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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If I could rate higher than a 5, I would.
Through the One State, we see how being stripped of individuality and submitting to hyper surveillance is (I believe obviously) less than fucking ideal. The thought of “we” without “I” is antithetical to the human experience (we need psychology to understand sociology and vice versa, right?). But as it goes, the pendulum swings hard in the opposite direction for our protagonist and good god does Zamyatin do all of this so poetically. There are moments of D-503 discovering himself and the feelings he’s been deprived of and the language used to describe a new experience of a sunrise, for instance, is unbelievably beautiful, albeit simple. “In the morning, the sun is rosy, transparent, warm gold. And the air itself is a little rosy, all steeped in the sun’s gentle blood.” His use of language is childlike in its innocence of using blood to represent saturation rather than violence (or maybe it is violent to him—saturation—when all he’s known is grey). And throughout following logs, our mathematician spirals into anger and softness and self-righteousness and regret and the whole gamut of how wonderful and painful it is to feel.
Zamyatin writes self discovery and the search for liberation in a dystopia so romantically. And he beautifully bleeds that romance into a first experience of love turned obsession because of the inability to emotionally regulate after having no allowance for feeling in this world of logic for generations. And if I could say more without spoiling this beautiful heartache of a book, I would.
Unfortunately, there are (as expected in 1921 from a white man) a couple of moments of racism and misogyny. And while it doesn’t make them more appealing, I’m *shocked* there weren’t more.
Through the One State, we see how being stripped of individuality and submitting to hyper surveillance is (I believe obviously) less than fucking ideal. The thought of “we” without “I” is antithetical to the human experience (we need psychology to understand sociology and vice versa, right?). But as it goes, the pendulum swings hard in the opposite direction for our protagonist and good god does Zamyatin do all of this so poetically. There are moments of D-503 discovering himself and the feelings he’s been deprived of and the language used to describe a new experience of a sunrise, for instance, is unbelievably beautiful, albeit simple. “In the morning, the sun is rosy, transparent, warm gold. And the air itself is a little rosy, all steeped in the sun’s gentle blood.” His use of language is childlike in its innocence of using blood to represent saturation rather than violence (or maybe it is violent to him—saturation—when all he’s known is grey). And throughout following logs, our mathematician spirals into anger and softness and self-righteousness and regret and the whole gamut of how wonderful and painful it is to feel.
Zamyatin writes self discovery and the search for liberation in a dystopia so romantically. And he beautifully bleeds that romance into a first experience of love turned obsession because of the inability to emotionally regulate after having no allowance for feeling in this world of logic for generations. And if I could say more without spoiling this beautiful heartache of a book, I would.
Unfortunately, there are (as expected in 1921 from a white man) a couple of moments of racism and misogyny. And while it doesn’t make them more appealing, I’m *shocked* there weren’t more.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i read this for one of the classes I TA for, and i enjoyed it! it took a second to get into and understand, but after a while (and a TA seminar and MANY litchart inquiries) i got the gist :) i know this book was the inspo for 1984, and i can see why. also, this is my first translated novel i have read. yay!
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
George Orwell is a thief who seems to have misunderstood the thing he stole
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes