We the Living

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Mary Woods

Length: 18 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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.

More great Ayn Rand. Her first.

This book is a cautionary tale that perfectly illustrates the hopelessness of Communism. I wish I could get all the so-called “Millennials” who apparently are so ready to embrace Socialism to read and understand. However, just like in the period this book takes place, there are now so many that are willing to give up their freedoms for the false-promise of “security” (provided by the collective) and so-called “equity” which is really nothing more than revenge on the “1%ers” because these Millennials are operating under the misconception that their meager life is the result of someone else having more than they. Of course the only end result of this willful ignorance is that eventually everyone will be brought down to the same level of poverty. I feel the hopelessness of this book in my bones as I watch American & the West embrace the many-times failed philosophy of Socialism more and more.

We The Living

Because this is audio, the first thing you notice is the narrator. It's difficult to listen to one who whistles every single "s" when speaking. I had to get past that, albeit annoying. Once I could tune the whistling out, narration was good.

The story itself is tremendous and gives exquisite and painful insight into my own family's escape in 1917. The description of Petrograd and the Winter Palace gave credence to the legends I had heard, making them true.

I love Keira (sp?). What a girl.

I now need to listen to something with levity for a while, as Rand does a magnificent job pulling you through the story, making one feel that trapped anxiety.

Dark but real

O.O I listened to 16 hours of this book as soon as I bought it, I woke up the next day in a dark dark place, mentally... Enthralling yet dismal. Ayn Rand does a phenomenal job of displaying the extreme conditions that acute socialism brings to any society. A definite eye opener to what shaped her life in order to achieve the political theories as displayed in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Great book

While this is no Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged, it is very good. As close to an autobiography of Ayn Rand as you'll likely get.

Socialism is Always Bad

This is a thought-provoking novel from a Jewish woman who lived through the atrocities of "true socialism" when it was tried in the USSR. It's a wonderfully-written first novel, well worth reading for anyone with an open mind.

Rand wrote that she had no idea why Americans in the 1930s were so sympathetic towards the evils of socialism. Well, she'd be appalled to know that 90 years later, we're still trying to figure that out.

#fEeLtHeBeRn

Poor Andre

So dying and feeling alive is better than compromising yourself and just existing. I was rooting for Andre the entire time, and just ouch. Imo, the only one who never compromised their values was Andre. IMO, It's too bad how he was used as a literary tool rather than given his own Disney ending free of Kira and Leo.

Emotionally intense, historically authentic

Just days before twenty-one year old Alisa Rosenbaum escaped Leninist Russia to sail for the United States, she was enjoined by a friend to tell the world that "Russia is a huge cemetery and we are all dying." We The Living, by that same young emigre, writing now in English and calling herself Ayn Rand, was the result. It is the most accurate portrayal of life in the late workers' paradise ever committed to words. It is also a compelling work of art, and harbinger of the greatness to come.

Though the least explicitly philosophic of Ayn Rand's novels, We The Living was for me, because of its emotional intensity, the most difficult to read. Kira's relationships with Leo and Andre, her perseverance vis-a-vis the hopelessness of her situation--her struggle to breathe in a wretchedly airless environment--were nearly more than I could bear.

Listen, cry, learn, and rejoice. If you are not already familiar with the works of Ayn Rand, this is a marvelous place to begin.

So-so Book, Great Production

I loved Atlas Shrugged. I loved Anthem. So I was looking forward to We the Living with great anticipation.

Unfortunately, the characters in this novel grated. Of the three main characters, the only one I respected was the Communist. :-!

Of the other two, one got on my nerves for the last third of the novel and I hated the third before even halfway through.

For all of her realism, Rand seemingly REALLY gave in to the notion of Romantic Love in this novel . . . utterly unlike the mature decisions made by Dagny and others in Atlas Shrugged.

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Production value in this one was superb. Mary Woods is a *fantastic* reader and, if I am tempted to get another book and see she is the narrator, that will tip the scale.

Great characterization, recognizable differences between characters, inflection, singing! All were some of the best I've ever heard.

Brava, madame. Brava!

Early Ayn Rand

One of my favorites. A picture of life in Soviet Russia, in the 1920s. Ayn Rand contrasts the differences between sheep and spirited human beings. It is not as polished as "The Fountainhead," or "Atlas Shrugged," but was published earlier than either of them. This is part of its appeal, however, and doesn't detract from the story. The audio version is helpful for pronunciation of Russian names.

Sets the stage for other Ayn Rand novels

Great story that really explains the author's background and basis for her other works. Narration is well done although there seems to be some background noise in the recording. This noise only becomes annoying during a few of the slower sections of the story. Otherwise it's a five star.