We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (Book Review)

[@untitledsong7963]

as a russian, that's really cool to see such a great and thoughtful review! I've read this book fully only recently and came to search if it's any popular abroad, because here in russia Zamyatin is really in the same line with Orwell and Huxley, so it surprised me, that you haven't heard of this author before :( anyway, that's wonderful that the book is getting a little more popularity now, i think it truly deserves world recognition 🥰

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thank you so much for your thoughts here. I hadn’t heard of this author before but I’m so glad I read this book. I’ve loved Russian authors and want to read more especially current ones. Any recommendations of ones you can share please?

[@genseek00]

​@@LifeLessonsFromBooksI highly recommend Pelevin. But none of his recent books. The ones from the 90s and beginning of the 00s. Buddha Little Finger and Generation P are two great ones.

[@Photonetheous]

As someone who has studied Soviet history and as a history major, I can confirm that Yevgeny Zamyatin was not necessarily writing about the Soviet Union in his novel *We* . The Soviet Union as a state came into existence in December 1922, while *We* was published in 1920-1921. Therefore, the views you might associate with the Soviet Union did not exist in 1920-1921. At that time, what existed was the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), which was embroiled in a civil war. Please do not misunderstand me, but this exemplifies how misconceptions about the Soviet Union are prevalent in the West. The Soviet Union was never a uniform, monolithic state. When people think about the Soviet Union, they often reference the period from 1927 to 1953 under Joseph Stalin. However, Zamyatin wrote his book before this period, without fully knowing what the Soviet Union would become. During the civil war, the government in the RSFSR was not identical to the one depicted in *We*. I am not suggesting that it was better, but rather that Zamyatin wrote about something that would occur relatively soon without realizing it.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing this as I appreciate the clarification. Yes, I certainly see how we are already on the path towards surveillance and control and the themes he wrote in this book. It’s a book for this time that’s for sure.

[@NorthonBruce]

The book shows deep understanding by Zamyatin of his contemporary ideas of communism that were baked in events predating USSR, while it's not a depiction of USSR it's a thought experiment based on brutal realities of the time. CheKa and political persecution predates USSR, let me remind it.

[@radroatch]

You can look at the book as response to the currents of modernism, and Russian literature such as 'What Is To Be Done', instead of in purely historical events, that you're right to say were yet to be played out. Russian Materialism, a philosophical political movement, called for us to move to a perfected rational age, turning away from faith in god, but towards a heaven on earth though scientific and societal progression -- The Idealists end of history. Expanding rational understanding to every aspect as a solution. The Crystal Palace, a massive transparent glass structure, was a big symbol of the modernist movement at large. Doystevski, mentioned in We, critiques the pitfalls of this in his work. How this rationalism doesn't account for fundamental human drives that give substance to our existence, and will alway premiate society. D530 struggle with irrationals comes from this. You could even read We as being as satirical as Notes From The Underground, another journal based work. Still today these tendencies, such as sciencism and technocracy, are prevalent and often framed as 'the good' even though they are inherently, in large part, despotic and juxtaposed with freedom, like we see in the One State.

[@spb4455]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks You said a very interesting thought. They want to build a spaceship and spread their state, as in Russian communism. It is interesting to listen to this and know the history, realizing that the West is constantly engaged in expansion. And not only by military means, but also by cultural and economic means. Even religions. As soon as someone in the West realized that there was some land that the West had not yet used, missionaries sailed there. Did Buddhists from Asia often do this?

[@spb4455]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks P.S. Even communism was invented in the West.

[@reaganwiles_art]

Military, science, business, books- NEXT IS THE WORLD! This sounds so horrifying, I cannot go there: 1984 once, Brave New World, once, We-never! However I will read holocaust narratives/memoirs. i dont seek them out but if one lands under my nose I typically pick it up. That said, I've just finished an short, unusual book about an experience in concentration camps called Fateless by Imre Kertész (Hungarian); he was in three camps for a total of a year when he was 14 years old. This is a book of fiction, but it has many elements of his own experience. Highly recommended. Thanks for the life lesson.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thank you! I appreciate you watching and sharing your thoughts and recommendations. I recently read Night by Elie Wiesel who recounted his experiences at a concentration camp. I find these books more confronting to be honest. WE was an interesting one though and I’d like to find the movie somewhere to watch this sometime.

[@Reymklsn]

Great review! 🎉 Even tho it looks like Orwell practically stole some of its plots, I still added it to my tbr to see what's what.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thank you!!

[@ss-de4cm]

Good review, very informative keep it up 💯

[@DannyPoet]

I just rediscovered this book in an old pile :) the first few pages are fascinating :)) nice to hear a good desc of this awesome classic

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Enjoy reading it!

[@genseek00]

Thank you for this video! I am a native Russian speaker and I read We when I was in early teenage years. I am very surprised that you found the language difficult. I remember the book as a very easy read. Especially compared to other Russian (classic) literature. Thus, most likely, the difficulty was introduced by the tramslator. That is too bad. Perhaps an interesting fact is that Zamyatin contemplated the book after learning about conveyor belt and very narrow specializations of the workers at the Ford production facilities. When he started writing this book, the communism was quite the opposite -- it brought many freedoms to people (in particular, Soviet Russia was the second country in the whole western world where women may vote). Later it became the communism we all know. It was around the time We was fiished. Of course, We looked as an obvious critique of the communism. Thus, it had not been published in Russian for a very long time.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Ah thank you for this information. Yes, it would have definitely been how it was translated. However it’s one of my best books I’ve read this year! Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts. Happy reading! 📚😊

[@malice4422]

I read this last month and thought it was pretty choppy and all over the place but also filled with beautiful prose and intriguing ideas. I think about it all the time lately and thats why I searched for this video. It really stuck with me, and it feels so relevant today. Also, I think that choppy, half-finished style of writing makes it feel more like a personal, visceral experience, and less like a story that you watch come about. Anyways, thats my take.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Wonderful. Thank you for your observation and feeling about this book. It was choppy but there was something about it that made you stick with it because of the “feel” of the book and the protagonists and what they were going through. Also for me, there was a level of awe given that it was written so long ago. You respect those writers and books who wrote science fiction long before the technology we know today and yet, the sentiments are exactly relevant today. I’m often left thinking, “what would they have thought of today’s world? Their predictions turned out the way they imagined it more or less”.

