In this satirical classic, a brilliant scientist invents the Karburator, a reactor that can create abundant and practically free energy. However, the Karburator’s superefficient energy production also yields a powerful by-product. The machine works by completely annihilating matter and in so doing releases the Absolute, the spiritual essence held within all matter, into the world. Infected by the heady, pure Absolute, the world’s population becomes consumed with religious and national fervor, the effects of which ultimately cause a devastating global war. Set in the mid-twentieth century, The Absolute at Large questions the ethics and rampant spread of power, mass production, and atomic weapons that Karel Capek saw in the technological and political revolutions occurring around him. Stephen Baxter provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.
Format: CONTRIBUTORS: Karel Capek, Stephen BaxterEAN: 9780803264595COUNTRY: United StatesPAGES: WEIGHT: 295 gHEIGHT: 203 cm
PUBLISHED BY: University of Nebraska PressDATE PUBLISHED: 2006-01-01CITY: GENRE: FICTION / General, FICTION / Science Fiction / GeneralWIDTH: 135 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Fiction: general and literary, Science fiction
"Capek's skewering of human greed and faith is all the more impressive given that the novel was originally published in 1922."—Pedro Ponce, Review of Contemporary Fiction, "Capek offers the tale of a machine capable of generating limitless energy that also releases the unknown spiritual essence locked within physical matter, with cataclysmic results."—Library Journal, "The Absolute at Large goes beyond the religious fervor of Nazism, foreshadowing the collectivization of Communism and the emergence of a free market too wide for any known West."—Village Voice, "A satirical science fiction classic. . . . Though Capek wrote The Absolute at Large more than 80 years ago, it absolutely retains its wit and relevance today."—Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, News Review, "Capek's dialog is fantastic, his characters richly drawn. But his vision of a world transcendently captivated by an apparent higher calling and then hoodwinked into war for nine years over a source of fuel is so prescient, it makes the novel seem like it was written today."—Cara Hoffman, NPR's All Things Considered
Karel Capek (1890–1938) was an acclaimed Czech author of novels, plays, essays, political writings, and short stories. His works include R.U.R., the famous play in which Capek coined the word “robot.” Stephen Baxter is the author of several science-fiction works, including the Philip K. Dick Award–winning Vacuum Diagrams, and the coauthor, along with Arthur C. Clarke, of The Light of Other Days.
In this satirical classic, a brilliant scientist invents the Karburator, a reactor that can create abundant and practically free energy. However, the Karburator’s superefficient energy production also yields a powerful by-product. The machine works by completely annihilating matter and in so doing releases the Absolute, the spiritual essence held within all matter, into the world. Infected by the heady, pure Absolute, the world’s population becomes consumed with religious and national fervor, the effects of which ultimately cause a devastating global war. Set in the mid-twentieth century, The Absolute at Large questions the ethics and rampant spread of power, mass production, and atomic weapons that Karel Capek saw in the technological and political revolutions occurring around him. Stephen Baxter provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.
Format: CONTRIBUTORS: Karel Capek, Stephen BaxterEAN: 9780803264595COUNTRY: United StatesPAGES: WEIGHT: 295 gHEIGHT: 203 cm
PUBLISHED BY: University of Nebraska PressDATE PUBLISHED: 2006-01-01CITY: GENRE: FICTION / General, FICTION / Science Fiction / GeneralWIDTH: 135 cmSPINE:
Karel Capek (1890–1938) was an acclaimed Czech author of novels, plays, essays, political writings, and short stories. His works include R.U.R., the famous play in which Capek coined the word “robot.” Stephen Baxter is the author of several science-fiction works, including the Philip K. Dick Award–winning Vacuum Diagrams, and the coauthor, along with Arthur C. Clarke, of The Light of Other Days.
