The Absolute at Large

( Czech - Tovarna na absolutno - 1922 )

novel by Karel Capek

translator uncredited

Published: MacMillan - hardback - 1927
ISBN: none

George Allen & Unwin - hardback - 1944
ISBN: none

Hyperion Press - hardback - 1974
ISBN: 0883551047 / 9780883551042

Hyperion Press - trade paperback - 1974
ISBN: 0883551330 / 9780883551332

Garland Publishing - hardback - 1975
ISBN: 0824014030 / 9780824014032

University of Nebraska Press ( Bison Books ) - paperback - 2005 ( POD )
ISBN: 0803264593 / 9780803264595

Read Books - paperback - 2006 ( POD )
ISBN: 1406734500 / 9781406734508

Herperides Press - hardback - 2008 ( POD )
ISBN: 1443725315 / 9781443725316

Kindle
ASIN: B004XNNFNY

abridged version was published in:
A Century of Great Short Science Fiction Novels ( translated by Thomas Mark )
Delacorte Press - hardback - 1974 ( US )
ISBN: none

Gollancz - hardback - 1965 ( UK )
ISBN: none

Dell - paperback - 1965
ISBN: none

Mayflower - paparback - 1968
ISBN: none ( 0583111637 / 9780583111638 in 1970 reprint )


synopsis
In this satirical classic, a brilliant scientist invents the Karburator, a reactor that can create abundant and practically free energy. However, the Karburator's superefficient energy production also yields a powerful by-product. The machine works by completely annihilating matter and in so doing releases the Absolute, the spiritual essence held within all matter, into the world. Infected by the heady, pure Absolute, the world's population becomes consumed with religious and national fervor, the effects of which ultimately cause a devastating global war. Set in the mid-twentieth century, The Absolute at Large questions the ethics and rampant spread of power, mass production, and atomic weapons that Karel Capek saw in the technological and political revolutions occurring around him.

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