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 are distinguished only by a number assigned to them at birth. That is, until D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul. He can feel things. He can fall in love. And, in doing so, he begins to dangerously veer from the norms of his society, becoming embroiled in a plot to destroy OneState and liberate the city.
Set in the twenty-sixth century AD, We was the forerunner of canonical works from George Orwell and Alduous Huxley, among others. It was suppressed for more than sixty years in Russia and remains a resounding cry for individual freedom, as well as a powerful, exciting, and vivid work of science fiction that still feels relevant today. Bela Shayevich's bold new translation breathes new life into Yevgeny Zamyatin's seminal work and refreshes it for our current era.
Yevgeny Zamyatin's page-turning science fiction adventure, a masterpiece of wit and black humor that accurately predicted the horrors of Stalinism, We is the classic dystopian novel that became the basis for the tales of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Margaret Atwood, among so many others. Its message of hope and warning is as timely at the beginning of the twenty-first century as it was at the beginning of the twentieth.
In the One State of the great Benefactor, there are no individuals, only numbers. Life is an ongoing process of mathematical precision, a perfectly balanced equation. Primitive passions and instincts have been subdued. Even nature has been defeated, banished behind the Green Wall. But one frontier remains: outer space. Now, with the creation of the spaceship Integral, that frontier -- and whatever alien species are to be found there -- will be subjugated to the beneficent yoke of reason.
One number, D-503, chief architect of the Integral, decides to record his thoughts in the final days before the launch for the benefit of less advanced societies. But a chance meeting with the beautiful 1-330 results in an unexpected discovery that threatens everything D-503 believes about himself and the One State. The discovery -- or rediscovery -- of inner space...and that disease the ancients called the soul.
We (1924) is a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Written between 1920 and 1921, the novel reflects its author's growing disillusionment with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War. Smuggled out of the country, the manuscript was translated into English by Gregory Zilboorg and published in New York in 1924.
In a series of diary entries, D-503, an engineer in charge of building the spaceship Integral, reflects on life in the One State. In this totalitarian society, people live within glass structures under direct, constant surveillance by the Benefactor and his operatives. When he is not working on the Integral, D-503 visits with his state-appointed lover O-90 and spends time with his friend R-13, a poet who reads his works at executions. On a walk with O-90, D-503 meets a free-spirited woman named I-330, who flirts with him and eventually convinces him to transgress the rules he has followed his whole life. Although he plans to turn her over to authorities, he cannot bring himself to betray her trust, and begins to have dreams for the first time in his life. Struggling to balance his duty to the state with his strange new feelings, D-503 moves closer and closer to the limits of law and life.
This edition of Yevgeny Zamyatin's We is a classic of Russian literature and dystopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.
With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.
From the stark depictions of rural Russia in 'Provincial Life' to the vivid portrayal of an artillery unit in 'At the End of the Earth', from stories such as 'The Cave' and 'Mamai', describing the terrible conditions endured by the citizens of Petrograd in the years of the civil war, to 'X', a light-hearted, slightly absurdist example of metafiction, through to the sombre tones of the final story in this volume, 'Flood', this collection represents some of the best fiction by the celebrated author of We.
Presented in a brand-new translation by Galya and Hugh Aplin, these stories - long unavailable to English readers - show why Zamyatin's oeuvre as a whole is worthy of greater recognition today, not just for the context it affords readers of his most famous novel, but also for the light it can shed on Russian literature, culture and society of its time - as well as, most importantly, for its own intrinsic merit.We (1924) is a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Written between 1920 and 1921, the novel reflects its author's growing disillusionment with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the Russian Civil War. Smuggled out of the country, the manuscript was translated into English by Gregory Zilboorg and published in New York in 1924.
In a series of diary entries, D-503, an engineer in charge of building the spaceship Integral, reflects on life in the One State. In this totalitarian society, people live within glass structures under direct, constant surveillance by the Benefactor and his operatives. When he is not working on the Integral, D-503 visits with his state-appointed lover O-90 and spends time with his friend R-13, a poet who reads his works at executions. On a walk with O-90, D-503 meets a free-spirited woman named I-330, who flirts with him and eventually convinces him to transgress the rules he has followed his whole life. Although he plans to turn her over to authorities, he cannot bring himself to betray her trust, and begins to have dreams for the first time in his life. Struggling to balance his duty to the state with his strange new feelings, D-503 moves closer and closer to the limits of law and life.
Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.
With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.
1984. Brave New World. A Clockwork Orange. These are the dystopian novels we know. But before these was the Russian masterpiece We, the novel that foreshadowed and influenced them all.
In a glass-enclosed city of absolute straight lines, ruled by the all-powerful Benefactor, the nameless citizens of OneState live without passion or creativity, regulated and watched by their totalitarian masters. Without such order, their leaders claim, happiness is impossible. Freedom brings misery. And the collective we is all that matters. But one day, D-503, a mathematician who dreams in numbers, makes a discovery: he has an individual soul.
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937) was a Russian author of science fiction, philosophy, literary criticism, and political satire, now considered one of the first Soviet dissidents due to his use of literature to both satirize and criticize the Soviet Union's enforced conformity and increasing totalitarianism, as especially found in his highly influential and widely imitated dystopian science fiction novel WE. Set in the 26th century, in a time when individual freedom does not exist and uniformed humans have no names, only assigned numbers, a mathematician, D-503, begins a journal while overseeing the construction of the spaceship Integral for the United State - a sprawling, urban city-state governed strictly by scientific logic and reason, and constructed almost entirely of glass buildings perpetually monitored by a secret police force known as the Bureau of Guardians. However, when D-503 meets the rule-defying I-330, he abruptly discovers through a blooming irrational love that he possesses something that may destroy him: an individual soul.
