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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Having become a fan of Ayn Rand, I enjoyed this book.
Great read. Gives some perspective of life under the Soviet Union. Not speculative like Atlas Shrugged but based on Ayn Rand's real life experience. Best fictional story that I have read of hers so far.
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
My first Ayn Rand. I have never been able to tackle the Fountainhead but I enjoyed the dystopian alternate reality that she used for social commentary.
Forgot I read this...as I got a few pages in the story came flooding back! Ayn Rand was great!!.
Good grief, this is not the book I needed to be reading right now. Yet another book with strange linkages to the time we're currently living in. Though the author of this book tells a story of how communism left people bereft of their potential, I can't help but see similarities to how capitalism has done the same thing to people in the United States, leaving them stuck, looking on as rich people sweep past in diamonds and furs. And in this book, the people with dreams and principles and art and life are the ones who wind up trodden into the mud. Blah.
I didn't like this book as much as her others. I still don't agree with her philosophies, but I really enjoyed her writing and story telling in Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Although this book was interesting in that it documents what life was like in Russia at the time of the communist revolution, the story wasn't nearly as compelling.
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....