An inspiration for George Orwell’s 1984 and a precursor to the work of Philip K. Dick, Ayn Rand (Anthem), and Stanislaw Lem, We is a classic of dystopian science fiction ripe for rediscovery. Written in 1921 by the Russian revolutionary Yevgeny Zamyatin, this story of the thirtieth century is set in the One State, a society where all live for the collective good and individual freedom does not exist.
Although fiction, it is a story informed by the war communism of the Soviet Union, and was of course completely banned in Russia. But the collectivism is of a recognizable type, one that threatens every society in all times. To come to understand its features and markings is the benefit of the dystopian genre. The reality that dawns on the reader is that this seeming fiction is all-too real in our times.
The novel takes the form of the diary of state mathematician D-503, who, to his shock, experiences the most disruptive emotion imaginable: love for another human being.
At once satirical and sobering–and now available in a powerful new modern translation–We speaks to all who have suffered under repression of their personal, economic, and cultural freedom.
“One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.” –Irving Howe
“[Zamyatin’s] intuitive grasp of the irrational side of totalitarianism– human sacrifice, cruelty as an end in itself–makes [We] superior to Huxley’s [Brave New World].” –George Orwell
Incidentally, this is a new translation. The older translation is available as a free PDF in literature.
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Great choice. Read it and loved it.
I loved this book when I read it as a student. The older translation(the linked PDF) is inferior, especially how it uses “The United State”, rather than the modern “The One State”. Regardless, it’s one of the most important book anyone can read to understand the nature of the State (as far as fiction goes).
We is a great work. Zamyatin didn’t simply grasp the nature of totalitarianism; he also had a profound understanding of the psychological need for personal autonomy, and he had the literary talent to brilliantly depict a protagonist’s self-discovery of this through changes in the style as well as the content of the diary entries.
awful.
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