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Fabian's Reviews > We
We
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Sci-fi's in my top 3 least favorite fiction genres. However, this one is thankfully not Brave New World, has traces of madness and poetry both, and possesses the Waltmanesque quality of being organic, though the theme of Dystopian Machinery should be inevitably super-structured. The protagonist's POV is impressive. As builder of a space ship that will provide aliens (or: us) with an account of the glass metropolis (see: communism), he transitions from zombie troglodyte to someone infected with a "soul." This was one of the "landmark" classics of science fiction, and along with the aforementioned "World" (sorry, just not a fan) & 1984 (haven't read it) makes up a celebrated trilogy.
The protagonist becomes human & his confusion infuses the work with a sense of wonderment, of a certain etherealness. There are events that both the reader and the hero do not fully understand, and this is my favorite thing about this work. Some things are overexplained, others oversimplified. That nouns are described geometrically and in terms of mathematics is quite a unique interpretation of the fall of a machine society. Well beyond its time, this is tellingly an important brick in the wall of the Global Lit/ Sci-Fi fortress.
The protagonist becomes human & his confusion infuses the work with a sense of wonderment, of a certain etherealness. There are events that both the reader and the hero do not fully understand, and this is my favorite thing about this work. Some things are overexplained, others oversimplified. That nouns are described geometrically and in terms of mathematics is quite a unique interpretation of the fall of a machine society. Well beyond its time, this is tellingly an important brick in the wall of the Global Lit/ Sci-Fi fortress.
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February 10, 2009
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February 11, 2009
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Zamyatin was an interesting character. He was an early adherent to Bolshevism and found success as a naval architect. In Soviet literary circles, he was perhaps best known for his 1931 letter to Stalin requesting permission to go abroad since he couldn't write in the USSR. After the intercession of Maxim Gorki, he and his wife emigrated to Paris. Here his letter to Stalin:
Fabian, "We" is the essential first, but ultimately least of the trilogy. "World", to me, would be the one, should you want to stretch.Manray9, great link; thanks!
This is my favourite of the "big three" dystopian novels. I didn't think that Brave New World" aged well when I reread it recently. 1984 is OK, but I think that "We is the greatest. Your opinion could be influenced by the translation - unless, like one reader on Amazon, you learned Russian so that you could read this in the original. I first read the Mirra Ginsburg translation, then I sampled a few other edition with different translators, and now have the edition translation translated by Gregory Zilboorg. To me, this is the most readable edition. Nooilforpacifists, my favourite Huxley is "Island".
Thank you guys. I really must infuse more sci-fi in my reading life...
Great review of a book I know I ought to read.Terri wrote: "I'll pass this on to my husband. he loves sci fi. Have you read Galapagos by Vonnegott?...."
I second that recommendation. It's no sci-fi, but post-apocalyptic, with plenty of humour!
I will tackle Galapagos soon. Just ordered it from the Denver Library. Thanks Cecily!
Yess, ethereal indeed. I loved this book, and it saddens me that it's much less known than other dystopias that were actually inspired from it.
I read this book in college for a course on Authoritarian and Totalitarian systems. Have to admit this was totally unknown to me at the time, but I've recommended it since.
Cecily wrote: "Great review of a book I know I ought to read..."And now that I have, I can endorse your review from a position of shared knowledge and admiration for the book.
Enjoyed our lunch! Let me know about Canutillo....