Our Contemporary Karel Čapek

Our Contemporary Karel Čapek

Karel Čapek, one of the greatest Czech writers, ranks among the world's most distinguished authors. His literary work cannot be embraced at one glance. You can never finish reading Karel Čapek because you keep finding new meanings and up-to-date massages. Čapek's entire work, as well as his personality, is characterized by a dialectic of internal conflicts. How many such contradictions could we list at random: a poet of the technologicalage and a poet of nature; a creator of utopian visions of modern civilization; an artist who relies, above all, on his reason and a writer with the warmest compassion; a philosopher verifying truth in everyday practice and yet believing in its ideal essence; a gardener, a eulogizer of small things and a world traveller; a pacifist who became a courageous fighter; an artist who believes in people, in their wisdom, skill and strength, yet who is terrified of the fanatical sui generis. Finally, Čapek is an artist, a master of the word, yet does not produce literature for its own sake but for life and for the popular masses. In order to save life and human values, he became a politically commited journalist who did not hesitate to pass his judgement and to fight on. Last but not least, Karel Čapek is a writer reflecting the realities of his time but simultaneously entering the realm of universal human ideals thereby creating values that are timeless.