We

Amazing read, must have if you are a fan of Brave New World and other dystopian classics.

We was written in 1920 by an engineer, so the book has lots of analogies to numbers and science. Read it and you will start thinking to what extent conformity to society, even forced and totally obligatory conformity, has a power to produce happiness. Good luck to us all.

After reading Orwell's '1984', Huxley's 'Brave New World' and Ayn Rand's 'Anthem', I wanted a taste of the book which inspired them. Zamyatin does not disappoint. The story is truly thought provoking on a level entirely separate from the aforementioned novels and no less of a page-turner! Each individual in 'We' is assigned a number as a component of a single entity which is reflective of the 'hand' of the industrial machine of the 1800s, masterly displayed in London's 'Iron Heel'. The novel takes on a very mathematical and rational stance - for lovers of mathematics and scientific perspective maybe it is the quintessential novel, for it shows what blind rationality and, as Zamyatin says 'scientific ethics, that is, ethics based on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing' can create.What is remarkable is the manner in which Zamyatin manages to empathesis with the protagonist, D-503. We are plunged into his life, an existence where one is (almost!) entirely dehumanized and through diary-like 'records' are shown his method of thought as he describes various events. Zamyatin displays the glaring errors of the society which D-503 is living in by merely describing what the dystopian society is like, thus avoiding making the ethical propositions Orwell does in 1984. This is perhaps the primary reason this book stands out: it is thought provoking on a level which forces you to think for yourself rather than telling you exactly what to think. Often you a cast with a feeling of intense frustration or ambivalence which you can't quite articulate or comprehend without further thought.Though it is a translation from the original Russian version, I could not notice any glaring errors. Indeed, it read as though it had been written in the English tongue.A truly poignant, masterful novel I would never fail to recommend.

There is no I in We.We is the grandfather of sorts to the dystopian (i.e., backwards society) novels and works that have followed it. George Orwell’s 1984, a brilliant work, clearly took heavily from Yevgeny Zamyatin’s concept as far as the blueprint in plot, themes, and form. Zamyatin’s novel also paved the way and was the predecessor to the many other dystopians—past and present— since it was written in 1920.In this dystopian society, humans have been stripped of their individuality and thought. They are reduced to numbers, not names; individual freedom, original thought, and self have been sacrificed for the “greater good” and for the Benefactor.The narrator, D-503, records a series of journals and excerpts that form the basis of the plot and timeline. He works as an engineer and mathematician in the authoritarian place known as One State in the 29th century. At one point, he encounters a woman, I-330, who begins to open his eyes to his society. D-503, as a result, expresses his conflicted state of mind, torn between the two divergent views:“I become glass. I saw into myself, inside. There were two me’s. One that was the old one, D-503, Number D-503, and the other…”He begins to think, to question, their society…I think that Zamyatin’s novel is an important work and remains significant for two key reasons. First, it laid the groundwork and inspired so many works after it, from Orwell to Huxley, and we see various influences in literature and film to this day. Secondly (and more importantly), We’s profound message and themes represent a cautionary tale about society-gone-wrong when various freedoms or original thoughts are sacrificed and repressed in favor of conformity. We remains highly relevant both now and throughout the course of history in various phases and ways, so I think it is universally applicable and a timeless novel.I have heard that a good deal depends on what translation you get as far as the reading experience goes. I was fairly pleased with this one (which is the Clarence Brown translation), although there were a few points that were a tad confusing and “lost in translation” a bit (hence 4 stars instead of 5).Overall, though, a very thought-provoking, engrossing, and timely work.

Awesome book regarding distopia...