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challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wish this had been taught to me alongside Brave New World & 1984.
Written well before both of those, We is hauntingly similar to both books and yet isn't canonically included as a foundational text of the political dystopian genre. But it obviously should be: we have a cold surveillance state, a frightening definition of happiness, and pressure for conformity.
This book made me greatly reflect on the self-optimization we're being sold. I get instagram ads for an AI that'll auto-set a schedule for me, so that I can be extremely efficient in my work, social commitments, healthy habits... The characters in this book live by the clock and by a strict regimen. You do this task between these hours. You have one hour of personal time from 5 to 6pm. Everything is scheduled, filed, tracked, including permission slips for sex, which can only be planned in advanced and approved. Children are reared separately from their parents, individuals live alone, and no one is identified by a name - only a letter and some identifying numbers.
All that said, it's not a text that's aged well and it didn't always hold my interest. Once the world-building had been established, I wasn't particularly invested in the plot and nearly DNF'd the book. As always, my mid-range rating reflects my personal enjoyment of the book.
Recommended if you enjoy reading foundational texts, like thinking about math (irrational numbers and limits are common metaphors), and don't mind reading something that now feels dry and very familiar. 2.75 stars on SG, rounded up to 3 stars on GR.
Written well before both of those, We is hauntingly similar to both books and yet isn't canonically included as a foundational text of the political dystopian genre. But it obviously should be: we have a cold surveillance state, a frightening definition of happiness, and pressure for conformity.
This book made me greatly reflect on the self-optimization we're being sold. I get instagram ads for an AI that'll auto-set a schedule for me, so that I can be extremely efficient in my work, social commitments, healthy habits... The characters in this book live by the clock and by a strict regimen. You do this task between these hours. You have one hour of personal time from 5 to 6pm. Everything is scheduled, filed, tracked, including permission slips for sex, which can only be planned in advanced and approved. Children are reared separately from their parents, individuals live alone, and no one is identified by a name - only a letter and some identifying numbers.
All that said, it's not a text that's aged well and it didn't always hold my interest. Once the world-building had been established, I wasn't particularly invested in the plot and nearly DNF'd the book. As always, my mid-range rating reflects my personal enjoyment of the book.
Recommended if you enjoy reading foundational texts, like thinking about math (irrational numbers and limits are common metaphors), and don't mind reading something that now feels dry and very familiar. 2.75 stars on SG, rounded up to 3 stars on GR.