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Summary: I couldn't put it down, except when I had to cry.
Review: We The Living is one of the best books I've ever read. I absolutely could not put it down, except when I had to stop to cry. Everyone should read this book!
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Summary: Unbelievably readable
Review: To me, this book was a very big surprise. It was loaned to me by a friend who had borrowed a few of my books and was wanting to reciprocate. When she first gave it to me I was not at all excited, but once I picked it up I honestly could not put it down - even at work sometimes! I had thought her books were very philosophically surreal, but this book was very real and very easy for "non-philosophical" types in addition to those who are constantly in search of a higher meaning. Do keep in mind that it is an emotionally wrenching book, and other than that you need no introduction aside from what is on the back cover of the book. I look forward to reading Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead, once I am able to get over this one and the lessons it teaches have sunk in completely.
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Summary: Shades of Gray
Review: This book is billed as a great philosophical tour de force, a marketing strategy clearly meant to appeal to Atlas Shrugged readers who may have missed her first work. Instead, most of the time it reads like a conventional love story, with many more shades of gray than one will find in her all-or-nothing works like Atlas. This disappointed me.
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Summary: Passion without Pedagogy
Review: I love this book. Kira is so much more human and affable than all of Rand's later heros. Yes, it is a youthful attempt and you can tell it. However, the tale is pure passion and joy, without being bogged down with pages of intellectual support of it. You can tell that this writing was closer to Rand's heart, than her brain.
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Summary: I cried.
Review: This is the first Ayn Rand book I've ever read and it's incredible, and so realistic. I was born in Russia, and came to the US when I was nine(I'm 15 now). My parents frequently talk about Russia, and tell me about it, especially the Stalin/Lenin Era. This book shows that there is no difference between Soviet Russia and Czar Russia. People lived in the exact same conditions, there were secret anti-government societies, and people were forced to believe that the goverment in always right. Despite all the BS about how "Soviet Russia has a bright future, comerades!", people suffered just like they suffered under the Czar's rule. I cried when I read some parts, especially the end. Everyone should read this book.
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Summary: Good book but some serious plot holes...
Review: I have read every one of Ayn Rand's fiction books and this is definitely the best written one. You don' get the sometimes annoying 1 page monologues from characters that you see in "The Fountainhead" and in "Atlas Shrugged".However, there are some serious problems with the plot. For instance, about 1/3 of the way through the book we find out that Kira, Leo, and her family all make it on the Purge list and will be kicked out of Petrograd. And then...absolutely nothing happens from it!!! It's never mentioned again. Another problem is the constant vascillation of Andrei. It seems he goes from bad to good and back again just to keep the plot moving. And what about Maurissa? Kira and Leo can't stand her as their neighbor and then all of the sudden their best friends. This is a pretty good book but points to the inevitable fact that Ayn Rand can not be considered a great wirter of fiction. Her books are merely allegorical attempts (successful ones, I may add) at encapsulating her Objectivist philosophy into an easily digestible form for the reader.
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Summary: Refreshing philosophical veiw of life, love, and more.......
Review: So maybe I am not the best person to write a reveiw of this book, since I am a big Ayn Rand fan. But of my two most favorite books I have read this one is my second favorite (Atlas Shrugged is #1). This book is one of those I-read-it-all-in-one-sitting-because-I-couldn't-put-it-down books. In one way you could read it as only a love story with a few twists, and what a wonderful story it is in it's own right. However, to explain the characters, to teach the reader, to show this philosophy, it is shown in an easy to read book. While still remaining very in-depth. For people who are intimidated I recomend this: 1- Read this book first for the story. 2- Read this book again for the philosophy. 3- Read it again and enjoy what you have learned. 4- Then you can move on to The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged.
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Summary: A haunting book
Review: 10 years out of Russia I almost forgot how it was over there. This book brought it back, with all the subtlety of a hammer blow. To an American reader the descriptions may seem unreal: "did people really talk that way? behave that way?" Yes, they did, even in the more prosperous post-Stalin times. This is one of the most powerful indictments of collectivism in general and communism in particular - it shows, in stark colors, what this ideology does to its adherents and enemies.
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Summary: My favourite time, country, plot....just my favourite!!!
Review: I absolutely love this story....From the wonderfully dramatic plot, twisting in ten directions at once, that takes the hardships of life to its best... to its showing of how strong, stern and unquestioning people should learn to be. The background is wonderfully presented and created...I think that people before reading this should try to understand that communist russia was only like this in the beginning, not as harsh afterward. It was like this around the world. The philosophy in this book is great and is easy to undersatnd if you are a knowlegable person.... Early in another review, soemone regreted that this book did not change thier life...I can say that it did to mine!!
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Summary: Fans of Ayn Rand shoud NOT overlook her first work
Review: Critics of Rand, when pointing to her more popular classics Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, often point out the exaggerated nature of the situations her characters are in. They suggest that Rand made her characters seem more heroic by creating unrealistic enemies and overblown conflicts. Yet, in We the Living, Rand can't be accused of hyperbole. Her most autobiographical novel, it tells the story of the young and ambitious Kyra Argounova, and her struggles to maintain her individualism in the tumultuous time of 1920's Soviet Russia. Readers will wisely note the similarities between Rand's own life and that of the character of Kyra. Although it may have been the novel that most successfully captured the struggle of life in Soviet Russia, the story is, as Rand points out, certainly not merely about the struggle of Kira to retain her freedom against the Communist Party, but rather, more generally, the struggle of the individual to retain their soul against the attempts of the state to strip it away. In response to Rand's critics, yes, this is her most realistic work of fiction. And that is exactly why it should not be overlooked. Ayn Rand experienced life under the thumb of the Communists first-hand, and this book captures it perfectly. There can be no claim of exagerated villains, because these villains were real. Simultaneously depressing, as we see freedom slowly being destoyed, and uplifting, as we see Kira struggle to live on, We the Living will challenge your ideas of politics, as all of Rand's novels do. Hopefully, after reading this book, you'll want to keep your politics to yourself, and understand why socialism will always be doomed to failure.
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