We

Rating:
Summary: Original Political Dystopia
Review: A great political dystopia written in 1924, We lays the foundation for Brave New World and 1984 and remains shocking and relevant. The story follows a mathematician named D-503 who lives in a bleak totalitarian society. When a comely resistance leader named I-330 seduces D-503, he accidentally discovers his soul, his unique individual identity, and is nearly driven insane by the revelation. The story contains several wonderful philosophical debates about the nature of freedom, art, and government. Written in a highly poetic, sometimes challenging prose style. Not surprisingly, this novel never got published in the USSR and Zamyatin was eventually exiled because of it. That which gives us comfort induces stasis; only things that make us uncomfortable challenge us to change and grow.

Rating:
Summary: A Dystopian Masterpiece
Review: We is highly recommended for anyone who loves 1984 and/or Brave New World (as do I). I read We in about a day. The style of writing is grasping, but not overwhelmingly sophisticated and the book was hard to put down. Whereas Orwell uses Newspeak to help portray his potential future, Zamiatin flourishes via images such as the Green Wall (that keeps out the normal environment and "savages," basically normal homo sapiens) and the great Benefactor, a Big Brother that is actually seen. Moreover, Zamiatin's world in We is made of glass, a captivating way in which privacy is virtually abolished. We should be on the shelf of any dystopian literature fan.

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Summary: Join D-503 on his journey into "illness"
Review: Other reviewers have had plenty to say about the significance of this book to political and literary history. As an English teacher who regularly teaches an elective in Dystopian Literature, I can't help but agree with their comments.

However, something has been lost in many of the reviews that I've read here. Much of our difficulty in reading and understanding We arises from Zamyatin's ability to effectively adopt his main character's voice and concerns. It is a product of his literary success, not of any clumsiness or mistakes.

We is written in an eccentric voice: the voice of a mathematician and scientist of the twenty-sixth century, D-503, who is gradually confronted with the irrationality of his own self. As the book opens, he is self-assured and composed. He dazzles us with his mathematical metaphors for the beauty of OneState and his praise for its hyperrational society.

As the book progresses, however, D-503 becomes gradually more confused, conflicted, and, in his own words, "ill." He begins to enjoy irrational things (like "ancient" music), to want irrational things (like sex outside of the prescribed Sex Days), and to avoid rational behaviors (like turning in I-330 when he realizes what she is up to).

Since We is written in the first person, it only makes sense that as D-503 struggles to understand what is happening to him, we too should struggle. The simple, mathematical prose with which D-503 opens the book gives way to an increasingly confused jumble of thoughts. Zamyatin intentionally includes us in D-503's psychological journey. Not until the last chapter, when D-503's conflict is resolved, is clarity of voice reestablished.

Following someone's deepest internal struggles, by examining both what is said and what is left unsaid, is one of our most challenging reading experiences. That difficulty, however, doesn't betray Zamyatin's weakness as an author but rather his sensitivity to the character he created.

As a work of literature, We doesn't need to be defended. For those who are willing to invest the time, D-503 is anything but flat. He comes alive as a character caught between a society he admires and his own irrational urges. Whether you have read 1984, Brave New World, or any other dystopias, We is well worth your reading and rereading.

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Summary: An Important and Overlooked Influence
Review: The key difficulty in reading this influential dystopian novel is that virtually everyone who cracks the cover, does so having already read 1984 and Brave New World. To a very large degree that is a pity, since this work predates those considerably-Orwell cited it as the key influence on 1984. However, once you've read those, Zamiatin's work has little new to offer, and unfolds in much less readable language. Our book group read it and discussed it with great vigor, but ultimately concluded that we wouldn't recommend it to anyone who had already read Orwell and Huxley's works.

The story is related through the diary entries of D-503, a rather important cog in the machine of a future city state which has hermetically sealed itself from the wild and primal outside world that is left after the Two Hundred Years War. The staccato form of the entries makes for rather cumbersome and occasionally confusing reading. The society is strictly regimented, everyone wears the same uniform, and follows set schedules throughout the day, and literally lives in glass houses. The aim of the society is to scientifically manage everyone's time and energy for maximum efficiency and smoothness, a notion Zamiatin extrapolated from the writings of Frederick Winslow Taylor, the founder of modern scientific management principles, who was highly influential in the early part of the 20th century. However, this "perfect" society-where happiness is considered inversely proportional to freedom-has yet to figure out a way to eliminate that most primal of urges, sex.

This achilles heel is what sets things in motion, as D-503, who is the lead engineer in the construction of a rocket ship being designed to expand the society to other worlds, falls for a dishy rebel who has access to the outside world. This sparks emotions and feelings he's not familiar with, the discovery of a soul within him, and wild mood swings within him as he grapples with the implications of all this. Zamiatin seems to be indicating that in our most primal urges are also the last vestiges of our individual souls. Clearly the novel is meant to attack both the rise of modern industrialism, and totalitarianism in general (not Stalin specifically though, he didn't consolidate his position until almost a decade after the book was written). Zamiatin was a revolutionary, and was jailed by the Czar's secret police on several occasions. He never renounced the revolution but did have plenty to say about those who hijacked it and created the world's most brutally efficient police state (for a good short history of that, see Martin Amis's Koba the Dread). Ultimately, this is an important novel, but not a particularly enjoyable one to read.

