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( 109,113 ratings, 8,966 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a dystopian novel set in a future totalitarian state where individual freedom is suppressed for the sake of collective harmony. The story follows D-503, a mathematician, who begins to question the rigidly controlled society in which he lives after meeting a rebellious woman. As D-503 grapples with newfound emotions and thoughts, the novel explores themes of individuality and state control.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate dystopian literature exploring themes of individuality, state control, and rebellion. This novel offers a compelling story set in a future society where human emotions and free will are suppressed, and the struggle for personal freedom becomes a profound act of defiance.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a seminal work of dystopian fiction that has sparked imaginations and influenced numerous twentieth-century authors. Set in the distant future, the novel unfolds in OneState, a monolithic glass city where life is governed by logic and reason. Every aspect of existence is regulated by the omnipotent Benefactor, who ensures that citizens live without personal freedom, passion, or agency.

In this meticulously controlled society, D-503, a loyal mathematician and chief engineer of the spaceship Integral, is dedicated to the propagation of OneState's ideology to distant planets. However, his life takes a dramatic turn when he meets the enigmatic and rebellious I-330. She introduces him to a world of emotion, irrationality, and defiance that completely disrupts his orderly life and challenges the very foundations of OneState.

Suppressed in Russia for decades, Zamyatin's dystopian masterpiece not only foretold the extreme measures of control seen in the Soviet Union but also offered a haunting prediction of what future societies might look like. This visionary work was a precursor to George Orwell's 1984 and has had a profound impact on the genre, inspiring writers such as Vladimir Nabokov, Ayn Rand, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Through its innovative use of science fiction, We raises timeless questions about individuality, freedom, and the cost of utopia. The narrative's stark portrayal of life under a totalitarian regime serves as a powerful warning against the dangers of unchecked state control, making it a timeless and relevant read for contemporary audiences.

Whether you're a fan of dystopian literature or new to the genre, We offers a compelling and thought-provoking experience that will resonate long after you've turned the final page.

Series: Penguin Science Fiction

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  • We
    We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a seminal work of dystopian fiction that has sparked imaginations and influenced numerous twentieth-century authors. Set in the distant future, the novel unfolds in OneState, a monolithic glass city where life is governed by logic and reason. Every aspect of existence is regulated by the omnipotent Benefactor, who ensures that citizens live without personal freedom,...
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    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Cat's Cradle
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

We is lauded for its imaginative brilliance and pioneering role as an anti-utopian novel. Ursula K. Le Guin praises it as outstanding science fiction, while Kirkus highlights its impact on Soviet literature and the genre of scientific romance.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241458747

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 August 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Clarence Brown

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 111.0mm

Height: 180.0mm

Weight: 163g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884-1937) was a naval engineer by profession and writer by vocation, who made himself an enemy of the Tsarist government by being a Bolshevik, and an enemy of the Soviet government by insisting that human beings have absolute creative freedom. He wrote short stories, plays and essays, but his masterpiece is We, written in 1920-1921 and soon thereafter translated into most of the languages of the world. Clarence Brown was a pioneer of Russian literature studies and translation. His brilliant translation of We was based on the corrected text of the novel, first published in Russia in 1988 after more than sixty years' suppression.

Also by Yevgeny Zamyatin

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  • We
    The One State is the perfect society, ruled over by the enlightened Benefactor. It is a city made almost entirely of glass, where surveillance is universal and life runs according to algorithmic rules to ensure perfect happiness. And D-503, the Builder, is the ideal citizen, at least until he meets I-330, who opens his eyes to new ideas of love,...
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  • We
    The first modern dystopian novel which inspired both Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World. Special futuristic 3D cover edition! Comes with 3D glasses! As relevant today as when it was first published, We is the first modern dystopian novel which inspired both Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World. The citizens of the One State live in a condition of 'mathematically...
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  • We: New translation
    We takes place in a distant future, where humans are forced to submit their wills to the requirements of the state, under the rule of the all-powerful Benefactor, and dreams are regarded as a sign of mental illness. In a city of straight lines, protected by green walls and a glass dome, a spaceship is being built to spearhead the...
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  • We
    The chilling dystopian novel that influenced George Orwell while he was writing 1984, with a new introduction by Margaret Atwood and an essay by Ursula Le Guin. In a glass-enclosed city of perfectly straight lines, ruled over by an all-powerful "Benefactor," the citizens of the totalitarian society of OneState are regulated by spies and secret police; wear identical clothing; and...
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  • We
    We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, is a classic tale that stands as a forerunner of the dystopian future genre. It depicts a world of passionless, totalitarian control. After a devastating global war involving weapons of mass destruction, only a fraction of humanity survives, living within a single society called the One State, ruled by The Benefactor. Humans are designated by numbers...
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  • We
    The exhilarating dystopian novel that inspired George Orwell's 1984 and foreshadowed the worst excesses of Soviet Russia, featuring a foreword by the National Book Award-winning New Yorker journalist Masha Gessen. Yevgeny Zamyatin's We is a powerfully inventive vision that has influenced writers from George Orwell to Ayn Rand. In a glass-enclosed city of absolute straight lines, ruled over by the...
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