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Summary: My all-time favorite book
Review: Although I couldn't honestly say that this book changed my life, I have never read anything that haunted me as much as _We, the Living_ does. A year after reading it I still find myself reliving scenes and going back to reread chapters that are so familiar I might have written them myself. Kira, like Howard Roark (_The Fountainhead_), does not grow during the novel, but she struggles to stay honest to herself and to her own ideals even though a hundred million people tell her that she can't. Rand's prose style is bitterly exact, even more astonishing because she didn't learn English until her twenties (similar to Joseph Conrad). Anyone who feels that communism was a good idea should read this book to see an alternate view, provided with clarity and honesty.
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Summary: I hate to confrom but...
Review: I am sure the intended purpose of these reviews is to show both the good and the bad of a work. As I read the comments of others, I was disappointed by being unable to find anyone who did not appreciate this book. Surely there must be one? It probably is probably just his luck not to have the internet. But I digress, We the Living is Rand's most digestable work. The reader needs to understand that she was in Russia during the revolution; she witnessed the hardships that took place, and that is why this book is beautiful. It has not been tainted by her theoritical objectivism idealogy. I find it quite a shame that this work will always remain in the shadows of Ayn Rand's other works. Perhaps that is the way she wanted it. We the Living is unlike all her other writings; it is her one innocent novel. Yet to be spoiled by her objectivism idealogy, it simple shows, through a sublime plot, what happens to man when he submits his freedom
Rating: 
Summary: Don't read the intro!!
Review: This book was pretty good, but nothing outstanding. One thing I liked about it was that the amount of philosophy you had to plow through in order to get the point was pretty minimal compared to The Fountainhead. The story made for interesting reading. One thing I do not feel is true, though, is that it is a truly accurate picture of the inside of Communist Russia. I think that One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Doctor Zhivago, and Red Army Stories are all better. They seem to be a little more brutal, but one of the key things is that the protagonist is not the only good guy. In the other books the protagonist usually runs across at least one somewhat inspiring character who is surviving within the system and perhaps even making it work. I just feel these novels represent a more accurate portrayal of what went on in Communist Russia than what Rand shows the reader. One final note: (This applies in The Fountainhead as well as Anthem, but it is not quite as important, as the endings in those books are somewhat if not completely predictable.) DO NOT READ THE PLEIKOFF INTRODUCTION AS IT WILL COMPLETELY GIVE AWAY THE ENDING!!!!
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Summary: Make it required reading in high school.
Review: The children of today's Americans do not know the meaning of freedom. It is taken for granted, without any thought of what has been the cost to many of America's greatest champions.
We The Living is the literary equivalent of what that freedom has cost. That a young woman emigrant felt compelled to challenge the political trend of a continent in the hope of saving her brave new world from the same fate. When I attented high school, I was required to study communism, but nothing prepared me for Ms. Rand's revelations. In my high school course I learned of the mechanical structure of communism with the implication that such a system could work for the benifit of mankind. In We The Living I learned the result of such a political system.
If it is our goal to teach our children the history of communism to aid in their understanding of freedom, I suggest We The Living be mandatory reading during the course.
Keith Williams
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Summary: Communism up close and personal
Review: This book should be forced down the throats of new-left credit-card communists who still think communism can work if it is applied correctly
Rating:
Summary: A wrenching, beautiful book
Review: It may be heretical but I consider this first work
Rand's best. It has an innocence not found in the later tomes. An instant read - and one that can't be put down - it's a non-didactic Rand who
is writing a story - not a polemic. The love story is absolutely fantastic and the description of Russia deadly. The characters will remain for a long time and the plot is suberb. Warning - not a happy ending
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Summary: The Essential Rand
Review: While writing We the Living, Ayn Rand was still mastering the nuances of the English language after her emigration to America. It doesn't matter; she hits a literary homerun anyway. This is the essential Rand, antiticipating the brilliance of the Fountainhead and utilizing subtlety I wish she had exercised in Atlas Shrugged. You'll be carried away by Rand's protagonist, Kira, a hero in the classic sense of the word. At the same time, you'll be devastated by Rand's all too accurate description of the drudgery and misery of post-revolutionary Russia.
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Summary: Go out and get it!
Review: Although this was the first of Rand's invidual vs. the masses novels, it is quite good. It is her most autobiographical and also her most beautiful love story. The book is not necessarily as triumphant as are her others and is, in fact, quite tragic in parts. Kira, however, is a most interesting heroine and her relationships and how they relate to the results of the Russian Revolution make for a wonderful read
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Summary: Amazing Book: A Triumph
Review: This is the most moving book I have ever read. It eloquently portrays the struggle of the individual against the state, a state which denies life to the living. A state which suppresses the best of people and does not value human beings. It provides a very accurate picture of life in a dictatorship. The plot is riviting, the characters are intriguing, and the ending is perfect. I would love to single out a part of the book or a particular dialogue that I love but there are just too many.
I never liked Ayn Rand's philosophy, but this book gave me a new respect for her. I was born in communist Albania and my parents and grandparents lived in that hell-hole, and no book speaks for them better than this one does. I loved "Doctor Zhivago," but I have to admit that this is a better book. It had me smiling at times and it had me crying at others. I kept on thinking of the millions and millions of nameless people that have been swallowed up by dictatorships. To take this as only an anti-communist book would be to miss the big picture: it is an anti-totalitarian book. An anti-repression book. A pro-freedom, pro-individual cry for justice.
It is the best book I have ever read and I recomend it to anyone.
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Summary: One of My All-Time Favorites!
Review: Thankfully I read this book before The Fountainhead (which I didn't enjoy at all). We The Living is a story about a triumphant woman never giving up on herself, the people she loves, and her dreams.
The story was extremely well written and I was transformed to a time and place that I had been previously unfamiliar with. I quickly developed a fondness for the main characters and was anxious to read how things worked out. On a romantic level We The Living was frustrating, encouraging, and heartbreaking. I could not decide who would be a better match for Kira. Leo because of her love for him or Andrei because of his love for her?
I highly recommend this book and guarantee it will become one of your favorites.
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