We - Zamyatin, Yevgeny

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Résumé :
First written in Russian in 1920 and first published in English in 1924, 'We' is a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian author of science fiction, philosophy, literary criticism, and political satire. The story takes place hundreds of years into a gloomy future, where the citizens live under the total control and surveillance of a police state, called One State. The country is made almost entirely out of glass, which makes it easier for the government to watch every move of its citizens. Citizens are expected to march in step, wear the prescribed uniforms, and are only able to refer to each other by their assigned numbers, rather than names. The main character is D-503, a mathematician who lives willingly under One State's strict rules until he meets and falls in love with I-330, a rebel who lives her life with the creativity and lust prohibited and feared by One State.

Biographie:
Yevgeny Zamyatin was a Russian writer and engineer born on February 1, 1884, in Lebedyan, Russia. Raised in an Orthodox household, Zamyatin showed an early love for literature and later studied naval engineering at the Saint Petersburg Polytechnic Institute. His revolutionary activities against the tsarist regime led to his arrest and brief exile, beginning a lifelong tension with authority that would shape his work.As a writer, Zamyatin became known for his critical social and political commentary, inspired by his experiences as a naval engineer and his time in England overseeing shipbuilding projects. These encounters with industrialism and modern machinery deepened his interest in the impact of technology on society-a theme central to his landmark dystopian novel We, published in 1920. In the 1930s, as Soviet censorship intensified, Zamyatin's work was officially banned, and he faced increasing isolation. Seeking freedom, he appealed directly to Stalin and was granted permission to leave, settling in Paris in 1931. Although his later years were marked by isolation, his influence endured, especially through We, which shaped the dystopian genre and inspired authors like George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Zamyatin passed away in 1937, leaving a legacy celebrated for its bold critique of authoritarianism and prescient insights into the dangers of unchecked state control....