luiz Budant
Íntegra da resenha em: http://www.aescotilha.com.br/literatu...
Em Histórias Apócrifas (Editora 34, 1994; tradução de Aleksandar Jovanovic), Čapek brinda-nos com questionamentos como que às margens de histórias muito conhecidas: como teria sido a noite de Pilatos após a crucificação de Cristo? Qual teria sido a discussão do tribunal que condenou Prometeu? O que um casal de “vovós da caverna” temeria em relação às modernidades?
O recurso de usar o passado para refletir acerca do presente não é exclusividade de Čapek. Para que nos mantenhamos no mundo eslavo, Zbigniew Herbert (poeta polonês, 1924-1998) faz uso deste recurso de modo consistente ao longo de sua obra, como que em busca de uma ética pré-cartesiana perdida que, parece, seria a única possibilidade de sobreviver no mundo pós-Auschwitz. O caso de Čapek é menos sisudo e, certamente, faz rir. Não apenas rir, naturalmente: o grande autor tcheco é mestre em usar o humor para fazer pensar.
Por Luiz Budant
Íntegra da resenha em: http://www.aescotilha.com.br/literatu...
June 11, 2020
Karel Čapek, the most important Czech writer (writing in the czech language) of the first half of the 20th Century, author of the famous War With the Newts, wrote, in this collection of short stories, one of the funniest and most serious books I ever read. Originally published posthumously in Czech in 1945 with the title Kniha Apokryfu, this book consists in twenty nine short stories, written between the two world wars, in which the author tries to see the ''other side'' of well known historical or mythical episodes: the inner workings of the court that condemned Prometheus, the small talk of an elderly stone age couple complaining about the youth, the chat of a group of former Cesar's legionaries, around a bottle of wine, years after the end of Galia's campaign, the indignation of a Jerusalem's baker with Jesus' miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, and numerous other stories about biblical, literary, and historical episodes. Not all of the stories are funny but nearly all of them are brilliant and with wonderful punch lines. A book I very much enjoyed reading and will likely return to from time to time.
October 12, 2020
A collection of what are these days called ficlets: tiny stories that are generally just one scene, one conversation, illuminating a gap in an existing story, or providing a new perspective on something we've seen before. And here we have those tiny stories, loosely arranged in chronological order, on figures mythical, historical, and fictional, but all of it approached with a decidedly modern eye. Mostly this is juxtaposed for comic or satirical effect; I found this approach rather self-satisfied in its cleverness and point-scoring, even when I agreed with the point Čapek was making.
Where it does shine is when it goes for simple honesty and genuine emotion, as with Lot in Sodom, or the couple who let Joseph and Mary stay in their cowshed. If you like the idea of people from the past possessing a modern sensibility and sense of history taken for comedy, read The Evolution Man: Or, How I Ate My Father instead. Otherwise, there's not a great deal of interest here.
Where it does shine is when it goes for simple honesty and genuine emotion, as with Lot in Sodom, or the couple who let Joseph and Mary stay in their cowshed. If you like the idea of people from the past possessing a modern sensibility and sense of history taken for comedy, read The Evolution Man: Or, How I Ate My Father instead. Otherwise, there's not a great deal of interest here.
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