We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn't like this book particularly, but I was impressed by it and I see how it might have influenced both Orwell and Atwood who have essays about it included in the edition I read. This latest translation was done by Bela Shayevich.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn't like this book particularly, but I was impressed by it and I see how it might have influenced both Orwell and Atwood who have essays about it included in the edition I read. This latest translation was done by Bela Shayevich.
"In a glass-enclosed city of perfectly straight lines, ruled over by an all-powerful “Benefactor,” the citizens of the totalitarian society of OneState are regulated by spies and secret police; wear identical clothing; and are distinguished only by a number assigned to them at birth. That is, until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul. He can feel things. He can fall in love. And, in doing so, he begins to dangerously veer from the norms of his society, becoming embroiled in a plot to destroy OneState and liberate the city." --GoodReads
I'm not sure exactly what I didn't like about it, I think it was the disjointedness of the plot and that only the main character had any depth.
The story is structured as a diary, with log entries intended to be read by the beings on another planet to whom it will be delivered by the amazing machine D-503 is building for the OneState. This structure was very effective for the story as it showed clearly the unravelling and regrouping of our narrator as different things happened.
"A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't even be worth reading.”
This is definitely a novel worth reading and is on my Classics Club list.
I am glad you reviewed this. It is on my list of potential dystopian novels to read, and your review gives me a better idea of what to expect.
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