SOURCE: "Čapek's Early Work," in On Karel Čapek: A Michigan Slavic Colloquium, Michigan Slavic Publications, 1992, pp. 43-50.

In the following essay, Harkins discusses Čapek's early convictions as they are exemplified through the stories collected in Krakonošova zahrada and Boži muka, here rendered as The Garden of Krakonoš and Wayside Crosses.

The idea behind the present talk was conceived last summer when I visited a Czech friend of mine, one who was all his life a fervent member of the artistic avantgarde. We were discussing Čapek, whom he had always praised in my hearing. This time he praised him again, but added, "I'm only thinking of his early work, of course."

Perhaps Čapek's translations from modern French poetry were foremost in his mind. But much of Čapek's early work could be viewed as avantgarde, especially in the context of Czech post-symbolist and pre-expressionist literature of the day...