Reviews with content warning for Death - We

It's a great book. One of the first of its kind. This novel was written between 1919 and 1921. Huxley claimed to have not read it before the publication of Brave New World; George Orwell, on the other hand, read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, so it's safe to say it might have been of inspiration for 1984.
Although this reads more similar to Animal Farm, with its bitter irony, facing the readers with the cold hard truth of the situation and letting them come to a conclusion fn their own. A fine piece of literature, in this sense.
It's full of mathematical and even biblical references, but nothing too hard for the common reader, and offers some brilliant, very modern philosophical and sociological considerations – truly a book that makes you think.
There were some racist descriptions and misogynistic observations that made me physically wince – were the prejudices really so engraved in Zamjatin's head that he couldn't imagine they would have not persisted in a culture 900 years into the future?
Apart from this, it was almost funny to note how technologically "backwards" (though I hate this term) such a culture was if compared to ours, just a century after the novel was written. Really puts into perspective how much has been discovered and invented in so little time, and how unexpected this development must've been.
But back to the book. I'd say by the end of story, it gets almost unbearably slow – otherwise it's a very quick read –, but I guess I have to take into account that this was a reread for me. Still, I highly recommend it – has to be read at least once in a lifetime.

Content Warnings

saraaaa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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ru_th's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I feel myself. But it’s only the eye with a lash in it, the swollen finger, the infected tooth that feels itself, is conscious of its own individual being. The healthy eye or finger or tooth doesn’t seem to exist. So it’s clear, isn’t it? Self-consciousness is just a disease.

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silvermist's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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belleanndthebook's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is the classic dystopian and predecessor to 1984 and Brave New World that you have never heard of because it wasn’t written in English and banned in it’s mother country, Russia. If you are a fan of these dystopian classics, I cannot recommend reading this one enough. Personally, as a fan of these classics as well as the more modern dystopian novels like The Hunger Games, I absolutely enjoyed reading this and seeing where the origin of so many of the cornerstone ideas of the dystopian genre came from.

I would absolutely recommend the edition of We by Ecco released in 2021. It featured Bela Shayevich’s translation as well as footnotes, which added brief, yet incredibly interesting, context like where historical racial attitudes/stereotypes affected the portrayal of certain characters in the story. This edition also had an introduction written by Margaret Atwood and an essay written by George Orwell, which only served to add to the context of this novel as a classic in light of the more modern dystopian genre.

Stream-of-conciousness perspectives are not my favorite, so I also would recommend the audiobook by Louise Brealey and Toby Jones for the incredible voice-acting, which made one of my least favorite styles of narration more interesting. Additionally, thanks to NetGalley for an ebook arc!

Content Warnings

teresareads's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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