A review by ablotial
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
4.0
The particular translation I read of this book was by Mirra Ginsburg, and is a somewhat older translation.
I really enjoyed this book. But then, I've often enjoyed books about utopian societies. This one was apparently one of the first, if not THE first to theorize about a supposedly utopian/dystopian society, with 1984 and A Brave New World following in its footsteps.
The book was originally written in Russian, and there were times when I could tell that certain aspects of the book didn't map well from a Russian understanding of the world to mine. Perhaps that is made somewhat smoother in newer translations - but even with the strange wording or... ways of describing things that didn't quite make sense in the context (Most notibly, having a sentence that clearly uses the word "you" but claiming they used "thou" form to indicate rank... which they didn't, they used "you") But anyway...
The soceity is different from the normal view of a utopian society - they view mathematics as the highest and most pure form - they write poems describing the beauty of infinite sequences. They are not people, they are "numbers" - D-503 being the main character, I-330 his love interest... Their main holiday "unanimity day" - in which everyone votes for the same person to continue ruling them as their Benefactor... And the discovery of the location of the Imagination in the brain, which the rulers plan to remove from all numbers. The book begins as the main character writing notes to an alien society to tell them of the wonders and perfection of their beautiful mathematical world, and changes as the novel continues. It's not the most exciting or well-written book ever (though it is probably much better in its original Russian) but is still a great thought-provoking read.
I really enjoyed this book. But then, I've often enjoyed books about utopian societies. This one was apparently one of the first, if not THE first to theorize about a supposedly utopian/dystopian society, with 1984 and A Brave New World following in its footsteps.
The book was originally written in Russian, and there were times when I could tell that certain aspects of the book didn't map well from a Russian understanding of the world to mine. Perhaps that is made somewhat smoother in newer translations - but even with the strange wording or... ways of describing things that didn't quite make sense in the context (Most notibly, having a sentence that clearly uses the word "you" but claiming they used "thou" form to indicate rank... which they didn't, they used "you") But anyway...
The soceity is different from the normal view of a utopian society - they view mathematics as the highest and most pure form - they write poems describing the beauty of infinite sequences. They are not people, they are "numbers" - D-503 being the main character, I-330 his love interest... Their main holiday "unanimity day" - in which everyone votes for the same person to continue ruling them as their Benefactor... And the discovery of the location of the Imagination in the brain, which the rulers plan to remove from all numbers. The book begins as the main character writing notes to an alien society to tell them of the wonders and perfection of their beautiful mathematical world, and changes as the novel continues. It's not the most exciting or well-written book ever (though it is probably much better in its original Russian) but is still a great thought-provoking read.