Letters from England

by Karel Čapek, Paul Selver

Karel Capek's 'Letters from England' have established themselves as masterpieces of observation. The letters and drawings are humorous, insightful and imbued by a profound humanity. They convey a bemused admiration for England and the English. First published in the nineteen twenties in Lidovc Noviny, the Czechoslovak national newspaper, Capek's Letters from England quickly established themselves as masterpieces of observation, and classics of modern Czech prose. The letters described Europe's oldest democracy for the benefit of the citizens of Europe's newest, and Capek was acutely aware of the deep-down affinity between his countrymen and the English. The same understated humour, the same unflappability, the same quiet search for peace, home and comfort, the same love of nature and animals, served to unite the two people, both then and now. Shortly after Letters from England appeared, Czechoslovakia was betrayed by Britain at Munich, and handed over to Hitler.

Genres: Czech Literature, Travel, Nonfiction, Classics, 20th Century, Humor

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

Karel Čapek is one of the the most influential Czech writers of the 20th century. He wrote with intelligence and humour on a wide variety of subjects. His works are known for their interesting and precise descriptions of reality, and Čapek is renowned for his excellent work with the Czech language. His play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) first popularized the word "robot".

(Arabic: كارل تشابك) (Hebrew: קארל צ'אפק) (Japanese: 카렐 차페크) (Russian: Карел Чапек)

Reviews

[NeDa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Красив е параходът, който тръби и пори водата с високата си гръд и бълва пушек от дебелите си комини; красив е, когато чезне зад мощния гръб на водите, влачейки подире си воал от дим; красива е далнината и целта, човече, ти, който заминаваш, застанал на корабния нос. Красива е платноходката, която се плъзга по вълните, красиво е да заминаваш и пристигаш. Родино, ти, която нямаш море, не е ли стеснен кръгозорът ти и не ти ли липсва шумът на далечините? Да, да, но тътнещи пространства има и около главите ни; ако не може да се плува, може поне да се мисли, да се пори с крилата на духа широкия и високия свят; казвам ви, има още достатъчно място за експедиции и за големи параходи. Да, необходимо е непрестанно да заминаваме; морето е навсякъде, където има смелост.

[Miroslav Juráň · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jazykem, kterým už (bohužel) nikdo nepíše, o Anglii, co už (nejspíš) není, spisovatel, který se u nás už (určitě) nenarodí.

[Cristian N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A London street is just a type of trough which life flows through in order to get home. People don't live in the streets, gaze, speak, stand or sit; the streets are just for passing through. Here the street isn't the most interesting saloon where you encounter a thousand spectacles or have a thousand adventures speak to you, a saloon where people whistle or fight, make a racket, flirt, rest, write poetry or philosophise, relieve themselves and enjoy life and make jokes and discuss politics and cluster in pairs, in threes, in families, in crowds or in revolutions. In our country, in Italy and in France a street is a sort of great pub or public gardens, a village green, a meeting place, threshold. Here it is something which doesn't belong to anyone and doesn't bring anyone closer to other people. Here one doesn't meet people and things; here one only passes them by."

(So true).

"The Continent is noisier, less disciplined, dirtier, more rabid, craftier, more passionate, more convivial, more amorous, hedonistic, vivacious, coarse, garrulous, unruly and somehow less perfect. Please, give me a ticket straight to the Continent." :)))

[Rhys · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely charming travel book by the excellent Czech writer. Capek writes about the eccentricities of British life in the 1920s. He deplores British food, disparages the rain and the traffic and criticises the insularity; but he praises the countryside and some of the quaint traditions... Capek was a very humourous writer but also a very humane one. He always supports the underdog. He also has some genuinely profound things to say on nature, aesthetics and imperialism. His sketches are superb and his wistfulness is moving.

[Marcel Uhrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nie celkom rozumiem, ako mi tento veselý a vážny skvost mohol unikať. Teda rozumiem, našiel sa až teraz v haldách kníh pri upratovaní do novej knižnice. Britký (nie britský) jazyk, humor, skvelé postrehy, hra so slovami, do hlavy udrie nahliadnutie kolonializmu ale aj paradoxov anglického života, však opis anglickej kuchyne mi pripomenul konferenciu v Southmaptone, … No, nie je nič lepšie na začiatok košických osamelostí po dlhých houmefisoch ako takáto knižka.

