Evgeny Zamyatin - we. Evgeny Zamyatin - We About the book "We" Evgeny Zamyatin

A landmark novel, from which the very existence of the dystopia genre is officially counted. Banned during the Soviet period, it is now considered one of the classic works of not only Russian but also world literature of the 20th century. A novel about a "society of equals" in which the human personality is reduced to a "number". Everything is unified in it - clothes and apartments, thoughts and feelings. There is no family, no strong attachments ...

But is it possible to eradicate the thirst for freedom from a person while he remains a person?

Evgeny Zamyatin is a famous Russian writer of the early twentieth century. The main work of his life is a social dystopia - a novel called "We". After the release of the work, harsh criticism falls upon the creation, since the authorities of the SRSR see it as a parody of the communist system and a satire on the socialist society. This causes persecution and the writer himself. He is forced to emigrate. Abroad, in Europe and America, the novel is published without censorship. And it becomes a powerful impetus for the development of the dystopian genre. George Orwell is writing 1984, and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is already influenced by Zamyatin's We.

The novel depicts a totalitarian society of the future, thirty-second century, which has been living under the new rules based on scientism and Taylorism for several centuries, and does not remember the past. This society has formed the United State on earth, which is ruled by the "Benefactor", unanimously elected on the state holiday "Day of Unanimity", and the "Bureau of the Guardians", which ensures state security by punishing the offender, turning him into a puddle of water. All people in it wear the same unifu clothes, shave their heads bald, and instead of names have numbers and a capital letter that determines gender. Their life is at a glance: each apartment is made of transparent glass walls, and the daily routine of the society is regulated by the “Table of Hours”, preventing even a step from being taken without permission. Everyone thinks the same way, they only read the State Newspaper, and they are already starting to look like programmed beings.

The system takes everything human from them, and above all, the institution of the family. To avoid the emergence of affection, the country has introduced the right of everyone to everyone, and intimate life is allowed at the allotted time “sexual hour”, for which the partner is pre-ordered using a “pink ticket”. The emergence of feelings is already diagnosed by doctors as a disease called "formation of the soul."

The protagonist of D-503 is an ordinary, contented person who has never seen a different system and way of life than that established in his country. This is a talented engineer and mathematician who invented the INTEGRAL spacecraft, capable of reaching other planets of the universe and spreading the order established on Earth to them.

But he meets an I-330 woman who turns his world upside down. She turns out to be a revolutionary in disguise. D-503 learns from her that there are many such people, they are called Mephi, and set themselves the goal of destroying the existing order of things. According to I-330, before the formation of the state and the formation of the "Green Wall" on its border, a two-hundred-year-old war was waged on the planet's territory. The survivors were divided into two parts: some united a new artificial society, which even eats the same food, oil products, and the second live as savages in unity with nature, but isolated people are not told about their existence here.

You can download “We” by Yevgeny Zamyatin for free in epub, fb2, txt, rtf formats on our website about books.

The revolutionaries are trying to use the technical invention D-503 "INTEGRAL" as a powerful weapon against the country's security forces. The keepers reveal their plan, but the revolutionaries still manage to destroy the "Green Wall", erase the border between the two worlds, and violate the tightness and regularity of society. The authorities are trying to save the situation and carry out a massive Operation to remove the "center of fantasy", after which the memories should also disappear. Partially, they succeed, as in the case of the D-503. But some citizens manage to escape outside the country to the wild. In this way the revolutionaries are victorious and render totalitarianism incapacitated.

Evgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin

Record 1st

Abstract:

Announcement. The wisest of the lines. Poem

I am simply copying - word for word - what is published today in the State Gazette:

“In 120 days, the construction of INTEGRAL is completed. The great, historical hour is near when the first INTEGRAL will soar into world space. A thousand years ago, your heroic ancestors subjugated the entire globe to the authorities of the One State. You have an even more glorious feat: to integrate the infinite equation of the Universe with a glass, electric, fire-breathing INTEGRAL. You have to subdue the beneficent yoke of the mind to unknown creatures that live on other planets - perhaps still in a wild state of freedom. If they do not understand that we bring them mathematically unmistakable happiness, it is our duty to make them happy. But before weapons, we will test the word.

