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ziggyreadz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The writing style was far and away my favorite part of this book. It is surreal and metaphorical to the point of sometimes being obscure, though not flowery. It is entirely based in logic and mathematics, which I feel Zamyatin fully dedicated himself to in this work. It is a thorough aesthetic exploration of a man yearning to be a machine (and failing).
Without spoiling too much, I thought the plot was decently subversive — despite the now familiar beats, I was still on the edge of my seat.
I really enjoyed the fact that D-503 remained an ambiguous character until the end. Most current (American) dystopian novels have the protagonist ideologically convert to being anti-establishment, but D-503 is torn apart by the split between his ideas (allegiance to the One State) and his feelings (I-330). I think this makes the more compelling argument that totalitarianism doesn’t work because you cannot eradicate the basic human need to express emotion and desire to have freedoms, as opposed to convincing the protagonist that it is subjectively/morally wrong.
One other thing I will mention is that there is a black character, R-13, and he is described in a very racist way. Every time he popped up in the book I was cringing.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual content
maddb_96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Some of the concepts I liked were: everything being reduced to mathematics to eliminate harm, dreaming meaning a person is ill, having an imagination being illegal and having to have an operation to remove it, everyone having to live by a timetable and do things at exactly the same time, houses being made of glass so everything was always observed, having to have a pink ticket to have sex with someone (and this being the only time a blind was allowed to be used).
I feel like it had really good potential and some great lines in there but overall I just didn’t feel connected to the story/protagonist. Maybe it was hard to follow bc the protagonist seemed mentally unwell to the point where he didn’t even know who he was and I was confused about why that was and how that played into the story.
Also it seemed racist at points, he kept referring to ‘African lips’ and I get that it was written like 100 years ago but it just made me dislike it even more.
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
blasphemer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Racism and Sexism
katewillread's review against another edition
2.5
Minor: Racism
Published 100 years ago and the racist description of one character in particular is blatant and totally unnecessarymaevedora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
saraaaa's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
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.
Moderate: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy
rosalindgl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
saraaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, and Pregnancy
Minor: Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol
luckypluto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The book is, however, very hard to follow, but that may be an issue with this particular translation; I’d like to sometime read a different translation and see whether it is just as difficult to read.
Minor: Racism
ru_th's review against another edition
- 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.
Minor: Death, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts