We by Yevgeny Zamyatin; I really don’t know anything about this book. It is said to be the grandfather of all dystopian fiction and direct inspiration to Aldus Huxley who by proxy influenced George Orwell, Ayn Rand and Kurt Vonnegut. Sounds good to me.

I have taken a look through the book and there are 40 chapters, called Records. Since I really have no idea about the flow or anything, I think that I will do five Records per week making this a total of ten weeks. That being said, the book is only a little over 100 pages. So, I might change my mind before next week as I get into the book.

This book was originally written in Russian (1921) and translated into English (1924). I can already tell from the language that I am going to struggle a bit comprehending its more archaic dialect. That is one reason why I am thinking of taking smaller bites into the book.

Reading the plot summary online I will give a brief recap of the highlights. It seems that the plot takes place in a homogenous and utopian society. People no longer have names but IDs and live in a highly regulated society. From what I read, it seems like the main character begins to question the perfection of utopianism.

Huxley claims that he was influenced by Orson Wells and that he never read We while 1984 seems like an alternate plot. Orwell claims that he read We a few months before writing 1984. I hope that I am not going to lose my luster Orwell who so far is at the top of my list.

I am going to keep it short today. Partly because I don’t know much about the book and partly because I don’t have much to say yet.

End Your Programming Routine: I will say this in parting. I don’t know exactly what the future holds with this segment. There is plenty of dystopian literature around that I want to read. I am weighing the impacts of other controversial works like Catcher in the Rye or classical titles as well such as Crime and Punishment. Good art should stimulate the brain, not just entertain so there may be something to learn by branching out. I am keeping it in this genre for now.