[Kristína · Rating 5 out of 5]

som značne torn medzi 4 a 5 hviezdičkami, úvod, kde sa venuje Londýnu, ma absolútne uchvátil a dal mi motiváciu prečítať aj všetky kapitoly o nekonečnej prírode. na tomto krásne vidno, ako veľmi mestský človek som. záver to ale zase vylepšil, posledná kapitola to celé pekne zhrnula, a aj keď by som s niektorými vyjadreniami nesúhlasila, veľmi dobré čítanie.

[Scarlet Pimpernel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Svěží jazyk!

[l · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charmingly satirical anecdotes/observations re: the English, English institutions etc.

'The man sitting opposite you in the train will anger you for two hours by not regarding you as worthy of a glance; suddenly he gets up and hands you your bag which you are unable to reach. Here the people always manage to help each other, but they never have anything to say to each other, except about the weather. [...] It is perhaps through sheer taciturnity that the English swallow half of every word and then the second half they somehow squash; so it is difficult to understand them. I used to travel every day to Ladbroke Grove; the conductor would come and I would say: 'Ledbruk Grrov.' '...?? Eh?' 'Ledbhuk Ghov!' '....??? Eh?' 'Hevhuv Hev!' 'Aa, Hevhuv Hov!' The conductor would rejoice and give me a ticket to Ladbroke Grove. I shall never learn this as long as I live.'

I was also amused by this description of George Bernard Shaw: 'He is immensely tall, thin and straight; he looks half like God and half like a very malicious satyr'

[Romana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Velmi jednoduché, rychlé a hlavně milé čtení. Ve sbírce fejetonů, které na sebe navazují, Čapek popisuje své cestovatelské zážitky z Britských ostrovů. Postupně čtenáře seznamuje s lidmy, které potkal, jídly, která ochutnal, místy která navštívil atp.
Původně jsem po knize sáhla v rámci povinné četby na zkoušku z české literatury, ale vědět, jak zajímavá je, tak po ní sáhnu o něco dřív.

[Кремена Михайлова · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Накрая влакът се въвира между някакви странни къщи; сто абсолютно еднакви; после следва друга улица с еднакви къщи; и пак, и отново. Добиваш впечатление за някакво трескаво повторение.“

Съвършена наслада – което за мен означава смях (и рисунките на самия Чапек са чудни). В случая на гърба на Англия, sorry. Но все пак – преди 100 години.

Неочаквано попадение – след незабравимите „Разкази от единия джоб“, „Разкази от другия джоб“ и „Книга апокрифи“. Хич не понасям авторите като се напъват да са смешни, обикновено си личи. Но при Карел Чапек това е естествен талант.

Някои от главите: Английският парк, Лондонските улици, Traffic, Ийст Енд, Country, Clubs, Туристът разглежда други музеи и др. (Има и за Шотландия – много интересно; и за Уелс и Ирландия малко – много смешно и за двете; Чапек имал и други книга за Холандия и Италия).

Характеристиките на Лондон и хората му – уж преди 100 години, но според мен и като сега.

„Най-голямото предимство на британците е тяхното островитянство. Но островитянството е в същото време и най-големият им недостатък.“

„… Англия почти по всичко се различава от континента, като се започне от тревата и бръшляна и се свърши с университета и парламента.“

Паралелите за автора разбира се произхождат от сравненията с родната Чехия, която се оказва близка до нас.

„По улиците не се живее, не се гледа, не се говори, не се стои, нито пък се седи; из улиците само се пробягва. Тук улицата не е най-интересното заведение, където пред вас ще се разкрият хиляди гледки и ще развълнуват сърцето ви хиляди приключения; заведение, където хората свирят с уста или се бият, шумят, кокетничат, почиват си, пиша стихове или философстват, ходят по нужда и се радват на живота, и разправят вицове или бистрят политиката, и се обединяват в двойки, тройки, семейства, демонстрации или революции.“

Да, наистина, спомням си Прага, макар и от по-късните произведения на Бохумил Храбал и моите още по-късни посещения. Бирарии, бирарии, танци, песни, вкусотии, излети… Не че няма pub-ове в Англия, но явно – друг е манталитетът…

„…не е лошо да имаме и у нас такива места, където да се мълчи.”