On behalf of the Benefactor, it is announced to all numbers of the United State:

Anyone who feels able is obliged to compose treatises, poems, manifestos, odes or other writings about the beauty and grandeur of the United State.

This will be the first load that INTEGRAL will carry.

Long live the One State, long live the numbers, long live the Benefactor!”

As I write this, I feel my cheeks are on fire. Yes: integrate the grand universal equation. Yes: disperse the wild curve, straighten it tangentially - asymptote - in a straight line. Because the line of the United State is a straight line. The great, divine, precise, wise straight line is the wisest of lines...

I, D-503, builder of the "Integral" - I am only one of the mathematicians of the United State. My pen, accustomed to numbers, is unable to create music of assonances and rhymes. I will only try to write down what I see, what I think - more precisely, what we think (that's right: we, and let this "WE" be the title of my notes). But after all, this will be a derivative of our life, of the mathematically perfect life of the One State, and if so, will it not be in itself, against my will, a poem? It will be - I believe and I know.

As I write this, I feel my cheeks are on fire. This is probably similar to what a woman experiences when she first hears the pulse of a new, still tiny, blind man in herself. This is me and not me at the same time. And for many months it will be necessary to feed him with his juice, his blood, and then with pain to tear him away from himself and put him at the feet of the One State.

But I'm ready, just like every, or almost every, of us. I'm ready.

Record 2nd

Abstract:

Ballet. Square Harmony. X

Spring. From behind the Green Wall, from the wild invisible plains, the wind carries yellow honey dust of some flowers. This sweet dust dries your lips - every minute you run your tongue over them - and, must be, the sweet lips of all the women you meet (and men, too, of course). This makes it difficult to think logically.

But the sky! Blue, not spoiled by a single cloud (how wild the tastes of the ancients were, if their poets could be inspired by these ridiculous, careless, stupid heaps of steam). I love - I'm sure I won't be mistaken if I say: we love only such a sterile, impeccable sky. On such days, the whole world is cast from the same unshakable, eternal glass, like the Green Wall, like all our buildings. On such days, you see the bluest depths of things, some hitherto unknown, amazing equations of them - you see them in something so familiar, everyday.

Well, at least this. This morning I was at the boathouse where the Integral is being built, and suddenly I saw the machines: with closed eyes, selflessly, the balls of regulators were spinning; bloodworms, sparkling, bent to the right and to the left; the balance beam proudly shook its shoulders; in time with the inaudible music, the chisel of the slotting machine squatted. I suddenly saw all the beauty of this grandiose machine-made ballet, bathed in a light blue sun.

And then with himself: why is it beautiful? Why is dance beautiful? Answer: because it is not a free movement, because the whole deep meaning of the dance lies precisely in absolute, aesthetic subordination, ideal non-freedom. And if it is true that our ancestors gave themselves up to dance in the most inspired moments of their lives (religious mysteries, military parades), then this means only one thing: the instinct of unfreedom has been organically inherent in man since ancient times, and in our present life we ​​are only consciously...

You will have to finish after: clicked the numerator. I raise my eyes: O-90, of course. And in half a minute she will be here herself: follow me for a walk.

Sweet Oh! - it always seemed to me - that she looks like her name: 10 centimeters below the Maternal Norm - and that is why she is all round-turned, and the pink O - mouth - is open to meet my every word. And one more thing: a round, puffy fold on the wrist - such things happen in children.

When she entered, the logical flywheel was still buzzing in me, and out of inertia I started talking about the formula I had just established, which included all of us, and the machines, and the dance.

- Wonderful. Is not it? I asked.

- Yes, wonderful. Spring, - O-90 smiled pink at me.

Well, if you like: spring ... She is about spring. Women... I stopped talking.

At the bottom. The avenue is full: in such weather, we usually spend our afternoon personal hour on an extra walk. As always, the Musical Factory sang the March of the United State with all its pipes. In measured rows, four at a time, enthusiastically beating time, there were numbers - hundreds, thousands of numbers, in bluish unifs, with gold plaques on their chests - the state number of each and every one. And I – we four – are one of the countless waves in this mighty current. To my left is O-90 (if one of my hairy ancestors wrote this a thousand years ago, he probably would have called her that funny word "mine"); on the right - two unfamiliar numbers, female and male.