[@malice4422]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks Yeah I completely agree. I couldn’t tell if it was just a bias I have for the past but there seems to be a looming and prophetic meaning to work like this. The future he anticipated 100 years ago is now become closer to reality each day. We have mass surveillance, our phones literally listen in on us and personally advertise us stuff.. we have phones and social media that numb our perspective on reality.. suicide rates are increasing etc. It’s hard not to think what these fortune tellers of the past would have thought of today…

[@asmaloney]

I read two different translations of We many years ago. I remember one feeling like you described, and the second flowing a lot better. It could also be that the second time around I had a better grasp of the narrative which made it easier. Anyway - loved this book & would recommend trying a different translation!

[@readingthe20thcentury]

I enjoyed this review a lot! I've just finished reading 'We' and agree with a lot of your analysis, especially that it's a reminder that all of your favourite authors took their inspiration from somewhere. Atwood from Orwell, Orwell from Zamyatin, Zamyatin from Kafka, Verne...? Considering 'We' and '1984': I think Zamyatin's book is more difficult, but also more rewarding. It's a more 'literary' text, the narrative style is different to Orwell's, and that makes for a very different reading experience, even if the content is very, very similar in places. 'We' has that 1920s modernist/expressionist thing going on, it doesn't strive to tell you exactly what is happening at every moment. In places it's almost stream of consciousness style: you get the protagonist-narrator's diary entries, and it's kind of up to you to work out exactly what's going on. (If you haven't read it yet, don't be put off by this! It's not that hard, I'm just comparing to Orwell's style which is quite plain and straightforward to read.)

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Wonderful. A great way to explain the style of this book and why it’s so good. Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts. 😊

[@sodives]

Where did you get the clips of the 2021 film? Where can I watch the film? I've looked everywhere and cannot find anywhere to buy or watch it.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

I got it from the trailer kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2fOm2mim7eVfdE - I want to find the film too because I'd love to see it.

[@DefaultName-nt7tk]

Sounds like North Korea. I read the book "The Orphan Master's Son" by Adam Johnson who based his novel on his experience in North Vietnam. You might be interested in checking it out if you haven't yet already. Great review as always ❤

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thank you! Yes, I’d be interested in this as I’ve been curious to learn what life in North Korea is like.

[@RevengeoftheEnts]

Similar to you, I picked it up based on a quote i read by Ursula K LeGuin: “The single best science fiction book to this day”

[@jesicasuparo]

I m trying to finish this book, it kind of flattens in the middle of it, right? It reminds me of Brave New World too. Personally, I'm a big fan of the genre. I also read that he couldn't get it published in Russia. I think that the main concept is that happiness, as conceived in this book equals the lack of choice /freedom. What's is freedom if not the opportunity to choose. The fact that the author (can't pronounce it either) equals both, has a lot to say about the times the book was written. Thanks for your review!

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yeah it’s not an easy read that’s for sure but you can see how it inspired Orwell and his book. No wonder he couldn’t publish it in Russia probably would have landed him in jail with the message he was espousing at the time.

[@madontherun]

The piano recital where the whole audience laugh as if its an absurd joke is a great moment in the book.

[@DefaultName-nt7tk]

Sorry, meant North Korea not Vietnam.

[@Salman_Saho]

FINALLY- someone with a proper British accent (who also knows what they’re taking about) engaging in some literary analysis? 😊

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

British? Proper? Thank you. 🤣 I had to chuckle with that. It’s the Australian accent.

[@Salman_Saho]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks lol oh yeah, upon a second hearing I noticed the difference. Still better than the American accent 😂

[@mwont]

The books like is almost same like 1984 by orwell, but better.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Admittedly, I also liked this book a lot too! Happy reading :-)

[@BlackPepper77]

halp I'm still here

[@genseek00]

Thank you for this review! I hope it is okay if I give you a compliment: you look very beautiful, I dare to say hot! (I am quite a bit yonger than you, I suppose though.) Also you have a great accent. Loved listening to this review in your accent.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Ha ha! Thank you. I’m always surprised when people comment on my accent. What accent?! 🤣

[@genseek00]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks thanks for accepting my compliment without getting offended. Cheers my lady. I was born in Moscow (unfortunately, ha-ha) and when people said I had a Muscovite accent, my reaction was akin to that of yours: accent? What accent? P.S. I left a recommendation to one of my favorite contemporary Russian writers under one of your comments to this video. Enjoy!

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Thanks I'll check them out. Much appreciated :-)

[@genseek00]

@@LifeLessonsFromBooks enjoy. I forgot to mention, that Buddha's Little Finger sometimes is translated as Clay Machinegun.

[@LifeLessonsFromBooks]

Fab! Thanks, I'll check out his works.