Не е пропуснат колониализмът:

„Четиристотин милиона цветнокожи има в Британската империя; а на изложбата ѝ те са представени само от няколко рекламни чучела; от няколко жълти или кафяви панаирджийски търговци и от няколко антики, попаднали тук като че ли за куриоз и забавление. И аз не знам дали това е някакъв страшен упадък на цветните раси или пък страшното мълчание на четиристотинте милиона; и не зная даже кое от двете е по-ужасно.“

Предишното ми прозрение за популярните забележителности по света съвпадна с описанието на Чапек. Наистина, когато попаднах пред Саграда фамилия, ми беше трудно да повярвам, че съм там, че тя не е само картичка.

„Пътешественикът остава изненадан най-много, когато в чужда страна намери това, за което стотици пъти е чел или което стотици пъти е виждал на картинка. Смаях, че, когато в Милано намерих Миланската катедрала, а в Рим – Колизеума. Впечатлението е свръхестествено, защото човек има усещането, че някога вече е бил тук или че вече някак го е преживял, насън или по подобен начин. Смайва те обстоятелството, че в Холандия наистина има вятърни мелници и канали и че на лондонската улица Странд хората са наистина толкова много, че чак ти става лошо.“

Ще допълня и нещо за Уелс, но сега - пак за англичаните според Чапек. :)

„Друго нещо, което прави впечатление на пъте��ественика в Англия, са английските тревни площи – не само зелени и гъсти като никъде другаде по света, но по тях е разрешено и да се ходи свободно. Предполагам, че Англия е станала земя на свободата за ��ова, защото там е разрешено да се гази по тревните площи. Може би затова в историята на Англия е имало толкова малко революции, защото британците са могли да задоволяват непрекъснато инстинкта си за свобода само с ходене по поляните. Не смятам за изключено дори и това, че Британия е започнала да владее вълните, защото си е представяла морето като голяма затревена площ, по която всеки е свободен да се отправя в каквато посока си иска.“

„Срещал съм пътуващи англичани например в Севиля, в Джирдженти или в Перуджа; където и да се намират, те носят със себе си, в своите навици и възгледи късче от Англия, така както бедуинът носи със себе си молитвеното килимче, и не са в състояние да излязат от нея. Имам смътното подозрение, че по този начин е възникнала Британската империя: някакъв британец е слязъл на непознат бряг и там е основал игрището за голф, английската неделя, търговията, топлата вода и къщата със зидана камина. Навсякъде, където се установи англичанинът, възниква английски остров. Пътуващите англичани са амбулантни английски острови. Понякога това важи и за британската политика, но това е, както казва мистър Киплинг, друг разказ.“

[Bob Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know Karel Čapek primarily as an author of science fiction. When I saw this book on the library non-fiction shelf, I picked it up out of curiosity. It hadn't been checked out since 1957!

Coming from his native Czechoslovakia, Karel gives us a rather whimsical, sarcastic view of Britain in 1925. He doesn't find much to like but is fascinated by the lack of public squares where people can congregate and socialize. He loves the open country but is thrown by the lack of paths, forcing people to walk on the grass. Throughout, Karel shares his doodles of people and places. His artwork is kind of a cruder version of Edward Lear.

I hope the book doesn't have to wait another 66 years to be checked out again.

[Sisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

skvelá knižka, autor píše nádherne, vie nádherne popísať či pocity, krajinu, ľudí. viac krát som sa pri čítaní pousmiala popod fúzy, celkovo som si čítanie knihy užila. obľúbená čas bola vo walese, kde mi opisy jeho krajiny a pocitov z nej veľmi pripomínali moje pocity v pustatine v horách v norsku, a takisto aj pohľad na mestský život. vôbec mi neprišlo, že kniha je už stará, je napísaná nadčasovo.

[Keruonedz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stromy jsou snad to nejkrásnější v Anglii. Také ovšem louky a strážnici, ale hlavně stromy, krásně plecité, staré, rozložité, volné, ctihodné a převeliké stromy.

Londýnská ulice je jen takové koryto, kterým život teče, aby už byl doma. Na ulicích se nežije, nekouká, nemluví, nestojí ani nesedí; ulicemi se jenom probíhá.

Říkám Vám, je to strašné; strašný je relativismus času a prostoru, ale strašnější je relativismus kultury a dějin; nikde za námi ani před námi není bodu klidu, ideálu, hotovosti a dokonalosti člověka; neboť je všude a nikde, a každé místo v prostoru a v čase, kde člověk postavil své dílo, je nepřekročitelné. A já už ani nevím, je-li portrét od Rembrandta dokonalejší než taneční maska ze Zlatého pobřeží; viděl jsem příliš mnoho.