Blissfully blue sky, tiny children's suns in each of the plaques, faces not overshadowed by the madness of thoughts ... Rays - you understand: everything is from some kind of single, radiant, smiling matter. And the brass beats: “Tra-ta-ta-tam. Tra-ta-ta-tam”, these copper steps sparkling in the sun, and with each step you rise higher and higher, into the dizzying blue…

And now, just as it was in the morning, on the boathouse, I again saw, as if only now for the first time in my life, I saw everything: immutable straight streets, the glass of pavements splashing with rays, the divine parallelepipeds of transparent dwellings, the square harmony of gray-blue ranks. And so: as if not whole generations, but I - it was I - who defeated the old God and the old life, it was I who created all this, and I’m like a tower, I’m afraid to move my elbow so that fragments of walls, domes, cars do not fall down ...

And then a moment - a jump through the centuries, from + to -. I remembered (obviously, an association by contrast) - I suddenly remembered a picture in a museum: their, then, twentieth-century avenue, a deafeningly colorful, confused crowd of people, wheels, animals, posters, trees, paints, birds ... And after all, they say, it actually was - it could be. It seemed to me so improbable, so absurd, that I could not stand it and suddenly burst out laughing.

And immediately an echo - laughter - to the right. He turned around: in my eyes - white - unusually white and sharp teeth, an unfamiliar female face.

“Forgive me,” she said, “but you looked around with such inspiration, like some mythical god on the seventh day of creation. It seems to me that you are sure that you created me, and no one else. I am very flattered...

All this without a smile, I would even say with some respect (maybe she knows that I am the builder of the Integral). But I don’t know - in the eyes or eyebrows - some strange annoying X, and I just can’t catch it, give it a digital expression.

For some reason, I was embarrassed and, slightly confused, began to logically motivate my laughter. It is absolutely clear that this contrast, this impassable abyss between today and then ...

“But why is it impassable?” (What white teeth!) You can throw a bridge across the abyss. Just imagine: a drum, battalions, ranks - after all, it was also - and therefore ...

- Well, yes: clearly! - she shouted (it was an amazing intersection of thoughts: she is - almost in my own words - what I wrote down before the walk). “You see, even thoughts. This is because no one is "one", but "one of". We are so the same...

- Are you sure?

I saw eyebrows upturned to the temples with an acute angle - like sharp X-horns, again for some reason I lost my way; looked to the right, to the left - and ...

To my right is she, thin, sharp, stubbornly flexible, like a whip, I-330 (now I see her number); to the left - Oh, completely different, all from circles, with a childish fold on her arm; and on the edge of our four - a male number unknown to me - some kind of double-curved like the letter S. We were all different ...

This one, on the right, I-330, caught my apparently bewildered look - and with a sigh:

- Yes ... Alas!

In fact, this "alas" was perfectly appropriate. But again, something like that on her face or in her voice ...

This work is not the very first among the dystopian genre, but the first in modern times - yes.

Moreover, Zamyatin inspired eminent writers to create their own anti-utopian works.
Including George Orwell with his famous "1984". George Orwell was not only inspired by Zamyatin, but he used exactly the same idea and storyline in his novel. All iconic moments are identical! Personally, it annoyed me a little.

So, in his work, Zamyatin describes the events of the distant future of an absolute new society, the structure of which, as it seemed, had reached the ideal. This world is absolutely understandable and logical for most of the inhabitants. In this world there is no place for lyrical digressions, in it everything is simple, understandable, mathematically. And the style of the protagonist D-503 corresponds to their way of life without emotions, without a soul - his thoughts are clear, jerky, and again mathematical.

Zamyatin clearly wanted to show what the pursuit of an ideal society would lead to. And, in principle, he predicted everything correctly. For which he was persecuted by the Soviet authorities.

Considering that Zamyatin wrote "We" back in 1920, when the world was only at the height of technological progress, he did an excellent job of describing the future. Apparently, wanting to make his work relevant for all times, he avoids the concepts characteristic of that time and tries to avoid descriptions as much as possible, which can give out the time of writing the novel.

