We

By: Yevgeny Zamyatin

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Set in the 26th century A.D., Yevgeny Zamyatin's masterpiece describes life under the regimented totalitarian society of OneState, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor." Recognized as the inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-Utopia: a great prose poem detailing the fate that might befall us all if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom. Clarence Brown's brilliant translation is based on the corrected text of the novel, first published in Russia in 1988 after more than 60 years' suppression.

Public Domain (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century." (Irving Howe)

Rough inspiration for 1984

This classic of early science fiction was the prototype for nearly every dystopian novel written since. George Orwell identified We as his inspiration for 1984, and the similarities are obvious.

Yevgeny Zamyatin's "OneState" under its "Benefactor" are not as fully developed as Orwell's Oceania and Big Brother - Zamyatin wanted to represent ideas which were (obviously) allusions to the communist regime that he had to flee, but he didn't go as far as Orwell did in creating a society meant to be believable and similar to our own. Also, the prose (allowing for the translation from Russian) is often clunky, the dialog sometimes laughable, and the plot verges into the absurd. But it is an early work of science fiction and deserves its laurels for inspiring the better novels that came after it.

Besides the obvious dystopian elements of OneState and the iconic figurehead of a "Benefactor," one can also see Orwell's inspiration in the up-is-down, black-is-white logic of OneState, which holds annual elections so everyone can vote in perfect unanimity for the Benefactor and which manages to reify ideas into what Orwell would later call "thoughtctimes."

In OneState, everyone lives in a glass apartment building. Society runs according to strict scientific algorithms, making everyone equal and everything fair. For example, human beings have been freed from lust and jealousy by the simple expedient of making everyone a public good - if you want to have sex with someone, you just put in a request for their number and at an appointed time they will show up to perform their duty.

I can see a few obvious problems with this scheme that even a dystopian police state would have trouble controlling, but again, this book is more of a thought experiment than a carefully designed setting.

Zamyatin's tale of D-503, a scientist/drone whose previously unquestioned loyalty to OneState is suddenly shaken by a desire to get laid by someone sexier than his assigned short, plain, girlfriend O-90, is at heart a fairly typical story that even has a few pulp action scenes at the end. I can see it being an inspiration not only for George Orwell but also Isaac Asimov and other writers of the generation who would have read Zamyatin's novel growing up.

It was interesting to read, but We is very much an artifact of its time, and Zamyatin's writing unfortunately fell flat for me as most Russian writers tend to.

The grand-daddy of all Dystopians

1984 is easily one of my all-time favorite books. So, when I heard that “We” was one of the stories that Orwell read that shaped his Big Brother world, I had to read it. I’m glad that I did.

“We” tells the story of D-503 in the 26th Century. While being written in the 20’s — some of the stories and ideas within “We” are still valid today, while others do feel a bit dated.

I can definitely tell where Orwell picked up some of his dystopian ideas for 1984 within this book — a lot of the plotlines seem similar “Benefactor” vs Big Brother, main male character writing his thoughts down (and ends up writing down thoughts against the world he currently lives in), and the way a girl/woman can pull them from their normal everyday lives to a new and unique life.

The narration is really well done, the book is very flowy until it’s choppy (which makes no sense until I explain it). Basically, the story is a journal from D-503. And sometimes he just stops writing because their leisure time is up, or his thoughts are confused. And others — D-503 writes long and crazy stories about what is happening to him and what is going to happen. It’s a bit crazy, but I really enjoyed it.

Overall, “We” is a must read for those who love dystopians. It’s one of the world’s first — and even though it’s almost 100 years old, a lot of the premises will still give you chills today.

Outstanding performance!

The speaker was amazing! His voice was clear and articulate. There were times when the story dragged a little and was even a bit boring at times. However, the speaker made it interesting to listen too and allowed me to keep going.
The story itself was good. The overall premise of a dystopian world told from a believers point of view was unique to me and this is what set it apart.

