We the Living by Ayn Rand
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Book Reviews of We the Living
Book Review: The most honest of Ayn Rand's novels.
Summary: 5 Stars
Whether you agree with her philosophy or not, this novel differs from her other writings in its passionate sincerity. Rather than intoning ominous mantras against Marxist collectivism, she demonstrates by vivid examples how constrictive and unfortunate such a theory can be when translated into fact. The harsh details she provides could only have been written by one who had lived in similar circumstances. The characters are not like the black-and-white archetypes she employs in her later fiction; their opinions and motives are much more credible. After reading WE THE LIVING, you feel a certain sympathy and understanding for Ayn Rand's vehement rejection of all philosophical systems or ideas that might inhibit personal freedom and individual expression. But the irony of her philosophy is that her "Objectivism" evolved into a system, which, if strictly adhered to, would be just as repressive, dogmatic and severe as the communism she so passionately disparaged.
I've read and enjoyed several of her books; but this one I found to be the most striking and honest.
Book Review: Another brilliant work from a genius.
Summary: 5 Stars
Unlike other reviewers, I will not critize Miss Rand's more famous novels compared to 'We the Living'. Even though it's far from funny, when this novel was published, critics screamed that she "didn't know what she was talking about!" That this novel "wasn't a true picture of life in the Soviet Union". Well, we now know how accurate a picture she'd drawn for all to see, if they chose to look. Not only a picture of the old Soviet, but as she states in her foreword, "This is a story about Dictatorship, any dictatorship, anywhere, at any time...and that this novel might do its share in helping to prevent a socialist America." Sadly, today "the Left" still spews lies, but that's all they can do, having given up the mantle of reason long ago, and "the Right" is mired in the death throes of religion. We're closer to the precipice than you think.
Speaking for myself, I owe such an incredible debt of gratitude to her, for all her written works, that words nearly fail me. This is a brilliant novel, passionately written and beautifully told. Read it.
Book Review: Beautiful, Magnificent, and Often Overlooked
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a huge fan of Ayn Rand and while many of her readers think The Fountainhead, and especially Atlas Shrugged to be her best novels. I think We The Living is right along up there. This is a good deal smaller than Atlas Shrugged, but it still has a lot of power in it.
This book is a tragedy. So do not read it if you want a happily ever after. While the story is filled with misery, you are still filled with a profound longing for a better world. That quality is something Rand puts in all her works.
This book is not just about the evils of communism, it encompasses the entire spectrum of the 'individual vs. the state'. She shows what the state can do to a person, the state can grind a man down to nothing, it can leave an empty shell. And Rand shows what the state can't do to some people, the state can restrict a person, they can impose laws, they can cause tremendous suffering, but the state cannot always take away hope and desire even in the last few breathes one might take before they die.
Book Review: Rand's Best
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read three of Rand's books and this is by far the best, not because it's the shortest. In "We the Living", you definitely get a more personal view from the auther. This book is about Kira, a young woman from a once majestic and respected family who returns from spending the more violent part of the Russian revolution in a smaller, less affected town, to find St. Petersburg destroyed. She and her family have to struggle just to survive as Communism becomes vile and corrupted. Later, she must choose between her family and her lover, Leo because of political differences, but when Leo catches tuberculosis, Kira must do things that would make anyone sick. She gives up all her dreams of education and of a suuccessful future, puyting everything she has into escaping the oppresive communists and their tyranny at the end. This is definitely not a light read, but it is a book I would recommend to anyone if you want a painful, but realistic version of the triumphs and tragedies of life itself.Book Review: Kira, the Monster
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my favorite of Ayn Rand's books. I began my love affair with "We the Living" back in the fifties and read it several times each year. My attitude toward Kira Argounova, however, has changed drastically as I've grown older. She represented a fascinating, fearless heroine who stood alone against a brutal world. But then I began to wonder why did she give up everything for the sadistic, beautiful Leo while delbirately destroying the only heroic character in the book: Andrei? Through the book, Kira arrogantly insists that nothing is greater than a person's ego. Yet, she becomes hot for the body of the Russian god, Leo, and goes crazy over him. Leo belongs with Rand's gallery of villians and I would definitely put Kira Argounova in there with them. She destroyed a noble, intense young Russian warrior in order to keep her sleazy hunk alive. There's nothing admirable or noble in what she does. She would fit in with the hookers on 42nd Street here in NYC.