"We" is a fiction novel which was written by Yevgeny Zamyatin all the way back in 1921. This book is the original dystopian novel. It literally inspired the creation of an entire branch of literature and subsequently a type of entertainment. It is also the spiritual forerunner of some of the most important pieces of literature regarding societal critique within the twentieth century (1984, Brave new World, Atlas Shrugged, etc.).
If this wasn't impressive enough, this novel was written by a Russian author who seems to have predicted the future. The Soviet Union, which had been created a mere year after this book was written in 1922, is very similar to the totalitarian state described in the novel as the Bureau of Guardians.
Overall Rating
⚝⚝⚝ 3.75/5 Good
What This Book is About
This novel is set in a hypothetical future where the whole of human civilization is governed under a single collectivist, totalitarian state. One where individual freedom and agency have almost been completely eradicated. This state is enforced by a secret police unit called the guardians, while the head of the state is run by a person called the benefactor. On one hand, this society can be described as being utopian from the fact that problems such as hunger, pollution, productivity, and discrimination have been completely solved. However, on the other hand, this society is inherently dystopian as any form of dissidence from state mandates or regulation will result in lobotomy, or public execution.
The story itself follows a man who is simply referred to as D-503. He is the main builder of a spaceship called “The Integral'' which will be used to spread the will of the state to other civilizations in the galaxy. He had also started writing several journal entries documenting his life within this society, and his progress on the ship. We, the readers, are going through each of these journal entries chapter by chapter; Reading D-503's inner dialogues and newly found conflicts after meeting a woman named I-330. Over the course of 40 journal entries, we get a vivid picture of D-503's progression from being simply a part of a collective whole of the state, to an individual with a soul.
The entire story seems to be an allegory of humanity within paradise. This futuristic society can be compared to the Garden of Eden, while the citizens of this state (the numbers), can be compared to how man was initially created in God's image; Completely benevolent yet without consciousness. For example, the main character D-503 is a perfect instrument of the state. He is building a ship of unparalleled engineering to further the state's imperialistic goals. He has been molded this way since his birth. However, once Eve (I-330) convinced him to take a bite from the forbidden fruit, he acquired a soul and was now blessed and tormented by his newly found consciousness.
Pros and Cons
PRO -
I absolutely loved the main character’s criticisms of modern society. As the story is set in the distant future, the main character frequently looks back at modern society and points out how ridiculous our way of life is. This is also being done by a character who was raised in a highly advanced, collectivist, totalitarian society. Reading this character unironically spout the virtues of totalitarianism, while simultaneously bashing freedom, was funny at times.
For example, the main character comments on how its funny that we vehemently discourage things such as murder, but don’t attempt to disensentivize unproductivness at all. Murdering someone would equate to ending 50 years of human productivity. However, the collective loss of human productivity, from people not being heavily controlled by the state, would equate to something like 300 million years of wasted productivity annually. These types of inner monologues, where the main character looks at our society from a completely different worldview from ours, were one of the highlights of this novel.
PRO -
The most interesting part of this book was its setting. More specifically, the society itself and its implementation of the table. Every citizen abides by the ‘table’, or a schedule which outlines what everyone should do throughout every minute of the day. Everyone wakes up, eats, goes to work, attends mandatory lectures, and sleeps all at the same time everyday in perfect unison. It would be so cool if a society like this actually existed, just so I could spectate on what this level of efficiency and homogeneity can truly produce. Things such as the Egyptian pyramids, and the Suez Canal were man-made creations from thousands of years ago. Both of which required a type of collective motive to create. Imagine what could be achieved at this level with modern technology.
Additionally, this society doesn't acknowledge our concept of personal autonomy. Everyone's living quarters are composed of rooms which are made of transparent glass; essentially just clear boxes stacked on top of one another in endless rows and columns. Privacy is only granted when having sex with someone, which is also heavily controled by the state. This is done via the use of pink tickets; notes which grants one access to have sex with whoever they want at an assigned time during leisure hours. Also certain women are forbidden from having children based on eugenical guidelines set by the state. It's such a bizarre environment where personal freedom has been completely abandoned, but it really does get you thinking about humanity and what could be.
CON -
The plot of the story, and the world building was executed really well in the first half of the book. I was completely captivated by everything in these chapters. However, things started to get a bit disjointed in the second half of the novel. The overarching story was still there, but some plot points either were unnecessary, didn’t make much sense, or felt off. One section had me thinking that the story was going down a route similar to “Chronicles of Narnia” of all things, while another section felt like a weird space opera. There were also other sections that explored romance, but these points felt a bit forced. The conclusion managed to wrap things up, but it could have been done better.
CON -
The majority of the characters in this novel were pretty dull and unmemorable, besides the main character. This was probably done by design as the individual (you) (me) was not something recognized in this society. Everything was done for the collective whole (we). However, this choice made all of the supporting characters mere background noise. The story would have maybe been better if it focused on a tighter cast as I frequently forgot who most of the characters were and how they were introduced in previous chapters. The fact that everyone is denoted to a mere identification tag didn’t help with this either (I-330, O, R, D-503, S, etc).
Who Should Read This Book?
If you are a fan of the dystopian literary genre, then this is required reading. It inspired countless authors to write similar books to "We" and to expand upon this idea of a failed utopia. Fans of Orwell and Huxley will be thoroughly entertained by the similarities between their respective author's works and this book. It's also just a great classic novel that explores a very weird futuristic scenario that humanity could fall down into. If you're a fan of dystopias, and even science fiction, then this is something to definitely look into.
How I Found Out About This Book
I found out about this novel while reading the book titled “Amusing Ourselves to Death ''. I recently wrote a review on this book as well which can be found HERE. There were several mentions of Huxley and Orwell within this book, which I was already familiar with, but I do remember seeing one mention of Zamyatin as well. Based on its context, this author seemed like just another twentieth century dystopian novelist. Since dystopias are my favorite genre of literature, I noted his name down so that I’ll take a look into his works at some later time.
While looking for new books to read a couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy this one as I'm currently reading books related to STS. “We” seemed like this author's most famous novel so I started with this one. I wanted to see if I liked the author's writing style first before exploring his other works. I had no clue at the time how influential this book actually was, and that it had partially inspired one of my favorite books of all time “Brave new World”. I started reading this book a couple of days ago and just finished reading it yesterday evening.
Where to Read This Book
This book can be purchased on Penguin's website by using the provided link below. Cheaper alternatives of this book can also be found on Amazon, and on Audible for an audio narration (Note that this is not an affiliate link. Try to purchase this wherever is cheapest).
