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    R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
    R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
    R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
    Ebook90 pages58 minutes

    R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

    By Karel Čapek

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    We have Czech writer Karel Čapek to thank for the invention of the word robot and generally for the introduction of the idea of artificial intelligence to the world of literature. His play, “R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)” was written in 1920 and was first performed in 1921. The play was an instant success and was translated into over 30 languages within two years of its first performance. The play begins in a factory that makes the “robots”, which could be more accurately described as cyborgs, since they are more living creature than machine. “R. U. R.” envisions a future where robots have become universal and all of humanity is now dependent on the labor that they provide, which remains a timely subject even one hundred years later. At first, everything seems perfect and the robots are happy to serve humans until the robots are later stirred into revolt. Čapek’s vision of a dystopian future where humans may be ruled by machines was immediately and profoundly influential on the science fiction genre and to future authors. “R. U. R.” is Čapek’s prophetic and dark dystopian vision of the future which would solidify his place in dramatic history and leave a lasting legacy on modern literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDigireads.com Publishing
    Release dateSep 1, 2019
    ISBN9781420963069
    Author

    Karel Čapek

    Karel Capek was born in 1890 in Czechoslovakia. He was interested in visual art as a teenager and studied philosophy and aesthetics in Prague. During WWI he was exempt from military service because of spinal problems and became a journalist. He campaigned against the rise of communism and in the 1930s his writing became increasingly anti-fascist. He started writing fiction with his brother Josef, a successful painter, and went on to publish science-fiction novels, for which he is best known, as well as detective stories, plays and a singular book on gardening, The Gardener’s Year. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature several times and the Czech PEN Club created a literary award in his name. He died of pneumonia in 1938.

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    Reviews for R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

    3.5/5

    208 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It’s fascinating to me that R.U.R. was written in 1920, and is highly relevant nearly one hundred years later, with the very real concerns of robots replacing human workers and Artificial Intelligence posing a possible threat to the human race in the news. In addition to using the play to make comments about humanity, and the dehumanizing effects of science and mass manufacturing, Karel Čapek was clearly ahead of his time. Right up there with his masterpiece ‘War With The Newts’, and very enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      This is a science fiction play published in the 1930s which is most famous for first coining the word "robot" to describe an artificial man or woman. The robots produced by Rossum's Universal Robots are not made of metal or plastic though (despite the cover of this SF Masterworks edition), but with a mysterious substance discovered by the company's founder which behaves exactly like living protoplasm but which has a different chemical composition. These robots have flesh, bones and organs composed of this alternative substance, so one might say they are a slightly different species of human, rather than what we would understand today by the word "robot" (which comes from the Slavic root "rob/rab" which relates to work, worker, slave). The play covers a wide range of ethical issues raised by the mass production of these artificial men and women, which have been further developed of course by many other writers, in particular Isaac Asimov. Asimov's three laws of robotics don't apply here, as the robots decide they are superior to humans and take over, killing their former masters. There is a whole spectrum of high drama and tragedy here in this fairly short three act play. Deservedly a seminal science fiction text.
    • 4/5
      The origin of the word robots, although they are not so much robots as golems. Only there are lots and lots and lots of them -- eventually millions. It all starts out well but ends epicly badly. It suffers somewhat from a certain didacticism about technology, Communism, and other themes, that I don't remember in War with the Newts and other Capek books. That said, it is a classic that I've been meaning to read for a long time and am glad I finally got around to it.
    • 4/5
      The origin of the word robots, although they are not so much robots as golems. Only there are lots and lots and lots of them -- eventually millions. It all starts out well but ends epicly badly. It suffers somewhat from a certain didacticism about technology, Communism, and other themes, that I don't remember in War with the Newts and other Capek books. That said, it is a classic that I've been meaning to read for a long time and am glad I finally got around to it.

    Book preview

    R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) - Karel Čapek

    cover.jpg

    R. U. R.

    (ROSSUM’S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS)

    By KAREL ČAPEK

    Translated by

    PAUL SELVER and NIGEL PLAYFAIR

    R. U. R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots)

    By Karel Čapek

    Translated by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair

    Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-6305-2

    eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-6306-9

    This edition copyright © 2019. Digireads.com Publishing.

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

    Cover Image: a detail of The nurse automaton at the Bretonneau hospital in Paris. Engraving in Le Petite Journal, on 18/08/1912. Private collection. / Bridgeman Images.

    Please visit www.digireads.com

    CONTENTS

    CHARACTERS.

    ACT I.

    ACT II.

    ACT III.

    EPILOGUE.

    ROBOTS OF THE WORLD! THE POWER OF MAN HAS FALLEN!

    A NEW WORLD HAS ARISEN: THE RULE OF THE ROBOTS!

