justinhutchins's Full Review: Evgenii Ivanovich Zamiatin and Clarence Brown - We
A few years before Brave New World, and decades before 1984, We was written. Not a whole lot of people new this,
because it was not published in Russia. It was, however, translated, and you can bet that both Mr. Huxley and Mr. Orwell read this book before they created their brilliant dystopias.
WE is a fantastic philosphic look at civilization, at the individual, at the tension between happiness and freedom. It follows
in the Russian tradition of writers like Dostoyevsky. Indeed, it is the ideas in the book that are much more important to the
author then the art of the story and language. The story is written in a diary format. There are many advantages to this format,
however, at times, the narrator's self concsiousness about not knowing who he is writing to gets in the way. Zamvatin seema
unwilling to let the sotry go; he is always bringing the reader to attention that they are reading a book which is supposed
to be about a man in the distant future. While this has its advantages in the respect that it brings home the points the author
wishes to express, it also stops the rythm and motion of the story.
However, where the book succeeds is in the questions it raises about the state and ideal of civilization. The world of WE,
from our perspective, is terrifying, all the more because we have seen governments not that far of come to power, and because
we can see parrellels to it with many modern day ideologies around the world, including those in the United States.
Those that are most likely to appreciate the book though, are people who have read and loved 1984 and Brave New World.
We needs to be read along with these two books, and not only for the connections in theme. There are not only numerous parrelas
thematically that tie these novels together, but structurally as well. While reading WE, the reader can see where some other characters
and situations in the later book came from. Indeed, there are so many parrellels to these three books, two English and one
Russian, that they really should be read together. Each author looks boldly in the face to a nightmare they are afraid of
coming true, and each nightmare is different. All three authors have drastically different concerns. However, what is really
amazing is what these authors all agree on, on the similar type of disruptions and emotions that break down these civilizations.
In all three, there is such a thing as a natural human spirit. In all three, the power of love is perhaps the greatest power
of all.
We is not a book that should be forgotten. It is one of those rare forms of entertainment. A piece of art, full of ideas and warnings, while at
the same time being extremely entertaining and amusing.
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