We: The New Translation for the XXI Century

SarahRaeleft a comment

Linda S. Farne’s translation of Yevgheniy Zamyatin’s “We” examines the power of culture and its influence over quintessentially human behavior. It describes the future world of the United Nation, a sterile civilization protected from the natural world by the Green Wall. Throughout the novel, the sense of self is an unexplainable pang of frustration: inherent and yet contrary to social harmony.

fufuakaspeechlessleft a comment

Absolutely brilliant. We is the story of a future in which the citizens of a society, known as "digits", all maintain the same mindset: allegiance to the Do-Gooder. In this world, everyone stays inside the Green Wall, everyone wears a uniform, and everyone wakes and sleeps at the same time. Everything is mathematical; the "chaos" of past music has been refined to something more precise. The digits have no problem with this way of living, including digit D-503, the story's protagonist. When D-503 meets I-330, a seductive woman determined to defy the rules, she will introduce D-503 into a world he never imagined. One of the more disturbing aspects of this book is the way everyone willingly goes along with whatever they are told, based on the belief that the Do-Gooder is always right. They simply agree with everything they are told. Total, absolute control...it's a bit scary to think about. This book is an excellent warning against totalitarianism, a must-read. We deserves more acclaim than it has been given; in fact, I think it is just as good as 1984. Definitely take the time to buy and read it. You won't be disappointed.