R.U.R.
by Karel Čapek
Genres: Classics, Plays, Science FictionPages: 73
Rating:
Synopsis:R.U.R. - written in 1920, premiered in Prague in 1921, and first performed in New York in 1922 - garnered worldwide acclaim for its author and popularized the word 'robot'. Mass-produced as efficient laborers to serve man, Capek's Robots are an android product-they remember everything but think of nothing new. But the Utopian life they provide ultimately lacks meaning, and the humans they serve stop reproducing. When the Robots revolt, killing all but one of their masters, they must strain to learn the secret of self-duplication. It is not until two Robots fall in love and are christened "Adam" and "Eve" by the last surviving human that Nature emerges triumphant.
It’s always difficult (for me, anyway!) to review a classic like Karel Čapek’s R.U.R., because I usually rate on enjoyment of the story or quality of the book, but classics tempt me to rate based on significance as well. When I first read R.U.R. — which I’d actually forgotten that I had even read it before — I clearly didn’t really like it or get it, which is interesting.
This time… well, it’s still incredibly weird that all the main characters are in love with Helena, but other stuff stuck with me more, like this quotation:
“And that‘s not what your R. U. R. shareholders dream of either. They dream of dividends, and their dividends are the ruin of mankind.”
Oof. Just, oof.
In a way, it’s very predictable to the reader now, but also… unfortunately recognisable. That wasn’t the only bit that made me wince with recognition, for sure.
It’s also, of course, important for being the first use of the word “robots”, and there’s a line running through from R.U.R. to The Murderbot Diaries, even if it’s a long lineage. I’m glad I reread it and gave it some time again.
