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We (Modern Library Classics)
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Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Yevgeny Zamyatin
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $11.16
You Save: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Author: Yevgeny Zamyatin
Publisher: Modern Library
Average Customer Rating:
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We (Modern Library Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.7342
EAN: 9780812974621
ISBN: 081297462X
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2006-07-11
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2006-07-11
Studio: Modern Library
Dewey Decimal Number: 891.7342
EAN: 9780812974621
ISBN: 081297462X
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2006-07-11
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2006-07-11
Studio: Modern Library
Editorial Review of We (Modern Library Classics)
“[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
An inspiration for George Orwell’s 1984 and a precursor to the work of Philip K. Dick 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. 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 and artistic freedom.
“One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.”
–Irving Howe
–George Orwell
An inspiration for George Orwell’s 1984 and a precursor to the work of Philip K. Dick 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. 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 and artistic freedom.
“One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.”
–Irving Howe
Customer Reviews of We (Modern Library Classics)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Primo
Review: This book is excellent -- and, unfortunately, it illustrates the kind of future we can expect if the current political trends in this country continue. It's well written, well translated, and well conceived. In the same category as A Handmaid's Tale, The Iron Heel, 1984, & Brave New World, it is quite possibly the best of the bunch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Literary Masterpiece, Thought Provoking
Review: This book manages to both be a thrilling romance novel and a highly thought provoking novel. It explores the idea of materialism more than i would say its strictly a purposeful dysutopian novel. In fact the speaker doesn't really show too much distress. More or less he is like a human god with access to great resources, and since he doesn't really mind the labotomies and they seem to be good for him it seems to work out pretty well for him.
Although the ending didn't really make all too much sense to me ( i won't give it away), but maybe it's because the author is a bit humble about the Integral I'm not sure. In comparing this with 1984 I'd say 1984 has a much more rebellious spirit to it. It's necessary to absolutely torture the narrator before he gives up on his love, but the narrator here is more of a willing participant in a totally drowned society, and his romantic escapades just another gift given by reason, although there's some contrivance by the author with the irrationality of it, the narrator is really a conformist throughout.
And perhaps a lot of good books show what we are drowned in? But this is a so called science fiction work because this world isn't real, but it isn't very hard to identify with b/c the world is very materialistic, and you'll see this in the people that you meet, and the stuff that they bear for materialism. And the solution for the necessary break and dissonance with the materialist logic of the Benefactor is of course solvable by a brain adjustment or labotomy. It could be called a dysutopia or just a marxist utopia, it would just depend on what you're used to?
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We
Review: "We" is possibly the most disturbing of the great dystopian novels because the main character believes, or thinks he believes, in the virtues of the totalitarian state in which he lives. The society envisioned by the author combines the worst vices of communism with an extreme view of the mentality of mass production and mechanized efficiency as applied to humans.
Natasha Randall's translation for The Modern Library is elegant and practically flows off the page with a compelling urgency.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Surprisingly Engaging
Review: Having been a Science Fiction fan for most of my life, and possessing the ability to absorb three books per week, I was pleasantly surprised by the tact and tenacity of "We". Any fan of the Negative Utopia Genre should definitely look this one up; being the great-granddaddy of every Utopian story in existence (minus, of course, the little-known but highly engaging "The Iron Heel" by Jack London, of all people), WE combines the harsh social rigidity of 1984 with a bit of the technical know-how of "Brave New World". No opening date is given, though by the tone of the story, I was able to work out that it would be the 31st Century, according to our calendar; what remains of humanity exists inside the rigid walls of a grand city. Every second of their lives, the Ciphers (as humans now refer to themselves) have activity to keep them forever grinding forward. The wall is composed of a transparent alloy, keeping the Ciphers seperated from the rest of the world outside, but allowing them occasional glimpses of new and exotic things; there is one Chapter where our protagonist, on his way from one tedious chore to another, catches a glimpse and locks eyes with what sounds like a Bison or Wildebeast. For minutes, he and this strange, curious animal stare at one another, and he has an epiphany--he is as curious about the world outside as it seems to be about him. He begins to daydream about what lies beyond his sterile existence, and suddenly declares himself sick with the illness of Imagination--but despite this, he keeps finding excuses not to seek treatment, and keeps swaying more and more from his daily activity of dictated duties. His trouble intensifies when he notices a woman and wants her desperately, but he cannot fathom why. Aside from her eyes, he finds her rather unremarkable, and even though he and everyone else BELONGS to everyone else, he can't seem