We the Living by Ayn Rand

“To a life; which is reason unto itself.”  - Ayn Rand

We the Living by Ayn Rand is set in the early 1900s in the uprise of communism in Russia. Although it is about the U.S.S.R. the story is still relevant (as Rand points this out, in her foreword) because it is about totalitarianism and how humans should never think them above anyone else to have the right to decide who lives and who dies, because it is those that are fighting for life that deserve it and make progress and those who kill or live for others have much to learn. The plot revolves around Kira, a young woman who returns to her family home in Petrograd. Kira is very passionate about life and living it for her own sake, she dislikes the communists and yet she dislikes their enemies, she prefers to live not for a group but for herself. Kira studies at the institute to become an engineer. At the institute she meets Andrei Taganov. Andrei is a strong proletariat but starts developing feelings for Kira. However, Kira falls in love with a handsome stranger she met in the park at night time. This is the story of her own battle and struggles that she faces to become the woman she always wanted to be.

This book was amazing! It was captivating and had a nice love story, and yet it still taught a lot about Russia at the start of the Communist movement. There were some parts that I wished for  a 'glossary' at the end of the book or at least notes to explain some terminologies, however, the overall book was not so hard to understand. Just if someone has troubles understanding, here are the words I got stuck at,

• Proletariat - Someone from the working and/or poorer class. Also used in this context as one who supported the party, as the party was supposedly supporting the working class.

• G.P.U.  - An early Russian/Soviet secret service with spies to find those against the government.

• NEP - A policy in effect between 1921 and 1928 that revived ownership of some private business and stores.

• Bourgeois - Those who were richer, part of the upper class, before communism. Especially in this context, those who had made money from private enterprises.

Now, as I mentioned in the introduction this book was much more than just about Russia, it can be applied  to more recent events as well as other countries due to its morals and and ideas. It is about valuing life and individuality rather than just being followers. It is as Kira in the book puts it, doing things just because they are lovely. It is about humans being motivated by living their lives or living to kill for their values. This was shown by Kira and Andrei. Kira lives to be independent and free while Andrei fights his whole life for his beliefs, once he no longer had anything to give to his "highest reverence" he ends his life. 

I think the best person who summarized what We the Living has as the fundamental theme, was Ayn Rand herself. In the foreword she wrote, 

" ... the issue of freedom versus dictatorship, in essence, it comes down to a single question: do you consider it moral to treat men as sacrificial animals and to rule them by physical force?" 

I usually don't mention techniques but in this book there was one that I found really stood out. The story was told in third person however, it seemed that it shared Kira's point of view. Even though there was a narrator, the narrator had a quite narrow and limited point of view. I found that whenever Kira did something the narrator only mentioned what was important to Kira, not the details that happen before or after an event that may worry the parents. At the start it was a bit of a shock because I didn't fully comprehend Kira's choices or even the choice of the input from the narrator. However, I think this helps to get into a different mind frame and for the reader to question the communism from a new and different perspective. This technique gets the reader out of his own mind frame and finds him/herself sharing the ideas of Kira, and what matters to Kira.

As to recommending this book or not, is not a very straight forward question. This book was very good in teaching about actual people during the early stages of communism in Russia. I found this much better than let's say, Animal Farm because it was much easier to empathize with the characters and actually get to know the details of someone's daily lives. However, the book was very sad and dramatic. By the end of the story I was crying. The ending, for me, was too sad and I didn't like the decisions the character's made. However, I don't think I would have changed anything because this time in history was not a happy one and should not be taken lightly. Also, how can I judge their choices and actions if I have never had such a horrendous struggle to deal with or had to fight for my life so badly.