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Summary: Best of Dystopian Trilogy
Review: Zamyatin's WE, like Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984, is a classic science-fiction novel that unmasks the chilling realities of the erosion of individuality. What makes Zamyatin's account more compelling, however, is that he wrote the novel from within the fledgeling Socialist state of 1920's Russia (it wasn't even published there until 1988). Therefore, Zamyatin can lay claim to a firsthand understanding of the fallacies of the Soviet collective unlike the eccentric British intellectuals Orwell and Huxley. Although Zamyatin's language, at times, is a bit peculiar by nature, this Twentieth Century Classics translation is perhaps the easiest to understand, as the translator shied away from word use that would not register smoothly in the mind of a contemporary English reader. If you have read Brave New World or 1984, you will certainly want to compliment them by reading this excellent masterpiece in 20th century European literature!

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Summary: A Brilliant Cautionary Tale About Government Control!
Review: We was written before 1984 and Brave New World, and yet I never heard of it until coming across it on a store shelf! It's a haunting scifi story and too good not to tell others about. It is also similar in some ways to The Giver. Written in the form of the journals of a tormented genius, D-503 lives in a world so bizarre that it almost seems like he is inside a computer. Each "number" is almost identical, and most are expendable, but he is the builder of a great starship, therefore of importance to the One State, and so is granted more tolerance when his behavior gets eccentric. Life is totally regimented except for 2 personal hours each day, and even then, most numbers either go for a walk or get a coupon allowing them to have sex with a partner they have registered with. D-503 has one male friend, a Black poet who writes for the State, and a female partner who he shares with his friend. Like all oppressive states, this one has an underground, and D-503's life falls into disarray when he meets and falls in love with I-330, a mysterious woman of the resistance. There is little in this world that stands out, but the author focuses on facial features and body shapes that attract and repel him at the same time. His mind whirling in confusion, he goes to a doctor who says he is sick because he has developed a soul, and that the condition is "incurable." Yet he is given permission to be sick because he is so important. As the time for the ship's launch is at hand, to spread "perfect happiness" throughout the universe, the resistance bubbles to the surface, and the state devises a ghastly cure for imagination, the last shred of humanity that is left. Society explodes in chaos as numbers refuse to submit to the Great Operation that will take away their imagination, their resistance, and with it, their soul. To tell any more would ruin the story. A word of warning: DON'T read the introduction before the story, it tells how the story ends!

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: This 1920 book is a powerful example of prototype dystopian science fiction. It exists on more than just one or two levels. Impeccable math and science (Zamyatin was a Naval architect), religious imagery, jokes (that's right), and of course, scathing political prophecy are all present in this melting pot. Not to mention it's actually a fun read! The influence of this novel cannot be overstated in the political history of the world and in the science fiction genre. The amount of subtleties in this book that aren't shoved down your throat will guarantee your continued (and renewed) enjoyment of successive reads; there's something new on every round. Clocking in at a modest 232 pages for the paperback edition, it won't take you that long, though you may find yourself spending a lot of time in thought after finishing it.

I've heard that there are better translations than this one. It's all a matter of preference, really, and this is the one that's most widely available. If you fancy yourself a science fiction fan or politically aware, this is more than worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: It's alright
Review: We've all read 1984, we've all seen the movie, and we've all used the term, "Big Brother" in our modern day society; and it's pretty clear that all of us have a good understanding of what a dystopia is.
But I really wished I didn't because Zamyatin's We would've been a great read. However, it's got some interesting concepts like the, "Integral" a giant ship the builders make so their society can use it to explore new worlds and colonize distant lands; and everything in their society is constructed from glass so everyone sees all with the exception of sexual intercourse which is conducted behind a curtain. The story is well written, although it becomes a little frustrating when you're reading d-503's new found thoughts and sensations because his mind goes all over the place. The story is well structured, but towards the end the story becomes all too familiar with fans who take interests in dystopian sci-fi.
But that's the probelm! Because of Orwell's '84, movies like Brazil and Kafka, and other dystopian novels this book becomes predictable and trite! The only thing that kept me hooked was the technology and mathematics they used in the book-other than that it really didn't grab me.
It's not like this book is bad, don't get me wrong, I just wished I read We first. But go pick up the book if you're just getting into this genre and you'll find yourself having a great time.

Rating:
Summary: The Granddaddy of all Negative Utopias
Review: If you liked 1984 and Brave New World...this is a must by the great Russian writer Zamyatin....and this is definitely a top notch translation....you can't go wrong with this one...it will keep you on the edge of your seat and you will not be able to put it down.....this is the best of the Dystopia genre.

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Summary: The Mathmeticians Apocalyptic Vision
Review: Anyone who reads "We" and "Brave New World" will notice an astounding number of similarities, enough to make one wonder whether Huxley borrowed a little more than he should have. Nonetheless, this is a pretty good apocalyptic novel. I would rank it somewhere above the aformentioned "Brave New World" and below "1984". Perhaps the most interesting thing about the novel is the mathematical subtext. Zamyatin was a professional mathmetician and the names of his characters (which are numbers) supposedly are part of some master equation. Unfortunately, my Russian isn't up to reading the book in the original. Neither is my math, for that matter. But this is a quick read, very much a product of its time and location. It will probably take you an afternoon; and there are certainly worse ways to spend an afternoon.