![]() People no longer have names, but are identified by number, and live in homes that are transparent boxes, all the better for the state to keep an eye on them. In charge is the semi-divine Benefactor, a totalitarian leader who is voted into power each year by unanimous agreement (or else), and oversees a society that is always punctual and clean, with perfect blue skies and full employment. Along with the rational precision of mathematics, comes the loss of any sense of individuality or personal freedom. It is set in the 26th century, in OneState, a perfect society where the authorities have made use of a mathematical formula to ensure the happiness of its inhabitants. ![]() Reviewed by George Orwell in 1946, it apparently inspired or at least informed 1984.Ĭompleted in 1921, We was banned by the newly established Soviet Union, deemed, in Orwell’s words, ‘ideologically undesirable’ until 1988. ![]() ![]() We is a classic work of dystopian fiction, described by Ursula le Guin as ‘the best single work of science fiction written’, and book 4 of my 20 books of summer ’22. ![]()
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