We

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View books by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

Brilliant Prose - Rated
I began reading We with some trepidation. From what I had heard of the book, I was expecting a rather clumsy, dusty work with limited characterisation and a plot which simply supported some of the author's more politically charged ideas.
I was pleasantly surprised. The plot is genuinely exciting and drives the short novel on to its conclusion. The confusion of the narrative character's ideology is wonderfully rendered. The quality of the prose - certainly this novel's finest feature - is a delight to read. Zamyatin mimics the icy, transparent and glassy landscape of his imaginary city with precise and frosty language.
This is certainly the edition to look out for. As she explains in her introduction, Randall (the translator of this new edition) firmly feels the importance of creating a prose structure as similar to Zamyatin's as she can make it. Will Self's lively introduction is also very well placed.