''The Absolute at Large'' (''Továrna na absolutno'' in the original
Czech
Czech may refer to:
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Places
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, literally translated as ''The Factory for the Absolute''), is a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
novel written by
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
author
Karel Čapek
Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright and critic. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum's Universal ...
in 1922. The first sentence opens the story on New Year's Day 1943 - a future date at the time of writing - and describes the fundamental transformations in society as the result of a new mystical source of virtually free energy.
Plot
The story centers on the invention of a reactor that can
annihilate matter to produce cheap and abundant energy. Unfortunately, it produces something else as a by-product, the ''absolute''. The ''absolute'' is a spiritual essence that according to some religious philosophies permeates all matter. It is associated with human
religious experience
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, or mystical experience) is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense ...
, as an unsuspecting humanity is to find out all too soon in the story. The widespread adoption of the reactors cause an enormous outpouring of pure ''absolute'' into the world. This leads to an outburst of religious and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
fervor, causing the greatest, most global war in history.
Čapek describes this war in a self-consciously absurd manner. Characteristic of the war are distant military marches, hence for example "battles of the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
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**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
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with the
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
ese riflemen on the shores of the
Finnish
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See also ...
lakes." Some of the more prominent political changes the war causes include expulsion of the Russian army to Africa (via Europe) by the Chinese invasion, the conquest of
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...
by
Japan that cuts the Chinese conquests in Russia and Europe down to the limits of the former
Austro-Hungarian empire, and the Japanese conquest of North America. (The latter was able to occur because the United States were exhausted by a bloody civil war between the supporters and opponents of the
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
.)
''Absolute'' does more than affect minds. It also does physical work. During the war, it causes catastrophes against the enemy (various parts of ''absolute'' support any given side in the conflict). At some point, it also becomes interested in production of material goods and produces them, in a supernatural manner, in enormous quantities. This leads to economic collapse and, absurdly enough, deficit of all manufactured items because, allegedly, once the price of goods has dropped to zero because of ''absolute'', nobody cares to produce or distribute them any more. Starvation is averted because although ''absolute'' does not produce food, the peasants who ''do'' naturally do not let the price drop to zero. In fact they force every last penny from the urban population in return for food, hence saving humanity.
Critical reception
R. D. Mullen called the novel "one of the genuine masterpieces of SF", but noted that "it has surely had no great influence on popular SF".
"Reviews: November 1975"
''Science Fiction Studies
''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As the name implies, the journal publishes articles and book reviews on science fic ...
, November 1975
See also
* The Absolute
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
References
External links
*
full text
Audiobook of David Wyllie's English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Absolute At Large, The
1922 Czech novels
1922 science fiction novels
Czech science fiction novels
Dystopian novels
Philosophical novels
Fiction set in 1943
Novels about technology
Novels set in fictional wars
Works by Karel Čapek