2020 Reprint of the 1959 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. This edition reprints the first English Language Edition translated by Gregory Zilboorg in 1924 and published by E. P. Dutton in New York. Contains a new introduction by Peter Rudy and a preface by Marc Slonim. The novel describes a world of ostensible harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. George Orwell claimed that Aldous Huxley's 1931 Brave New World must be partly derived from We, but Huxley denied it.
Along with Jack London's The Iron Heel, We is generally considered to be the grandfather of the satirical futuristic dystopia genre. It takes the modern industrial society to an extreme conclusion, depicting a state that believes that free will is the cause of unhappiness, and that citizens' lives should be controlled with mathematical precision based on the system of industrial efficiency created by Frederick Winslow Taylor. The Soviet attempt at implementing Taylorism, led by Aleksei Gastev, may have influenced Zamyatin's portrayal of the One State. It remains a classic nearly one hundred years after publication.
Originally written in Russian in 1920 and first published in English in 1924, We is the dystopian novel by Russian science-fiction writer Yevgeny Zamyatin. We takes place hundreds of years into a bleak future, where the citizens live under the total control and surveillance of a police state, called One State. The country is made almost entirely out of glass, which makes it easier for the government to watch every move of its citizens. One State manages all aspects of the society with a rigid, scientific discipline where art and passion are outlawed. Citizens are expected to march in step, wear the prescribed uniforms, and are only able to refer to each other by their assigned numbers, rather than names. The main character is D-503, a mathematician who lives willingly under One State's strict rules until he meets and falls in love with I-330, a rebel who lives her life with the creativity and lust prohibited and feared by One State. We is widely viewed as the forerunner to such dystopian classics as Brave New World and 1984 and continues to be a fascinating and vivid work of science fiction and social commentary. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937) was a Russian author of science fiction, philosophy, literary criticism, and political satire, now considered one of the first Soviet dissidents due to his use of literature to both satirize and criticize the Soviet Union's enforced conformity and increasing totalitarianism, as especially found in his highly influential and widely imitated dystopian science fiction novel WE. Set in the 26th century, in a time when individual freedom does not exist and uniformed humans have no names, only assigned numbers, a mathematician, D-503, begins a journal while overseeing the construction of the spaceship Integral for the United State - a sprawling, urban city-state governed strictly by scientific logic and reason, and constructed almost entirely of glass buildings perpetually monitored by a secret police force known as the Bureau of Guardians. However, when D-503 meets the rule-defying I-330, he abruptly discovers through a blooming irrational love that he possesses something that may destroy him: an individual soul.
We is a groundbreaking dystopian novel set in the One State, a future society where citizens live in glass buildings under constant surveillance and follow a life governed by logic and precision. D-503, an engineer loyal to the state, begins to question his beliefs after meeting the subversive I-330, sparking inner conflict between his loyalty to the state and his yearning for freedom. Through D-503's journey, the novel explores themes of individuality, control, and the human spirit against an oppressive, logic-driven society.
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin holds a significant place in literary history as one of the earliest dystopian novels, influencing later classics like 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Written in 1920, We was the first novel banned by the Soviet censorship board, illustrating Zamyatin's bold critique of totalitarianism and the dangers of an overly controlled society. Its portrayal of an oppressive regime, constant surveillance, and the suppression of individuality provides a powerful cautionary tale that resonated with readers and writers under repressive regimes throughout the 20th century, establishing We as a foundational work in the dystopian genre.
We is an earth shattering dystopian novel that ruffled the feathers of the ruling elite of Russia when it was smuggled out of the country and published in English in 1924. It would not see publication in Russia until 1988. As a result of Yevgeny Zamyatin's treatment over the novel he left Russia.
We is set in the twenty six century were a totalitarian government rules the world. Every citizen has all of their needs completely taken care of. But the price is a life without passion, creativity, or adventure. Cities are made of glass to aid the government's surveillance of its people. Citizens are given numbers rather than names to discourage individuality. But resentment and anger seethe just beneath the surface of the citizenry's polite veneer. It is time for someone to strike a blow for individuality and freedom. A fast paced adventure novel with a message that reverberated down through history.
Brave New World, Anthem, 1984, and Player Piano all owe an enduring debt to We. Of writing Player Piano Kurt Vonnegut said I cheerfully ripped off the plot of Brave New World, whose plot had been cheerfully ripped off from Yevgeny Zamyatin's We.
The first anti-utopian novel ever written, We is a satire on life in a dystopian future society called One State. People are ruled by the Benefactor and policed by the Guardians. They conform to supremely rational, precise rules that govern every aspect of their personal lives-from having numbers rather than names to living in glass buildings that enable mass surveillance. D-503, a mathematician, finds himself deviating from prescribed norms after meeting I-330, a woman involved in a secret plan to destroy the One State. After We was banned by the Soviets in 1921 it was published for the first time in English in 1924. The forerunner of such canonical works as 1984 and Brave New World, We is as urgent and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago.
E. M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops takes place in a future where humans have lost the ability to live on the surface of the earth. Individuals live underground and rely entirely on an omnipotent, global Machine for all bodily and spiritual needs. A heretic who is punished for his deviant behavior nonetheless insists that the Machine, which humans have come to worship, shows ominous signs of breaking down.