to purge her from his mind. He could have her any time he'd like, but he seems to crave something more from her that he can't quite put his finger on...and it's not too long until she notices him, too. She also has the sickness of Imagination, but hers dwarfs his; she begins to demand his time, not for sex, but for discussions. She muses on things that he finds ridiculous, such as "knowing your mother and father", "forms of governance other than the One State", and something he finds repugnant, child-rearing. He realizes that he hates her guts almost at the same time that he realizes he loves her-and from that moment their fates are inexorably linked. Their world is ruled by the Benefactor, a being with near-omnipotent power and technological wonders that would make George Lucas crap himself; while not a totalitarian system completely in deed, the One State uses laser brain surgery to correct any "sickness" within it's Ciphers, and as the Imagination begins to encompass others, our hero, who is a very important man in the State (he designs and engineers interplanteary vehicles), decides to rebel the only way he can...to take the others with Imaginations off-planet, so that they can find a new one for their own. Written from the early to mid-1920's, in the Soviet Union, "WE" makes up for its relative lack of prose with not only a tantalizing yarn, but one that shows remarkable foresight, and a keen understanding of Science Fiction long before it even existed; for a final thought, and on that subject, there is one chapter that really struck me--the author describes what could only be a modern laptop computer...pretty good imagination for the 1920's.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We
Review: The label "forgotten classic" is overused, but it definitely applies to We, a dystopian novel written in 1921 by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian author who would soon disappear into exile and obscurity as a result of his work. We is a precursor to Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-four, but in my opinion it is the most powerful and most perfect of the three.
The story is told by D-503, a male mathematician in a society organized on the principles of mathematics. The setting is centuries in our future, long after a war has reduced the human population to a few millions and led to the formation of One State, a single enclosed city-state. The guiding principle of One State is that freedom is unhappiness. To ensure uniformity, all buildings, including private dwellings, are made of glass so there is no privacy. The people (called "ciphers") all rise at the same moment, eat together, and take exercise by marching in formation.
The true nightmare of We is not its grim picture of society, but the fact that so many of the ciphers, D-503 included, find it a delightful way to live. There are exceptions, however, including the seductive and mysterious I-330 with whom D-503 falls in love. Such attachments are, of course, forbidden, and D-503 is in anguish over his inability to control his feelings.
The style in which We is written is unique and adds substantially to its appeal. D-503, as noted, is a mathematician, and his memoirs rely heavily on the language and metaphors of mathematics. At times, however, it is an outpouring of emotion from someone utterly unused even to the concept of emotions, much less the experience.
We, as one might expect, is a satire against the totalitarian excesses of the new Soviet regime. Both a Communist and a Russian patriot, Zamyatin was astute enough even as early as 1921 to see that the revolution was leading in a direction away from the desires of many of its proponents. But the novel is also a powerful, even shocking statement about out concepts of happiness and freedom.
Review Summary: Primo
Review: This book is excellent -- and, unfortunately, it illustrates the kind of future we can expect if the current political trends in this country continue. It's well written, well translated, and well conceived. In the same category as A Handmaid's Tale, The Iron Heel, 1984, & Brave New World, it is quite possibly the best of the bunch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Literary Masterpiece, Thought Provoking
Review: This book manages to both be a thrilling romance novel and a highly thought provoking novel. It explores the idea of materialism more than i would say its strictly a purposeful dysutopian novel. In fact the speaker doesn't really show too much distress. More or less he is like a human god with access to great resources, and since he doesn't really mind the labotomies and they seem to be good for him it seems to work out pretty well for him.
Although the ending didn't really make all too much sense to me ( i won't give it away), but maybe it's because the author is a bit humble about the Integral I'm not sure. In comparing this with 1984 I'd say 1984 has a much more rebellious spirit to it. It's necessary to absolutely torture the narrator before he gives up on his love, but the narrator here is more of a willing participant in a totally drowned society, and his romantic escapades just another gift given by reason, although there's some contrivance by the author with the irrationality of it, the narrator is really a conformist throughout.
And perhaps a lot of good books show what we are drowned in? But this is a so called science fiction work because this world isn't real, but it isn't very hard to identify with b/c the world is very materialistic, and you'll see this in the people that you meet, and the stuff that they bear for materialism. And the solution for the necessary break and dissonance with the materialist logic of the Benefactor is of course solvable by a brain adjustment or labotomy. It could be called a dysutopia or just a marxist utopia, it would just depend on what you're used to?
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We
Review: "We" is possibly the most disturbing of the great dystopian novels because the main character believes, or thinks he believes, in the virtues of the totalitarian state in which he lives. The society envisioned by the author combines the worst vices of communism with an extreme view of the mentality of mass production and mechanized efficiency as applied to humans.