Je tu všecko, co lze zpeněžit, kupovat a prodávat; od hrsti zrní po salónní vagón, od kusu uhlí po kožišinu z modrých lišek. Duše má, co by sis chtěla koupit z těchto pokladů světa? Nic, nic vlastně; chtěla bych být maličká a stát zase v krámě starého Prouzy v Úpici, vyvalovat oči na černý perník, pepř, zázvor, vanilku a bobkové listí a myslet si, to že jsou všechny poklady světa a všechny vůně Arábie a všechno koření dalekých zemí, žasnout, čichat a pak si běžet číst Vernův román o končinách divných, dalekých a vzácných... Neboť já, hloupá duše, jsem si je představovala jinak.

"Mizerných několik hodin mám odtud do Irska, ale řeknete, mám pro nic a za nic zahodit strašné tajemství, kterým je pro mne tato země obestřena? I budu se povždy s láskou a radostí dívat na mapu Irska: Hle, země, z níž jsem roušky nesňal."

[James Klagge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in 2006, then decided to re-read for our trip to England. Anything by Čapek is worth reading, but this was also relevant. Čapek really did not care for England or the English--but he made a nice characterization out of it. I read several passages aloud for Kathy and we laughed over them. Despite the fact that these were written over 90 years ago, they still ring true.
One point he makes is that while we might think of the English (especially in the time of the Empire) as global, they are actually the opposite. They go everywhere, but they take their setting with them and don't engage much in the local cultures. (That is also true of the US people.) Čapek is horrified by the huge swaths of ugly urban poverty in East London, Liverpool and Glasgow, and the contrast with the rich upper-class. This has not changed, and it has spread around the world.
Čapek makes many comparisons with his own people and small country. It is clear where his heart lies.

[Gift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karla Čapka jsem neměla v ruce od základní školy. Pokud jsem od té doby narazila na některou z jeho povídek, byla to čistá náhoda a rozhodně ne má zásluha či touha po vzdělání. O to víc jsem byla zvědavá na jeho Anglické listy, na které jsem neměla vůbec žádná očekávání.

Kdo by to byl řekl, že se mi do ruky dostane přenosná zásobárna dobré nálady? Anglické listy jsou ideální kniha do MHD. Je to příjemná sbírka kratinkých postřehů, která místy pobaví a jindy donutí k zamyšlení. Čtenář se krásně ztratí v Čapkově milém humoru, překrásném jazyce a pobaví se nad jeho roztomilým uměleckým uměním v podobě drobných skic, což byla má nejoblíbenější část knihy.

Anglické listy jsou výborným příkladem toho, že v jednoduchosti je krása a že kritizovat a lichotit se dá i s úctou a respektem.

[Jay Spangher · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Sam had picked this from the shelves on the second hand bookstore and handed it to me, I thought- something to remind me of home.
Reading Capek’s Letters From England did exactly that. A perfect anthropological speculation on both the country itself, and those who call it home.

“When I am in England, I kept thinking of how much nice it is to be home. When I am home, perhaps I shall be thinking of how much finer and better it is to be in England than anywhere else.”

Reading these letters and being the first to log a review on Goodreads felt like an intimate experience- as if Capek had addressed them to me herself.

[Bill Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A joyful read with some timeless observations from the great Czech writer. Predates many other tours of England, most famously J B Priestley, but contrary to its title also covers Scotland (at his most poetic), Wales and very dismissively (but mostly due to recommendation of his English friends) Ireland. In fact the latter provides an interesting commentary on the 'Irish Question' as seen from the 1920s. There are many comments on the English that seem, 90 years on, no less relevant. Worth finding and reading, for it is a quick and pleasurable read.

[Álex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ágil y preñado de humor, y con el toque entrañable de Capek. Me fascina (me fascina y me da mucha envidia, claro) cómo es capaz de escribir sobre la esencia profunda de Inglaterra y Escocia y hacer reír al mismo tiempo.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Čapek has an astute eye leading to elegant epistles from 1930s England: a kind of travelogue about habits. As a recent immigrant, I loved it.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer who is probably most famous in the English world for introducing it to the word ‘robot’. I’ve had a book of his on my shelf for a while, an intriguing collection of short stories which take heroic and biblical themes in weird directions. So, when I found a copy of ‘Letters from England’ for half price, I picked it up, delighted by a 1947 clipping from a Radio Times reviewing a TV edition of Čapek’s robot play that was tucked inside.

