Krakatite

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First edition 1924

Krakatit is a novel by the Czech author Karel Čapek from 1924.

action

The chemist Prokop discovers an explosive with an extremely high level of explosiveness , which he calls krakatite , based on the Indonesian volcano Krakatau . After small remains of the powder exploded on Prokop's desk for no apparent reason, he wandered injured through Prague, where he was picked up by his fellow student Tomesch (in the original: Tomeš) and brought to his apartment. In the fever, Prokop reveals details about his new explosive. A veiled woman appears with a package for Tomesch, but Tomesch has left. Prokop promises to deliver the package and takes the train to the country to see Tomesch's father, a doctor. Despite an inflammation of the meninges , he makes it to his destination, where he collapses. The doctor and his daughter Anni (in the original: Anči) nurse him well. A love affair is developing, but a newspaper advertisement addressed to him reminds Prokop of the porcelain box with krakatite that he left behind in his apartment. He finds the apartment broken into and completely cleared out.

Carson, the director of the armaments factory on the grounds of the Balttin Castle, detains Prokop there, sets up a state-of-the-art laboratory for him and tries to force him to sell the recipe for Krakatit. Prokop begins a passionate love affair with Princess Wille. This helps him to escape in the direction of Italy, but he is intercepted on the way there by the anarchist circle of Daimons. It turns out that Daimon can use radio waves to deliberately detonate Krakatite. Every Tuesday and Friday, a total of at least eight times, he turns on a manipulated radio station at around 10:30 in the evening in order to trigger detonations. In the meantime, Tomesch, on behalf of a rival armaments factory, has also pushed ahead with the production of krakatite and is not deterred by Prokop's warnings. The factory and the adjoining town of Grottup blew up in a final massive explosion due to Daimon's radio waves. At the end of the novel, Prokop meets a cryptic old man who helps him forget his destructive invention and encourages him to prove useful to mankind with smaller, practical innovations.

Origin and reception

After the Bolevec explosion in 1917

An inspiration for the novel is seen in the Bolevec disaster . On September 25, 1917, the Škoda ammunition factory exploded in the Pilsen district due to inadequate safety precautions. The largest Austrian ammunition factory was in ruins and 200 people died. At the time, Čapek was staying at Chyše Castle , 40 kilometers away. He observed the column of smoke and is said to have been badly affected by the accident.

In contrast to Čapek's other novels, Krakatit is said to have autobiographical traits. In the love affair between Prokop and the princess, Čapek is said to have processed a personal crisis.

Like other works of science fiction by Čapek, Krakatit also proved to be visionary. The treatment of ethical questions in dealing with a weapon that releases the energy of matter became topical with the invention of the atomic bomb .

Otakar Vávra filmed Krakatit in 1948.

A German translation by Julius Mader appeared in 1950 under the title Krakatit. The great temptation. An atomic fantasy .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chapter 17 in the Gutenberg-DE project
  2. ↑ Karel Čapek at Chyše Castle
  3. ↑ Místo kde vznikal Krakatit - Neviditelný pes, Lidovky on January 29, 2007
  4. ↑ Ronald M. Hahn , Volker Jansen (Ed.): The Heyne Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 1500 films from 1902 until today. 7th edition. Heyne, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-453-11860-X , p. 529.
  5. ↑ Georg Seeßlen , Fernand Jung: Science Fiction. Popular movie basics. Volume 1. Schüren Verlag, Marburg 2003, ISBN 3-89472-427-7 , p. 250.
  6. ↑ OCLC 73291891
  7. ↑ Robert N. Bloch: Bibliography of utopian and fantastic literature 1750–1950. Munniksma, Giessen 1984, p. 36.