23. MY FAVOURITE CZECH WRITER

23. MY FAVOURITE CZECH WRITER

• Biography

• Books/works

• Choose one or two books and talk about it/them. Describe the plot, characters, style.

• Why do you like this author?

My favourite writer from Czech Republic is Karel Čapek. He is very famous writer with a plenty of plays, which are actual today as well. He was a Czech writer of the early 20th century best known for his science fiction, including his novel War with the Newts and the play R. U. R. that introduced the international word robot.

Let me tell you a few words about his life. Karel Čapek was born in latest 19th century in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice. He studied in Prague at Charles University and at the Sorbonne in Paris. Through social circles, the young writer developed close relationships with many of the political leaders of the Czechoslovak state. Karel Čapek had a very nice and strong relationship with his Brother Josef, a painter and writer, who died in the Nazi Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Another important person in his life was heis wife, Czech actress and writer Olga Scheinpflugová. They are connected with a marvellous place call Strž, what was their wedding gift. Even though, that the Nazi Gestapo had named him Czechoslovakia’s public enemy, Karel Čapek refused to leave his country. He died of double pneumonia and he is buried at the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague. Let’s focus to his literature works. His early attempts at fiction were mostly plays written with brother Josef. Čapek’s first international success was Rossum’s Universal Robots, an amazing work about a bad day at a factory populated with sentient robots.. Čapek worked in many writing genres, producing both fiction and non-fiction, but worked primaly as a journalist.

Karel Čapek wrote plays and novels as well, that’s why we have many works from there. From novels I would like to remind you books as The absolute et Large, Krakatit, Hordubal or War with the newts. The most famous plays are R.U.R, Pictures from the Insect’s life, The White Disease or The mother.

Let me not forget to my favourite play The mother. This ant-war drama takes place in time of war. The plot is quite simple. There is one family, which contains mother Dolores, father and her 5 sons. Unfortunately, 4 sons and Dolore’s husband die consecutively. Dolores can see them as ghosts. She wants to protect her youngest son, Toni, so she doesn’t let go him to war. She changes her opinion after finding, that there was a attack to a war ship full of young men.

In my opinion, Karel Čapek is a very good writer, who will be known for ages. I believe, that everyone can appreciate his works- lovers of wars, technological miracles or romantic scene as well. I’ve read these books: The mother, R.U.R, The war with the newts and Krakatit.