Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

R.U.R. by Karel Čapek

R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots). It premiered on 25 January 1921 and introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole.

The play begins in a factory that makes artificial people, called roboti (robots), from synthetic organic matter. They are not exactly robots by the current definition of the term: they are living flesh and blood creatures rather than machinery and are closer to the modern idea of androids or replicants. They may be mistaken for humans and can think for themselves. They seem happy to work for humans at first, but a robot rebellion is on the rise!

Enjoy!

I read this play about a month ago and it is still fresh in my mind. It is a fascinating look at the early days of science fiction.
As I was reading it, I was thinking about what the production of the robots and asked myself, "Do the scientists have any idea of what they have created?"
It is a suspenseful, interesting play.

Rosemarie wrote: "I read this play about a month ago and it is still fresh in my mind. It is a fascinating look at the early days of science fiction.
As I was reading it, I was thinking about what the production of..."

I'm excited to read this one! I've heard a lot of great things about it! It is definitely a giant for such a small book lol. Karel did create the name robot after all!

If anyone is interested, I have included an audiobook if you can't find the book in a used bookstore or Barnes and Noble!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeOSl...

WHERE DOES THE WORD ROBOT COME FROM?

In this link there are the explanation for the coining of the word robot. Be aware. There are spoilers about this play.

Patrick I found a PDF version.

http://preprints.readingroo.ms/RUR/ru...

Neat!!! I really want to read this - hoping to find the time :)

Inkspill wrote: "Neat!!! I really want to read this - hoping to find the time :)"

Looking forward to it! :D

This book is a fairly fast read, and interesting as well.

I'll be starting this either today or tomorrow.

I am in as well. Some years ago I read War with the Newts, so I am looking forward to reading this book.

BTW: "Robot" is also the name for the socage in the kingdom of Bohemia that peasants had to render for up to 90 days on fields of their landlord.

I wouldn't mind reading R.U.R. I haven't read it since high school.

Peter and Joseph we are happy you have joined in on this Short Story read.

Old Rossum “wanted to become a sort of scientific substitute for God…His sole purpose was nothing more nor less than to prove that God was no longer necessary (I-7).”

Old Rossum wanted to create man. We read further and see that Old Rossum failed. Young Rossum knew that man couldn’t create a living flesh human being so he created a machine that could reason. As the story continues we really see what makes human beings—human. Are human beings human because of our flesh and bones or because of our free will, soul, intelligence, etc.? In your opinion, did they actually create a human being?

It may have been the translation, but to me the scientists at the beginning of the novel seemed to lack "human-ness" since they were so absorbed in their project.

Finally, found the time to start reading this, as I read the rest I will think about your question Patrick.

In the meantime, if you haven't come across this, here's a link to an article about rebuilding R. U. R, the first was built in 1928. This article has old footage of the first one and a photo of the new one, in their design it's more machine than human, not how I imagined it as I was reading the first act.

sorry, forgot to add the link, here's it is
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/eric-r...

Fascinating! To think that as I wandered through Brixton, I passed just yards from where Eric the Robot was hidden.

Thank you for the link Inkspill!!

You're welcome for the link, and what a coincidence that Mark walked passed the spot, can I just say wow!!!

Patrick, I was thinking about your question - Hmmm, tricky.

The text makes references to the soul, and the robots also mention (in the last act) they are just behaving the way humans do, so ummmm, I'm going to go for yes ????

... but do humans have a soul?

This was a fascinating read.

(view spoiler)[
I found it very ironic that the robot Helena was dismissed by Doctor Gall as being beautiful but useless: "God, what a failure! [...} she's good for nothing. She wanders about in a trance, vague, lifeless-- My God, how can she be so beautiful with no capacity to love? I look at her and I'm horrified that I could make something so incompetent.", may go on to be "Eve", the mother of a new race.

The matter of "soul" is a very tricky subject. When I was a small child, my dog died. At Sunday School a couple of days later, I was asked why I was so sad. I told the teacher that I was very sad that my dog died, and that I would see her again one day in heaven. I was told that animals don't go to heaven because they have no souls. If an animal cannot possess a soul (I happen to disagree with that), how could a robot? I loved the part where the robot Helena was talking about how much she enjoyed playing with and cuddling the puppies. I think that if she could feel joy and comfort from the puppies, she has evolved/developed a soul. She was self-aware, and was questioning her worth and her purpose. I like to think that robot Helena and Primus went to the little cottage with the puppies and "lived happily ever after". To me, robot Helena seemed a lot more "human" than human Helena.

In response to Patrick's question about whether the scientists actually *created* a human being, I would say technically no, but they did lay the groundwork for a human being to *evolve* from their work. Some of the robots do seem to be more self-aware than others; if the scientists had created humans, they would all be more on the same level.
(hide spoiler)]

Whether souls exist or not, animals obviously have empathy with their own kind, sometimes even with humans. I cannot see why a robot should not behave in this way. Also I would expect some robots to be good, and some to be evil.

Yeah, definitely a fascinating read Suki.

I'm not sure what a soul is to answer your question Mark, I always get the sense it means different things to different people. Maybe, one day science will have an understanding of it ???

Interesting question though.

Suki wrote: "This was a fascinating read.


I found it very ironic that the robot Helena was dismissed by Doctor Gall as being beautiful but useless: "God, what a failure! [...} she's good for nothing. She wand..."

It was. I really enjoyed it too!

Mark wrote: "Whether souls exist or not, animals obviously have empathy with their own kind, sometimes even with humans. I cannot see why a robot should not behave in this way. Also I would expect some robots t..."

The story addressed some of these issues. Did you agree with Capek's idea of higher intelligence? What did you think about the play?

Whether people believe in a human spirit/soul it is documented that when someone dies they immediately loose 21 grams. That's the same for everyone.

Where is that documented Patrick?

Mark wrote: "Where is that documented Patrick?"

It's online

There was also a movie about it too I believe

I found this article http://www.abc.net.au/science/article...

basically saying it's not as straight forward to explain, it must be really hard to pin down an answer for this question

Patrick, is this the movie https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004... you're referring to?

The movie is was called 21 grams. I haven’t seen it in a long time.

I've heard the title, didn't realise that's what it's about