We the Living by Ayn Rand Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of We the Living
Book Review: Ayn Rand's Communist Russia and Kira
Summary: 4 Stars
Ayn Rand's We The Living is a novel set in Russia right after the revolution ended and explores the lifes and times of primarily three individuals: Kira, the female who wants to be an engineer and is passionately in love with Leo, the son of former Army General and the immistakable Andrei, who has risen from streets to become a formidable communist. To complete the cast is Victor, Kira's cousin, who does the needful to shed his bourgeois past and rise through the ranks, Pyerov and Sonia, who in their own way use communism to become richer and powerful, and other members of Kira's family. The novel dwells on how revolution alters not only their daily lifes, morals, ambitions but also reveals their base and basic human character. It is a tale of falsified hopes, broken dreams, corruption, love, and of the struggle of someone to survive a political system that is of utmost dislike to him/her.
Perhaps as the first book to come out of communist Russia, We The Living has gained more respect than it merits on basis of just literary qualities. Like all her heroes and heroines, Rand's prime suspects here are three idealists who seek to justify their different means for their selfish ends. The love triangle between Andrei, Leo and Kira is stifling reminder of how some people try to lead a dual life, hoping they can let two people be happily in love with them. Kira, who Rand wishes to potray as the martyr in her superhuman effort to be true to her individualistic ideals, and whose character is the reason for calling this novel as primarily as war of an individual against the state, fails to impress me. While the novel is a great treatize on how and why communist Russia squandered the dreams of early revolutionaries, Kira fails to impress. Her convictions are full of contradictions, as are her means and methods of achieving them. If I really want someone to read about communist Russia, I'd ask them to pick Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. If Ayn Rand's Objectivism or Invidualism is your ideal, stop after reading Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Kira's love is flawed for it lacks the honesty and fidelity that one must show towards one she cherishes. Her ideals are made ridiculous by the manner in which she sheds them for survival. Andrei is the unlikely hero, who is victim of his own idealogy, victim of treachery by both the women and the country that he tried to love and save. Leo is a failed ideal, and his character, throughout the novel does not tell me why Kira loved him so. There are other people in the novel, and Rand seeks to potray their state as the consequence of communism. Agreed, the state that supressed personal freedom and right for personal profit, must have broken the spirit of one and many. As a grim reminder of how social catastropes can alter family life, We The Living stands strong. As a ideological entity, I find it uninspiring. Fountainhead rules any day.
Book Review: Ayn Rand's best
Summary: 5 Stars
You don't have to buy into the Objectivist philosophy to enjoy this novel. I certainly don't. But I marval at Rand the dramatist. The woman knew how to write good books. However, if you identify yourself as a socialist/collectivist/liberal democrat, you probably will find much here at which to take offense.Book Review: Bad Girl
Summary: 2 Stars
The two stars I give this book are for the extraordinary writing of Ayn Rand. I give her zero for creating such a predatory, egomaniacal heroine as Kira Argounova. Although she cloaks herself in lofty philosophical armor, she's no different than the scrungy females you see on Jerry Springer or Ricki Lake--all they want is "their man." Kira destroys the only noble character in the book: her admirer/lover Andrei. She uses him ruthlessly to help save her sleazy, hoodlum boyfriend, Leo when he needs expensive treatment at a TB sanatorium. What she really wants is Leo's majestic body. Although he's as hard and indifferent as a robot, this is the man Kira gives us everything for. What's really disturbing is that Rand harps continuously about how one should never hold up anything higher than one's ego. Yet, she becomes the common street woman who wants to get this particular man in bed. So much for Kira's noble aspirations. Andrei was the only decent person in this book--besides Irina, Kira's cousin, and Irina's lover, Sasha, both who ended up in a concentration camp to die. When Kira is killed at the end, there was no sorrow from this reader. For someone who betrayed ,leeched and destroyed Andrei, the most admirable of any of her characters, her death was deserved.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: Best Rand book I've read
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this was an excellent novel. If you have issues with Rand's political ideology (I certainly tend to disagree with her) there is still much to enjoy about this novel. Don't prejudge the novel and decide not to read it because you dislike Rand. The story is genuinely moving and the characters, particularly the main character, are well drawn. I understood why she felt the way she did, and why she made the choices she did. Rand created some very evocative images in the novel -- I felt like I was there. I got totally pulled into the story. I can't say that the picture of Communist Russia at that time is particularly accurate or not, as I don't have enough knowledge on the subject to comment on that. I read the book because I was interested in the story, and the characters, not the politics. It does, however, raise some good, thought provoking questions about the dangers of totalitarianism. Thus, I can reccommend the book on two levels -- it will satisfy readers who just love a good story, and those who are interested in politcal systems and political ideology. The book might be hard to track down, but it will be worth the effort.