We the Living

Rating:
Summary: Another Example of Rand's Petrified Opinion
Review: It's hard not to look at this book as little more than a piece of propaganda. It is not that Rand sat down with the intention to write propaganda, but that instead her own opinions have become so overbearing and all-encompassing, that it is as if they constitute a religion for her. And she is so devout a believer of her own 'religion' that her opinions end up reading like propaganda. A good majority of the book is spent bad-mouthing Communism and Socialism. If this were a critical analysis of Communism, I would not mind, as I am open to alternate views. But for Rand, there is no subtlety, to cognition, no grace, but instead, hundreds of pages of "Communism Sucks!" Like most people, she seems to have NO knowledge of Marxist theory. Like the people on this board, she confuses Communism with Socialism, and in so doing, treats them as being the same. Communism is as 'close' to Socialism as Capitalism is close to Socialism. The book is simple unreadable to anyone who has any diversified education in political theory. From a literary standpoint, there are plot holes, strange attempts at characterization, 'insults' at Communism thrown in like commercials at various parts in the book. Skip it.

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Summary: Poetic & Beautiful Novel About Russia's Communist Revolution
Review: As far as I'm concerned, this is the only real novel that Rand ever wrote. Lacking the soapbox diatribes of her later works, this novel is filled with a savage beauty, deft characterization, and beautiful poetic prose. It is the story of a young woman who must endure the turmoil of revolution and the imposition of a totalitarian state & who ultimately risks everything for freedom. Don't avoid this novel just because you don't like objectivism (this was written before she started her philosophical movement) or you'll definitely be missing out on one of the best novels of the 20th century.

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Summary: By far the best of Ayn's Rand Fictional Endeavors
Review: I read the Fountainhead first, then Atlas Shrugged, then We The Living. We The Living is by far the most moving, engaging, and realistic of these novels. How interesting that this was her first novel; written, presumably, before her Objectivist Philosophy had taken full shape, and taken over all other considerations. The novel's strengths lie in the believability of the characters; their motives are human and their actions and circumstances realistic rather than idealistic. I was truly drawn into all of her novels, however We The Living made clear to me the problems in her later novels-- in the later novels, Ayn Rand ceased to consider plot and character as useful ends unto themselves, and began utilizing them solely as mechanisms by which to disseminate her philosophy. We the Living is strong because her characters struggle to maintain the heroic integrity she assigns them. In her later books, the love stories she created lack the passion and innocence (and believability) found in We The Living. If Ayn Rand's goal was to present to the world a philosophy for man to live by on earth, We The Living is the only one of her fictional novels in which the plot and character are believable enough to have have existed on this earth.

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Summary: An exciting discovery for Rand fans:
Review: If you enjoy Rand, I am delighted to direct you to another "Randlike" novel, THE LAST DAY, by Glenn Kleier. In THE LAST DAY, Kleier tackles the subject of authority in organized religion with startling "Ayn Rand" objectivism and outrageous wit and irreverence. LAST DAY is a classic, watershed novel in the manner of FOUNTAINHEAD and SHRUGGED. I found it a riveting read, and one that I greatly encourage all Rand fans to experience.

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Summary: An insight to Communist Russia
Review: I thought "We The Living" was an incredibly moving book. The love and devotion between these two characters was incredible. Every word that Rand wrote made me feel like I was the one experiencing the hardships and triumphs that were experienced. I believe this is a very true experience of what it was like to grow up in communist Russia from 1920 to 1945. Since this was supposed to be the closest thing to an autobiography of Rand I think we can experience more clearly what most people did from that time period.

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Summary: a very realistic book about the post communism revolution
Review: This book, although is a rommance, is the closest to a autobiography that Ayn Rand ever made. In the time it was written, the book was probably despised, since in those years, the intellectual environment was socialist, and could never accept the views from Ayn Rand. But the truth is: Ayn Rand lived what she wrote, and that is what makes We the Living one of the most reliable and interesting books ever written about the first year of the Communist Revolution in Russia.

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Summary: This book really shows you how horrible Communism is.
Review: This book is one of my very favorites. Kira Argounova takes you through Russia immediatly following the Revolution. Through her eyes and others, you will see the painful life Communism set for all Russian citizens. Horrific details of the sacrifices people made for eachother, the hunger of the citizens and the dying. Although it is painful to read and finish, it gives you a strong feeling of hope. No other fictatious book about Russia at this time will let you feel with the Russians as this will!!!

Rating:
Summary: Whee! The living
Review: As other reviewers have noted, this novel is different from Ayn Rand's others: it actually qualifies as literature rather than propaganda.

The characterization is a little off (e.g. Leo stops being an attractive character in fairly short order), and the alterations from the original version do show. (Rand apparently wanted to make it more "capitalistic" and less "Nietzschean" -- cf. Kira's desire to become an "engineer," of which nothing whatsoever is made in the novel. And see the earlier versions of some of Kira's speeches, available in _The Journals of Ayn Rand_.) But it's actually a pretty good novel about the individual human being vs. the collectivist State.

The rest of the Randian oeuvre is too didactic and too full of cardboard, self-serving moralizing to be classified as "literature"; it's more like the stuff the Soviet propaganda machine used to crank out, only in favor of Rand's version of "capitalism" rather than Soviet communism.

But in this novel we see a hint of what Rand could have become if she'd tried. She wrote this one while her mind was still among the living.

Rating:
Summary: The most honest of Ayn Rand's novels.
Review: Whether you agree with her philosophy or not, this novel differs from her other writings in its passionate sincerity. Rather than intoning ominous mantras against Marxist collectivism, she demonstrates by vivid examples how constrictive and unfortunate such a theory can be when translated into fact. The harsh details she provides could only have been written by one who had lived in similar circumstances. The characters are not like the black-and-white archetypes she employs in her later fiction; their opinions and motives are much more credible.

After reading WE THE LIVING, you feel a certain sympathy and understanding for Ayn Rand's vehement rejection of all philosophical systems or ideas that might inhibit personal freedom and individual expression. But the irony of her philosophy is that her "Objectivism" evolved into a system, which, if strictly adhered to, would be just as repressive, dogmatic and severe as the communism she so passionately disparaged.

I've read and enjoyed several of her books; but this one I found to be the most striking and honest.

Rating:
Summary: Eye-opening
Review: We the Living is a haunting portrayal of the harsh reality of too much power. Ayn Rand was able to achieve her objective in opening eyes as to the impact of the Russian Revolution on the individual. It is the story of those who love life and that which threatens its existence.