Orwell wrote "1984" almost 30 years later, but it seems that he licked everything from Zamyatin. Again the most transparent life of society, again a woman pushes a man on the wrong path (what is this? a reference to the biblical story about Adam and Eve?), and again the system suppresses their uprising, depriving us of a happy ending. The only thing is that Orwell seems to have polished his work more, embellishing it, adding more details and making the style "simpler" for the general reader.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from welcome.88 17.10.2018 17:14

The brain draws dummies when reading. Like a book not, but that's how the script will go.

Grade 4 out of 5 stars from Sir Shury 08/24/2018 19:22

For die-hard fans of dystopias, this is a good book. I read it, without much pleasure, at one time.

martyn.anna 21.05.2017 20:13

Came here just to give my opinion about the book. They advised me to read it before preparing for the exam, but after the fleeting "swallowing" of voluminous works such as "Quiet Flows the Don", it was difficult to force myself to read something, but I agreed. I sat down in the evening, and the next morning I didn’t notice how the book ended. Maybe, as some say, the book is somehow "primitive", but it swallowed me up, deeply touched. Moreover, I was surprised by the year of her publishing house, and I inadvertently remembered films like Equilibrium - in fact, shot on the plot of "We". I think this work will remain with me until the last days in my small internal library :)

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from stalker 13.10.2016 21:25

Excellent deep thing,uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubli, please don’t worry fools........

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from Guest 30.09.2016 20:48

I could not rate it.)))) Probably, the novel was good for its time and the time of "great revelations". An interesting idea, but the execution is rather primitive.

natpis_1964 30.08.2016 07:37

a good modern film adaptation is needed, because in fact many American futuristic films are a parody of this work.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from Guest 05/29/2015 09:48

The book was a pleasure. Considering that the author wrote it in 1920, the magnitude of the thought is striking. You involuntarily wonder what the system of social organization leads to when someone decides what is right - only this way, otherwise - wrong, harmful. And this is usually characteristic of our ruling clans: they recognize only their own truth, and if you think otherwise, they will not listen to you at best, and at worst they will declare you an enemy (separatist, agent of influence, etc.).
Smart book.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from autooffer 07.02.2015 12:22

The book is strong

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from Vladimir 08/31/2014 18:15

Unique work! I advise. And interesting, and intellectual, and very unusual. The syllable is a separate work of art! One of my most favorite books.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from vicna 20.08.2014 22:13

But Zamyatin did a good job of looking into the future. I think the book is worth the highest rating, because the thing is impressive, it makes you think, think, think and think again about what kind of future you really want.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from rrrrrr 08/19/2014 19:03

There are different opinions about this book, but for me everything is clear. Zamyatin, as an intellectual, was against the coming of the communists to power, and, albeit in an exaggerated form, painted the future of classical communism. Although, logically, communism in its highest form becomes anarchy - classical, when there is no need for a state - here we have a perverted, totalitarian version of socialization.

And Orwell, with his "1984" and "Animal Farm", was clearly inspired - in part - by Zamyatin's nightmare.

The book... is powerful. The syllable - albeit heavy, but perfectly conveys the atmosphere.

I advise.

Grade 5 out of 5 stars from Grade 5 out of 5 stars from lida-aldo 24.08.2013 13:20

Total reviews: 15

We . The World of Mathematics and Human Machines Evgeny Zamyatin

(ratings: 1 , the average: 5,00 out of 5)

Title: We

About the book "We" Evgeny Zamyatin

Imagine a world in which the strictest mathematics is taken as the basis of all living things. Where instead of a normal name, a person is given a number. Where life is painted not just by the minute, but by the second. Where everyone wakes up at the same moment and spends the same amount of time sleeping, washing and even chewing food. And all because there is no “I” or “you”. There is only a homogeneous "we", which has become the name of one of the best. I recommend that you read this truly prophetic novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

You can download the book "We" at the bottom of the page in rtf, epub, fb2, txt format.

Zamyatin wrote his book back in 1920. Later, Western writers, following his example, created no less famous dystopias, and. But that was later... But the foresight of Zamyatin, who in many ways was able to foresee the development of events in real life, simply cannot but surprise.

The happy mass of numbers (mentioned above that people were assigned numbers instead of names) called "we" is more like a giant machine than a society. Sex in the One State is allowed only on coupons and only at the right time, however, like everything else. And each child born is a new screw for a huge faceless mathematical system.

