Apocryphal Tales Paperback – April 1, 1997

An amazing collection of paradigmatic short stories that rank on the same level as best stories of Borges, Buzzati, Kafka or Cortazar. A volume to keep on your night stand and read only one story at a time, and then meditate on its meaning at leisure.

I live in Prague when I am between jobs, and have been fortunate to visit the Capek house. I knew only that the Capek brothers invented the word ROBOT, and wrote children's books before I had the Apocryhphal Tales recommened to me. I immediately fell in love with all the segments--each are 'what else happened' parts of well-known legends and real life stories. For example, "What did Pilate talk about that isn't in the Bible?" And so on.Short, easy to read, recognizable, thought-provoking. An introduction to a Czech writer besides Kafka!

capek is a writer i'm currently reading in english translation - plan to read everything available. a truly great writer! this is one of his darker works, but the prose is really incredible.

My favorite apocryphal story is about Romeo and Juliet. The Shakespearean drama and "real live". And the question, what is better. There some more philosophical, but I like this one the best.

Short historic episodes told with twists, written by the eminent Check writer Karel Chapek during 1920 to 1938. Clever and entertaining.

These deceptively simple short stories, mostly set in the past, are full of everyday, ordinary characters who are often in the middle of extraordinary situations. While Capek has a charitable eye for our harmless vanities and foibles, he also possesses a merciless eye for war mongers, bureaucrats who avoid all responsibility for their actions, and hypocrisy. The Roman emperor Diocletian, for example, complains that he has absolutely nothing against the Christians he's persecuting, it's simply politics, nothing he can do about it. A group villagers hiding from Atilla the Hun finds a scapegoat for their troubles and responds accordingly.Well worth reading if you like satire, dry humor, or character -driven stories.

This is a collection of brief short stories, newspaper articles, and other (as the name suggests) apocrypha from Karel Čapek. It reads quickly, and the stories tend towards parable. As Čapek writes, though, it's never ham-fisted or obvious or mundane.Get a map of Prague to cross-reference the references to streets and addresses mentioned in the stories. It gives a sense of the geography of the world which Čapek and his characters inhabited.If you need a plug from someone whose curatory prowess is greater than mine, one of these tales was included in the "Home" edition of Lapham's Quarterly. So there's that, too.

Karel Capek was a giant of Czech cultural and political life in the years of the first Czech Republic between WWI and WWII. Èapek rose to fame as the author of RUR, the play that introduced the word robot to the world. He was also the author of the highly acclaimed novel War With the Newts and a newspaper essayist. His life and work during this period was inextricably linked with belief in democracy upon which the First Republic was founded. Capek's devout faith in democracy informed both his world view and his writing. This is particularly evident in his Apocryphal Tales. This edition also contains a group of stories known as the Would Be Tales. Generally, these stories were originally published in Czech newspapers or literary journals.Apocryphal Tales is a journey through the history of the world. In a series of short stories from the discovery of fire through Napoleon, Capek presents a little vignette with a viewpoint slightly different from our received wisdom. The tales begin with the Punishment of Prometheus, in which Prometheus is sentenced to death for his discovery of fire. The grounds: blasphemy; damaging the property of others; and treason. Next, an old cave man bemoans the audacity and idleness of the younger generation, wasting their time drawing bison and other creatures on cave walls. A solider complains about Achilles' vain striving for glory in doing battle with Troy. Next we come across a letter from Alexander the Great to Aristotle in which he tries to explain to his old teacher that his desire to conquer the world is based purely on the need to more properly defend his small homeland. When one considers that this last piece was written in 1937 the tale is as much a cautionary note as it is a simple story. The Death of Archimedes is also prescient. Written in April, 1938, it shows a conquering Roman soldier trying to convince Archimedes that he would do well to turn his scientific skills to the construction of weapons of mass destruction. Archimedes refuses and the story ends thusly: "It was later reported that the learned Archimedes had met his death through an accident." This last sentence tracked the official language used in reports issued by totalitarian regimes after it had killed one of its so-called enemies.The Tales include a series of stories involving the life and death of Jesus, each told from a slightly different perspective. The miracle of the loaves and fishes is told from the point of view of a baker whose primary concern is the impact the miracle will have on the price of his bread. After the crucifixion, two Hebrew locals debate the error of Jesus' methods although not his message. In another, Pilate engages in a dialogue with Joseph of Arimathea over the political implications of the crucifixion. Their dialogue on "what is truth" still resonates long after I finished reading it. Èapek also invokes fictional characters, Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet in two humorous sagas.Capek's `would-be' tales are written in a similar style but are written in a contemporary setting. The most compelling of these are the last two, Anonymous Letter and Ten Centavos. In the first, a writer who has produced articles supporting the consumption of cheese is the subject of a hate mail campaign. Ten Centavos involves the horror of an honorable man being publicly besmirched by an avenging state. These stories must surely have had some resonance for Èapek as, as his life neared its end in 1938, he became subject to vicious attacks from some who held him partly responsible for the fate that was about to befall Czechoslovakia.These are all beautiful stories told in simple narrative form. It has been said of Capek that his deep belief in democracy made him want to present his ideas to be accessible to anyone who could read. I do not know this to be the case but the spirit of Capek's stories shine through readily. These stories would be appreciated by anyone interested in short stories whether or not they have a specific interest in Czech literature. This collection is well worth reading.

Nothing to dislike. Only like and admire Karel Capek.