Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I still consider The Fountainhead my favorite Rand work, but We The Living definitely cuts close. As her first novel, it's less preachy and more about the story and the characters than the philosophy. In her words, it is as closest as she ever got to an autobiography. This book sealed my love for Ayn Rand, because it made me understand her, as a person- her passion, her strength, her determination to be her own person. It also gave me what is undoubtedly an accurate history lesson in Communism and Russian pride, which i find truly fascinating. The story is beautiful and heartbreaking in its closeness to reality when it comes to love. And what an epic ending. I think everybody should read this book. And no one should be able to criticize Rand until they've read it.
Robbed of another good review when GR gets hung up. When will I ever learn?? Oh well, you could just read Chrissie's review a second time to get the gist of it....
The story of a woman living through the rise of communism in St. Petersburg. As someone who knows pitifully little about communism or history in general, not having been much of a history buff back when they were teaching it to me, I found it educational and a good story at the same time.
Read this book a few years back. Couldn't relate to any of the motivations of the lead character Kira. This book justified my personal belief felt that women characters are the weakest link in Ayn Rand's novels.
I have finally finished the Ayn Rand tomes. :-p This one may be the most interesting/least distracting of the four. I think I appreciated it more because of it's closeness to actual historical happenings. It was still a horribly depressing book of people trying and trying and failing. Of the danger of Communism and the battle between The Party and of man's personal ambition. It's all there, and it was riveting in parts, but as with all of her books, there is no light. There's not a sense of redemption, of triumph, of happiness, of anything positive or hopeful. They just make me more or less sad and like she's come close but missed the mark, somehow.
Actually a 3.5 stars book. Many times I though "this is great" and then I would get to a section that just dragged. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
At some point I lost sympathy for the main character. While her moral choices left much to be desired for me, they were justified to some extent. What we do for love, right? Well, love. I couldn't understand Kira's unwavering affection for a boy who had no respect for her at all.
Ayn Rand is known to hate communists. For her, individualism was the biggest value and it shows in this book, especially in the portrayal of the main character, Kira.
Kira didn't care about politics. She only did what she really wanted and wasn't afraid to fight for it. Unlike most of women, she wanted to be an engineer. She lived with her lover without marriage, against her parents will. She wasn't afraid to approach communists to ask for mercy for her loved one.
Andrej Taganov was a supporting character and he was a contrast to Kira. With a working class background, he deeply believed in the Red Revolution. Although he was a communist, his attitude and motivation were well-founded without taking away from his human nature. Like Kira, he only did what he believed in, but his beliefs were different because of his life experiences. He was my favorite character.
I read the ending in one breath and I must say that I was overthinking it for 2 days. When I picked this book, I knew that it was not an easy rom-com, but I felt disturbed.
Ayn Rand is known to hate communists. For her, individualism was the biggest value and it shows in this book, especially in the portrayal of the main character, Kira.
Kira didn't care about politics. She only did what she really wanted and wasn't afraid to fight for it. Unlike most of women, she wanted to be an engineer. She lived with her lover without marriage, against her parents will. She wasn't afraid to approach communists to ask for mercy for her loved one.
Andrej Taganov was a supporting character and he was a contrast to Kira. With a working class background, he deeply believed in the Red Revolution. Although he was a communist, his attitude and motivation were well-founded without taking away from his human nature. Like Kira, he only did what he believed in, but his beliefs were different because of his life experiences. He was my favorite character.
I read the ending in one breath and I must say that I was overthinking it for 2 days. When I picked this book, I knew that it was not an easy rom-com, but I felt disturbed.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love this book. I love how it is written and the message. Powerful and empowering.