In the world of numbers, dissent is not tolerated. Not only public and private life, but also elementary life is under control. Do everything strictly according to the schedule. I woke up, put myself in order and went to work. By the way, you can not suffer from insomnia! At night every room must sleep because he needs strength to work during the day.

And so the main character D-503 falls in love, becoming others. He begins to feel, emotions appear in him - albeit not always positive, but they brought him out of a state of unshakable faith in the inviolability of the truths of the One State. Moreover, he begins to think, slowly getting out of the omnipresent "we" and turning into a person.

And today, it seems to me, they went from the opposite. And this is rather in part ... In pursuit of individuality we lose ourselves by spending money on the trendiest clothes, jewelry, cosmetics and anti-aging treatments. Today the system works differently: from all sides it forces consume. And the era of "we" has remained in the recent past.

But the idea of ​​mathematization of society remains relevant today. I mean that in most organizations one full name is no longer enough. All sorts of IDs, codes, numbers, secret combinations, passwords are demanded of us... It seems to me that Zamyatin to some extent foresaw not only the Soviet, but also the post-Soviet reality. Therefore, the book "We" is really worth reading for everyone!

On our site about books, you can download the site for free without registration or read the online book "We" by Evgeny Zamyatin in epub, fb2, txt, rtf, pdf formats for iPad, iPhone, Android and Kindle. The book will give you a lot of pleasant moments and a real pleasure to read. You can buy the full version from our partner. Also, here you will find the latest news from the literary world, learn the biography of your favorite authors. For novice writers, there is a separate section with useful tips and tricks, interesting articles, thanks to which you can try your hand at writing.

Download free book "We" Evgeny Zamyatin

(Fragment)

Year: 1920
Publisher: Public Domain
Genres: List of school literature 10-11 grade, Literature of the 20th century, Social fiction, Free books

The literary genre "dystopia" has an extensive audience of its readers, and this is not surprising. Where can dreams of an ideal society lead? Here the imagination of the authors unfolds widely and boundlessly. Everyone has their own opinion on this matter.

Reading online without registration the book "We" will appeal to those who are delighted with the work of Orwell, Huxley and other anti-utopians. This time we invite you to get acquainted with our domestic writer. Evgeny Zamyatin worked in the first half of the 20th century. Satiated with the ideas of communism and socialism, he presents his vision of the development of the society of the future.

The plot unfolds in the distant future - thirty some century. The society is under strict totalitarian control. Even the intimate life of citizens is under close supervision. Instead of names and surnames - numbers.

The book, small in volume, is presented in the form of the protagonist's diary - number D-503. The mathematician and builder is an obedient cog in the state machine. He lives like everyone else, in an apartment with glass walls (because law-abiding citizens have nothing to hide). Works, eats, sleeps, sometimes has sex with a partner designated for him. Until he meets a woman with the number I-330...

Note that in the USSR in the twenties, when the novel was published, it was not published. Censorship did not pass. It was decided that this was a vicious caricature of the socialist and communist society of the future.

In our library of e-books, you can download "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin and try to understand the complex issues of freedom and equality, the causes and consequences of totalitarianism, and think about eternal human values.

It is noteworthy that dictatorship still manifests itself to one degree or another in any, even the most developed country, and there are always people who are satisfied with their position, even happy. But there are those who see a different path, as a rule, they make revolutions.

Is an ideal state possible? Freedom and equality in everything? So far there is no such thing. But who knows, maybe one day people will be able to build it?

“We” is a beautiful love story, about feelings, emotions, fantasies. The main character, a mathematician, captivates readers with his prudence and deeds. Nice tone of story. Reading is not boring, but sometimes difficult. It turns out that an inhuman society can be described in a fascinating way!

A superb novel in every way, from the plot twists and tone of the narrative to the linguistic devices and hitting the weak points of each of the readers.

On our literary site, you can download Evgeny Zamyatin's book "We (collection)" for free in formats suitable for different devices - epub, fb2, txt, rtf. Do you like to read books and always follow the release of new products? We have a large selection of books of various genres: classics, modern science fiction, literature on psychology and children's editions. In addition, we offer interesting and informative articles for beginner writers and all those who want to learn how to write beautifully. Each of our visitors will be able to find something useful and exciting.