    MARCH!

    CHARACTERS.

    HARRY DOMIN

    SULLA

    MARIUS

    HELENA GLORY

    DR. GALL

    MR. FABRY

    DR. HALLEMEIER

    MR. ALQUIST

    CONSUL BUSMAN

    NANA

    RADIUS

    A SERVANT

    HELENA

    PRIMUS

    FIRST ROBOT

    SECOND ROBOT

    THIRD ROBOT

    FOURTH ROBOT

    ACT I.

    [Central office of the factory of Rossum’s Universal Robots.]

    [Entrance on the right. The windows on the front wall look out on the rows of factory chimneys. On the left more managing departments. DOMIN is sitting in the revolving chair at a large American writing table. On the left-hand wall large maps showing steamship and railroad routes. On the right- hand wall are fastened printed placards. ("Robot’s Cheapest Labor," etc.) In contrast to these wall fittings, the floor is covered with a splendid Turkish carpet, a sofa, leather armchair, and filing cabinets. At a desk near the windows SULLA is typing letters.]

    DOMIN. [dictating.] Ready?

    SULLA. Yes.

    DOMIN. To E. M. McVicker and Co., Southampton, England. We undertake no guarantee for goods damaged in transit. As soon as the consignment was taken on board we drew your captain’s attention to the fact that the vessel was unsuitable for the transport of Robots, and we are therefore not responsible for spoiled freight. We beg to remain for Rossum’s Universal Robots. Yours truly.

    [SULLA, who has sat motionless during dictation, now types rapidly for a few seconds, then stops, withdrawing the completed letter.]

    Ready?

    SULLA. Yes.

    DOMIN. Another letter. To the E. B. Huyson Agency, New York, U.S.A. We beg to acknowledge receipt of order for five thousand Robots. As you are sending your own vessel, please dispatch as cargo equal quantities of soft and hard coal for R. U. R., the same to be credited as part payment of the amount due to us. We beg to remain, for Rossum’s Universal Robots. Yours truly.

    [SULLA repeats the rapid typing.]

    Ready?

    SULLA. Yes.

    DOMIN. Another letter. Friedrichswerks, Hamburg, Germany. We beg to acknowledge receipt of order for fifteen thousand Robots.

    [Telephone rings.]

    Hello! This is the Central Office. Yes. Certainly. Well, send them a wire. Good.

    [Hangs up telephone.]

    Where did I leave off?

    SULLA. We beg to acknowledge receipt of order for fifteen thousand Robots.

    DOMIN. Fifteen thousand R. Fifteen thousand R.

    [Enter MARIUS.]

    Well, what is it?

    MARIUS. There’s a lady, sir, asking to see you.

    DOMIN. A lady? Who is she?

    MARIUS. I don’t know, sir. She brings this card of introduction.

    DOMIN. [reads the card.] Ah, from President Glory. Ask her to come in.

    MARIUS. Please step this way.

    [Enter HELENA GLORY. Exit MARIUS.]

    HELENA. How do you do?

    DOMIN. How do you do.

    [Standing up.]

    What can I do for you?

    HELENA. You are Mr. Domin, the General Manager.

    DOMIN. I am.

    HELENA. I have come—

    DOMIN. With President Glory’s card. That is quite sufficient.

    HELENA. President Glory is my father. I am Helena Glory.

    DOMIN. Miss Glory, this is such a great honor for us to be allowed to—welcome our great President’s daughter, that—

    HELENA. That you can’t show me the door?

    DOMIN. Please sit down. Sulla, you may go.

    [Exit SULLA. Sitting down.]

    How can I be of service to you, Miss Glory?

    HELENA. I have come—

    DOMIN. To have a look at our famous works where people are manufactured. Like all visitors. Well, there is no objection.

    HELENA. I thought it was forbidden to—

    DOMIN. To enter the factory. Yes, of course. Everybody comes here with someone’s visiting card, Miss Glory.

    HELENA. And you show them—

    DOMIN. Only certain things. The manufacture of artificial people is a secret process.

    HELENA. If you only knew how enormously that—

    DOMIN. Interests me. Europe’s talking about nothing else.

    HELENA. Why don’t you let me finish speaking?

    DOMIN. I beg your pardon. Did you want to say something different?

    HELENA. I only wanted to ask—

    DOMIN. Whether I could make a special exception in your case and show you our factory. Why, certainly Miss Glory.

    HELENA. How do you know I wanted to say that?

    DOMIN. They all do. But we shall consider it a special honor to show you more than we do the rest.

    HELENA. Thank you.

    DOMIN. But you must agree not to divulge the least...

    HELENA. [standing up and giving him her hand.] My word of honor.

    DOMIN. Thank

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