Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed on 1/19/2012 + 813 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

In another update on Sir Thomas Mores Utopia (1516), Zamiatin, in We (1924), develops a diaphanous world (literally, as everything seems to be made of transparent glass) regulated by the multiplication table (a nightmare for todays average person) and dedicated to the works of Frederick W. Taylor (whom all academians seem to despise, but who never really understood). It is a world in which everyone is designated by a number (more specifically an alpha-numeric code). We is habitually compared with Aldus Huxleys Brave New World (1932) and George Orwells 1984 (1949). However, several other works have been written in the same vein, notably:
Kurt Vonnegut Player Piano (1952) (My favorite)
Ayn Rand Anthem (1937)
Jack London Iron Heel (1908)
H. G. Wells The Time Machine (1895), A Modern Utopia (1905), New World Order (1940)
All of these border upon describing totalitarianism as the ultimate democracy. But then, has democracy become a mere sham to obfuscate an autocratic or advanced socialist government?

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