I started to read it on the train home and was quickly won over by the tone. It’s a travel book on England (Scotland and a bit of Wales) and was original serialised in a Czech paper. As usual, the English enjoy foreigners laughing at them (see the success of George Mikes’s ‘How to Be Alien’) so it was quickly translated for the market.

The first section in London is my favourite. He takes issue with the British habit of mass-producing streets; laughing at how there are patches of houses with bay-windows, others with columns, more with four steps out front and others with three. He was fun theories about how ancient oak trees and leather armchairs are responsible for England’s conservatism. He complains about being a fleck in the mass-transit and the difficulty of crossing a road.

My favourite part of the book is when he stumbles into Speaker’s Corner. Since I first heard of the place, I was entranced by it. One of the pieces I wrote for my A-levels was an imaginary transcript of a speech there. When I first moved to London, I spent many of my Sundays there, loving the energy and nuttiness of the place. It was wonderful how it is described in the book, essentially the same as it was when I went there. He takes the image of a group of ranting people and turns it into something almost transcendent.

When he leaves London the oomph leaves the text. He likes the country, he’s fond of sheep and he’s not so funny when he’s talking about the things he’s fond of. That’s a problem with the Scottish section also. Čapek seems to adore Scotland, to have been completely won by its romanticism and bleak beauty. As a result it’s not all that funny either. His Wales section was better as he has fun with the Welsh language and his Irish section was all about how no-one on the mainland could be bothered to go there.

There’s not a lot to this book, it’s fun, easy to read and has some delightfully shonky illustrations. I had fun with it but not much else. George Mikes is far spikier and enjoyable.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful travelogue covering the first visit of Czech author Karel Čapek, creator of the term robots, to the UK. A century after Čapek wrote his letters, this fellow European feels quite similarly about many a thing in the UK. It is still an incredibly relevant volume, full of humour and very charming drawings.

Some of my favourite passages:
"At last the train bores its way between houses of a curious sort; there are a hundred of them entirely alike; then a whole streetful alike; and again, and again. The train flies past a whole town which is beset by some terrible curse; inexorable Fate has decreed that each house shall have two pillars at the door. For another huge block she has decreed iron balconies. The following block she has perpetually condemned to grey bricks. On another mournful street she has relentlessly imposed blue verandahs. Then there is a whole quarter doing penance for some unknown wrong by placing five steps before every front door. I should be enormously relieved if even one house had only three; but for some reason that is not possible. [...] ...the dreams I dreamed were of all sorts, something about the steamer, something about Prague, and something strange which I have forgotten. I thank Heaven that I did not have fifty dreams alike, one after the other."

As someone who has recently been viewing houses, I can confirm.

"Wales is the land of mountains, Lloyd George, trout, excursionists, jackdaws, slate, castles, rain, bards and a Celtic language. Never have I seen and heard so many jackdaws; I tell you, you really must go to Carnarvon."

A quick and very apt summary of Wales, if you ask me.

And of course, English cuisine gets a shoutout:
"English cooking is of two kinds: good and average. Good English cooking is simply French cooking; the average cooking in the average hotel for the average Englishman explains to a large extent the English bleakness and taciturnity."

Besides being silly and cutting, Čapek makes very insightful observations about ways of living, the beautiful countryside and its relationship to the Empire, London, and the nascent industrial ports of the early 19th century. I have really enjoyed reading this and now I am kicking myself for not having yet read War with the Newts and R.U.R, which have been in a shelf, unread, for quite a while.