Die verhaal van die kasarm en die Calitze kom tot 'n mooi einde
Ek kan nie ’n boek summier toemaak nadat die slotsin geskryf is nie. Ek lees álles, tot by die outeursnotas en die bronnelys (gewoonlik gooi ek darem net vlugtig ’n oog oor die bonne!). Chanette Paul maak in die nota oor Maanschijnbaai 2, die verdere verhaal van Nan en Jeannie, die stelling: “Lesers moet my asseblief vergewe dat my verbeelding altyd die oorhand oor die werklikheid kry en verdigsel voorkeur bo feite.” (p.635) Ek wil daarby aanhaak en bieg dat ’n uitstekende verhoudingsroman soos hierdie tydelik die oorhand gekry het oor my traagheid om te lees oor reïnkarnasie en die esoteriese. Die klomp Calitzse het my tyd en aandag totaal gekaap.
Die skrywer wy die laaste bladsye aan ’n verduideliking oor hoe die Maanschijnbaai-tweeluik ontstaan het. Sy beweer dat die Calitze haar “onkant” betrap het. Sy wou ’n romanse skryf maar uiteindelik was die karakters so kompleks dat dit op twee dik boeke en ’n intense familiedrama uitgeloop het.
Van die onderskeie karakters raak diep waarhede kwyt wat die moeite werd is om te onderstreep en te onthou, soos Zach wat dit gehad het oor die risiko om iemand op ’n pedestal te plaas omdat jy daardeur die persoon ’n onreg aandoen. (p.539) En Nan, wat die hele klomp Calitze moes grootkry, se wyse raad: “Met eerlikheid, Jeannie, kom ’n mens baie verder as met opoffering. Met eerlikheid gee jy almal ’n regverdige kans. Opoffering beteken bloot jy doen iets teen jou sin omdat jy glo dit sal ander baat.” (p.613)
Maak seker dat jy genoeg tyd op hande het, dan lees jy hierdie tweeluik in volgorde, Jo & Sue, gevolg deur Nan & Jeannie. Dit is hersien en met splinternuwe, pragtige baadjies uitgegee deur Lapa Uitgewers.
A very practical approach and the tools to go along with it
Very useful. The book provides a structure and an approach that I would have been useful earlier in my investing. I like the five gates and in particular the attention to quality and management's capital allocation decisions. I will also apply the idea of the stewardship log to get more explicit on my investment theses. This is kind of the practical aspect of what I learned from the Psychology of Money.
the title ties in really nicley the more towards the end but the title for the book suits it real...
the book is very slow burn and takes a while for like captivating parts of the book .but the middle to the end the pace of the book is really nice the beginning is just repetitive and and trust the processes
Skuld en vergifnis word nie versuiker in hierdie jeugverhaal nie
Twee halwes maak ’n hele is die wenner van ’n jeugboekprys. Ek moes myself gedurig herinner wat die teikenmark nou eintlik is, want die sake wat aangeraak word, is geensins beperk tot jeugdige lesers nie. Die sterk newe-karakters dra daartoe by die selfs baie ouer lesers goed aanklank kan vind by die storielyn wat ontvou.
“Hulle sê as jy iemand vergewe, lig jy ’n vrag van daardie persoon se skouers af. Maar miskien is sommige dinge net te swaar om van iemand anders se skouers te lig?” (p.178) Baie aandag word gegee aan skuld en vergifnis, maar geen suikeromhulde kitsoplossings word aangebied nie. Dit sou die storie beslis vervlak het.
Na die aardskuddende ontdekking wat Lira gemaak het, gaan sy vir drie maande na ’n Griekse eiland en maak sy kennis met haar ander helfte, ’n halfsuster wat presies die teenoorgestelde is van haar eie ingetoë, overthinking self. Ek het daarvan gehou dat hulle, die verskille ten spyt, nie in heftige konflik was nie. Eerder besig om algaande te ontdek dat hulle by mekaar kan aanpas en albei sterker daardeur kan kom.
Marita van der Vyver is ’n waardige wenner van die Tafelberg Jeugboekprys en hierdie boek hoort beslis in van der Vyver versamelings. Dit is uitgegee deur Tafelberg, ’n druknaam van Jonathan Ball Uitgewers.