Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884–1937)

'We", a 1924 novel by Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin, is a classic work of science fiction. I'm attempting to read a lot of science fiction classics as I spent the first forty or so years of my life rarely reading this genre, so I'm making up for lost time. Some of the famous works I've read have been brilliant. "We" is not one of them.

I was dreadfully bored by this novel, and I occasionally drummed up enough interest to be repusled by its plot. The book is narrated by D-503, who is writing a diary to be taken aboard the spaceship he has designed, and which is called Intrepid. The space craft is going to be sent to other worlds to subjective the inhabitants under the rule of the Great Benefactor, who is the leader of the planet upon which D-503 resides.

Everything in life has been subdued by mathematics and geometry. All things occur at the right time, the right place, and in constant subjugation to the Great Benefactor. It is a world upon which people have been rendered to be little else but machines. But, fatally, D-503 has illicit sexual relations with the temptress I-330, and in so doing, acquires a soul, something that was extirpated from the human body long ago. It is, in fact, illegal to have a soul, and the potential for being tortured and put to death because of it is the fear that D-503 dwells upon after his fall from the metaphorical Eden.

It has taken me a month, on and off, to get through this inexpressibly tedious novel, which is, after all, only 230 pages long, but seemed interminable. I gave it two stars instead of one because I respect the effect that the book had on dystopian fiction as a whole; it is considered heavily influential, and I could see the new ideas of post-apocalyptic fiction in its nascent form. I am very glad to be able to put this book down at last.… (altro)

Over the last two or three weeks, I’ve read three dystopian novels, each depicting society in different ways. The common thread connecting them is the loss of individuality, reduction in human thought, coupled with complete control by an unknown master, or set of masters.
“We” preceded “Brave New World” and “1984.” Banned in Russia, it gained a cult following in the West for its portrayal of a dystopian world in which citizens are only ciphers. The ‘United State’ has taken over the world, and a God-like dictator called ‘the Benefactor’ rules, using a team of people called ‘the Guardians’ to control people.
The Benefactor and the Guardians desire citizens’ interests to always be subservient to the state’s needs, even eliminating their names, privacy, and emotional relationships. Our hero is D-503, his assigned sexual partner ‘is O-90, and life seems perfect. Free will does not exist, with the state regulates your time to the minute. Everyone lives in rooms without privacy (unless they engage in pre-scheduled sex, when the curtains come down). D-503 is a mathematician, building the state’s spaceship, the Integral. The Benefactor intends to conquer the universe, and encourages the ciphers to write journals, to prove to the residents of other planets that the way of the United State is superior to all other ways of living.
Trouble starts when D-503 meets a woman called I-330, who flirts with him, pushes him to have a passionate affair with her, and then takes him to a place called ‘the Ancient Room.’ She soon reveals that she belongs to an organization called ‘MEPHI.’ The plan is for her, and D-503 to hijack the Integral, and free the untamed, hairy people living beyond ‘the Green Wall.’
I will stop here.
The book is short and written in the of a diary. D-503 calls each entry a ‘record’, and forty records comprise the telling of the tale. Yevgeny wrote the book in the style of ‘stream of consciousness’ writing, which suits the story perfectly. We gaze deep into the mind of D-503, as he wrestles with his conflicting desires for I-330 and his regulated life.
Who wins in the end? Does D-503 succumb to the state, and a mindless life controlled by an implacable dictator, or does he escape to freedom? Every totalitarian state wants to stamp out every form of individual freedom, even free thought. The ‘stream of consciousness’ style may disturb many readers because it does not fit the norms of smooth narrative. Yet, a discerning reader will identify with this style because it mirrors the way our brains work, especially in a frenzy.
Read this brilliant, disturbing book, then read ‘Brave New World’ and ‘1984.’… (altro)