Natasha Randall's translation for The Modern Library is elegant and practically flows off the page with a compelling urgency.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Surprisingly Engaging
Review: Having been a Science Fiction fan for most of my life, and possessing the ability to absorb three books per week, I was pleasantly surprised by the tact and tenacity of "We". Any fan of the Negative Utopia Genre should definitely look this one up; being the great-granddaddy of every Utopian story in existence (minus, of course, the little-known but highly engaging "The Iron Heel" by Jack London, of all people), WE combines the harsh social rigidity of 1984 with a bit of the technical know-how of "Brave New World". No opening date is given, though by the tone of the story, I was able to work out that it would be the 31st Century, according to our calendar; what remains of humanity exists inside the rigid walls of a grand city. Every second of their lives, the Ciphers (as humans now refer to themselves) have activity to keep them forever grinding forward. The wall is composed of a transparent alloy, keeping the Ciphers seperated from the rest of the world outside, but allowing them occasional glimpses of new and exotic things; there is one Chapter where our protagonist, on his way from one tedious chore to another, catches a glimpse and locks eyes with what sounds like a Bison or Wildebeast. For minutes, he and this strange, curious animal stare at one another, and he has an epiphany--he is as curious about the world outside as it seems to be about him. He begins to daydream about what lies beyond his sterile existence, and suddenly declares himself sick with the illness of Imagination--but despite this, he keeps finding excuses not to seek treatment, and keeps swaying more and more from his daily activity of dictated duties. His trouble intensifies when he notices a woman and wants her desperately, but he cannot fathom why. Aside from her eyes, he finds her rather unremarkable, and even though he and everyone else BELONGS to everyone else, he can't seem to purge her from his mind. He could have her any time he'd like, but he seems to crave something more from her that he can't quite put his finger on...and it's not too long until she notices him, too. She also has the sickness of Imagination, but hers dwarfs his; she begins to demand his time, not for sex, but for discussions. She muses on things that he finds ridiculous, such as "knowing your mother and father", "forms of governance other than the One State", and something he finds repugnant, child-rearing. He realizes that he hates her guts almost at the same time that he realizes he loves her-and from that moment their fates are inexorably linked. Their world is ruled by the Benefactor, a being with near-omnipotent power and technological wonders that would make George Lucas crap himself; while not a totalitarian system completely in deed, the One State uses laser brain surgery to correct any "sickness" within it's Ciphers, and as the Imagination begins to encompass others, our hero, who is a very important man in the State (he designs and engineers interplanteary vehicles), decides to rebel the only way he can...to take the others with Imaginations off-planet, so that they can find a new one for their own. Written from the early to mid-1920's, in the Soviet Union, "WE" makes up for its relative lack of prose with not only a tantalizing yarn, but one that shows remarkable foresight, and a keen understanding of Science Fiction long before it even existed; for a final thought, and on that subject, there is one chapter that really struck me--the author describes what could only be a modern laptop computer...pretty good imagination for the 1920's.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: We
Review: The label "forgotten classic" is overused, but it definitely applies to We, a dystopian novel written in 1921 by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian author who would soon disappear into exile and obscurity as a result of his work. We is a precursor to Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-four, but in my opinion it is the most powerful and most perfect of the three.
The story is told by D-503, a male mathematician in a society organized on the principles of mathematics. The setting is centuries in our future, long after a war has reduced the human population to a few millions and led to the formation of One State, a single enclosed city-state. The guiding principle of One State is that freedom is unhappiness. To ensure uniformity, all buildings, including private dwellings, are made of glass so there is no privacy. The people (called "ciphers") all rise at the same moment, eat together, and take exercise by marching in formation.
The true nightmare of We is not its grim picture of society, but the fact that so many of the ciphers, D-503 included, find it a delightful way to live. There are exceptions, however, including the seductive and mysterious I-330 with whom D-503 falls in love. Such attachments are, of course, forbidden, and D-503 is in anguish over his inability to control his feelings.
The style in which We is written is unique and adds substantially to its appeal. D-503, as noted, is a mathematician, and his memoirs rely heavily on the language and metaphors of mathematics. At times, however, it is an outpouring of emotion from someone utterly unused even to the concept of emotions, much less the experience.
We, as one might expect, is a satire against the totalitarian excesses of the new Soviet regime. Both a Communist and a Russian patriot, Zamyatin was astute enough even as early as 1921 to see that the revolution was leading in a direction away from the desires of many of its proponents. But the novel is also a powerful, even shocking statement about out concepts of happiness and freedom.