[Katarína Šipulová · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Když jsem se poněkud naučil jazyku těch ostrovanů, shledal jsem, že obyčejně neříkají ‚prší‘ nebo ‚dvě a dvě jsou čtyři‘, ale ‚soudím, že prší‘, ‚spíše bych myslel, že dvakrát dvě jsou čtyři‘ a podobně. Je to, jako by stále a vědomě ponechávali druhým volnost být jiného mínění. Všiml jsem si, že tam je dokonce každému volno běhat po trávníku.“

"To vše jsou jiné mušle, vypocené jinou božskou a nutnou hravostí; to vše vydal ze sebe plž nahý a měkký, třesoucí se tvořivým šílenstvím. Nádherná věcičko, netsuké Japanu či východní tkanino, kdybych tě mohl mít doma, čím bys mi byla! Lidským tajemstvím, projevem člověka, řečí
cizí a spanilou. Ale v tomto strašlivém a nezměrném nahromadění už není jednotlivců, ani osobních rukou, ani dějin; jest jenom šílená příroda, živočišná tvořivost, fantastická hojnost krásných a podivných mušlí vylovených z oceánu bez času. I buďtež jako příroda; tvořte, tvořte věci
podivné, krásné, rýhované či točené, pestré i průsvitné; čím hojněji, divněji a čistotněji budete tvořiti, budete bližší přírodě nebo snad Bohu. Veliká jest příroda."

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

During his tour of Britain in 1924, Čapek sketched his impressions in a set of lively and whimsical illustrated vignettes .
What interests him is not History or data but people and environment: the silent gentlemen reading newspapers in their club, the speakers in Hyde Park, the old trees or the vast green lawns. He also pursues his own literary pilgrimage, having a guess at where Stevenson’s Hispaniola set sail in Bristol, contemplating the same lake as Worsworth in Grasmere and being disappointed not to find any trace of Sherlock Holmes in Baker Street.

What makes those letters so truly engaging is the persona of Čapek with his candid, almost child-like voice. A foreigner from a small nascent nation, genuinely amazed to explore the center of a centuries-old Empire.

[Rostislav Chytil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zajímavý pohled na Anglii před druhou světovou válkou. Některé situace a pocity mi vyvolaly vzpomínky na mou návštěvu tohoto ostrovního státu, některé už asi dnes neplatí. Ale vše popsáno velmi zajímavě, a i přes složitější češtinu, která už se té dnešní často ani nepodobá, velmi příjemné. Jak jsem si přečetl, původně tyto fejetony vznikaly jako sloupky pro Lidové noviny. No to musela být něco, číst si o Anglii v novinách, a tak ji objevovat. Kdyby chudák pan Čapek věděl, co se dnes v novinách píše a kdo konkrétně ty Lidové vlastní.

[Elise_in_Ponderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️
Four decent stars, It has been a pleasant introspection into the 1920’s England, but otherwise (from the artistic perspective) quite insipid - that is by no means meant as an insult; although we cannot label this piece as “poetic beauties of England”, but rather as “my diarised trip into England” - and if that was the sole purpose of the book, then the job had been done brilliantly.
Needless to say that the final rating had also been altered by the author’s affection for Cambridge, rather than for Oxford, and that is, to be mild, unpardonable.

[Nick Grammos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarity is the word I always think of when I read Capek. Clarity of thought, sentence, image. Everything he wrote seemed to come with such lucidity and economy of language. I always want to know whether this is a quirk of translation into English of 20thC European writers, or the outcome of a view of literary efforts of those same writers. As though clarity or lucidity were the highest form to aspire to.

[Markéta Zdeňková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nádherný “cestopis” od Karla Čapka, jenž cestopisem vlastně ani zcela není. Popis nejen Británie, jakožto země, ale i Angličanů a všeho, co k zemi patří, jazykem tak krásným a tajemným, s lehkým vtipem, ale i pestrostí, který dnes (bohužel) již málokdo ocení.

Za mě rozhodně jeden z nejlepších cestopisů, ke kterému se rozhodně nejednou vrátím!

Navíc, Čapkovy ilustrace jsou velice výstižné, osobité, ale zároveň velmi citlivé a krásně propracované. Karel Čapek byl zkrátka jen jeden.

[Vaclav.makes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Část o gentlemenech byla naprosto úžasná. Cituji:

"Gentleman, to je odměřená sloučenina mlčení, ochoty, důstojnosti, sportu, novin a počestnosti. Dvě hodiny vás dožírá váš protějšek ve vlaku tím, že vás neuzná za hodna pohledu; najednou vstane a podá vám váš kufřík, na který jaksi nemůžete dosáhnout."

[Fernando Pestana da Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains Čapek's impressions of his travels in England and Scotland (in spite of its title...). Accompanied, as always in his travel notes, by his own sketches, this is delightful book, both funny and full of serious insights. Splendid!

[Helena Mašátová · Rating 5 out of 5]

he's one of the biggest writer of 20th century...his talent of describing the whole life in England is breath taking