Interesting history, prose a little outdated

WE tells the story of the "One State," a sanitized, regimented world in which the individuals ("numbers"...nobody has a name) live sanitized, regimented lives. Rocket scientist D305 lives his clockwork life as expected until he meets and falls in love with the revolutionary I330.

WE is one of the earliest examples of dystopian literature---you can see elements of WE in 1984 (Orwell), Brave New World (Huxley), Anthem (Rand), Player Piano (Vonnegut) and many others.

The story is presented as D305's personal journal. The prose is a bit dated---it was written around 1920 and has very flowery internal narration and not a lot of dialog, and I started to find it getting tedious, until we got close to the end.

The audio book starts with a fairly long and involved history of WE and its publication (and the various translations). Usually, I find such intros boring and low-value, but in this case, I found it helpful.

Grover Gardner's narration is quite good...he doesn't really add anything to the story but he doesn't take anything away, either.

[Footnote: According to Wikipedia, Aldous Huxley denied having read WE before writing Brave New World, but Orwell definitely cited it as a source for 1984.] Of course, all have different themes and draw different conclusions.

Not you, not me, but WE

If you could sum up We in three words, what would they be?

Freedom from imagination

What other book might you compare We to and why?

1984, Brave New World. All three are about modern dystopia.

Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have enjoyed Grover Gardner's performance elsewhere, but I really enjoyed his poem-like presentation in this book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No. I am not easily moved. I weigh 240 lbs.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed reading the precursor to 1984. I enjoyed the story and expected the outcome, but the presentation was fantastic. I enjoyed how the character referred to Ancient Times and wondered why we were so difficult. I loved his explanation of our election process differences. It was a good story that ended too soon.

Wedged between Wells and Orwell, this Russian/English sci-fi dystopian gem …

Wedged between Wells and Orwell, this Russian/English sci-fi dystopian gem unites the wild emotional swings more typically seen in 19th century lit and the despair of losing one’s individualism, typical of later in the 20th century. It was something to see someone’s vision of the future that could include flying cars, but not video surveillance; rocketships, but not pervasive plastic. The “safe city” is built of glass and its citizens still communicate using hand-written notes. The high-tech messages are sent via sound equipment, but nary a photo graces the whole city. The intro giving the history of its publication is worth a listen: written in England by an author born in Russia, published in English in NYC, 1920, then traveling through decades and languages and countries. It was finally published in Russia in its original Russian in 1988.

Orwell was inspired by We for 1984

I find it hilarious that Orwell read and reviewed We before writing 1984. He loved We even accused Huxley of copying it for Brave New World. But it is clear where Orwell got his material from, it's this book so similar in so many ways to 1984, in a different tone and setting. Clear glass walls instead of telscreens no proles, only a perfect mathematical society until D503 is entranced by a woman who doesn't conform to the uniformity. I think it has dethroned 1984 as my favorite book. Worth a read at least to acknowledge where great dystopian literature of the 20th century is inspired by.

Couldn't be more topical . . . great narrator

It's a shame more people don't read "golden age" scifi like this gem. Even in translation from the original Russian, it is a tremendously powerful allegory of the politics of oppression and the dangers of giving up one's freedom for the perception of safety. Couldn't be more topical now, as citizens of the world's mature democracies vote for ever-escalating surveillance and run toward the candidate who promises to keep them "safe" . . . from what, exactly?

[I listened to this as an audio book performed by Grover Gardiner, who did an excellent job of conveying the irony of the book without sacrificing believability]

Orwell and Huxley Ripped Him Off!

Really a 3.5 on story, but sooo ahead of its time, I had to bump it up. Grover Gardner is always great - he and Simon Vance are tied for my #2 behind Jim Dale.
The story does bog down, and get very strange 2nd half - need to listen again. Main thrust is the main characrer's order versus soul battle.

WE are not impressed

Yevgeny Zamyatin may have been the first to write a story like this but I don't buy that robot to lust and jealousy constitutes a soul. It was more like complete control to complete (emotional at least) loss of control.