We the Living cover art

We the Living

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We the Living

By: Ayn Rand
Narrated by: Mary Woods
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About this listen

 We the Living portrays the impact of the Russian Revolution on three people who demand the right to live their own lives. At its center is a girl whose passionate love is her fortress against the cruelty and oppression of a totalitarian state. Rand said of this book: "It is as near to an autobiography as I will ever write."©1936 Ayn Rand (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Russia Soviet Union Socialism

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The work is a masterpiece in its own right - I think the proper order to read Rands works should be to start with We The Living and end on Atlas Shrugged.

We The Living

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A well performed reading of “We The Living” a debut novel which pales in comparison with Rand’s later reiterations of the same themes.

Schematic early work from this writer

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You don’t have to buy into Rand’s philosophy to enjoy this book. An engaging story and interesting portrait of the decay of Bolshevism in the 1920s. Excellent narration – although I can imagine that some may not take to the voice (so listen to the audio sample).

Petrograd smelt of carbolic acid

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Nothing can demonstrate the grandeur of life so much as it's struggle against servitude. We the living tells the story of Kira, a shining light that refuses to be put out by the suffocating invasions of every aspects of one's life perpetrated by communism. More so than in Rand's other novels, we the living managed to tell this story in a complex, human, and subtle way. Long and overly repetitive lip service to her philosophy is substituted by a gripping narrative punctuated by terse insights into the Soviet union. Put down 1984, whose villains are too obviously evil, and pick up We The Living, which will show you how evil never presents itself as such.

Rand's best novel

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An author who lived under both communism (collectivism) and capitalism (individualism) understood better than most the perils of one and the possibilities of another. Sadly, the West is falling for collectivism now under the new name "communitarianism" with what is now going on in the world. The line that hit me was "Comrades, unite against our common enemy Typhoid". A great book. I just wish our politicians would read it.

A stark warning against the evils of communism

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