BOOK REVIEW

We The Living Ayn Rand

by VIKASH PRADHAN

FROM ISSUE # 81 (September 2002) | IN THIS ISSUE
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What got the creator of characters like Howard Roark, Hank Rearden and Dominique Francon started? The saga of her classics like Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead began with the semi-autobiographical We The Living. Set in the controlled atmosphere of a fresh communist regime in Russia, it is a tale of a girl who stands up for herself while her family struggles to come to terms with the changed circumstances.

Unlike Ayn Rand's later bestsellers, which were more radical in ideology, We The Living is more human and meaningful. She weaves a moving picture of an individual's struggle against the might of the collective regime to retain her individuality. Being born in Russia and having faced similar conditions, Kira's character and struggle closely resemble Ayn Rand's own. Through Kira's story, she brings to light the plight of people under a dictatorial regime, their lives guided by and dependent upon the whims of their rulers. Two other characters who provide an interesting foil are Kira's cousin Leo and her lover Andrei. Leo is an individualist who struggles to fit in with the collective system, Andrei is part of the regime but has lost faith in it and wants to break away.

Ayn Rand and her theory of objectivism has always moved people. We The Living is a good introduction to it. It presents a more realistic and subtler version of the struggle of the human spirit that takes on a more radical form and display in her later novels.

An excellent first novel, it acts as a prelude to Ayn Rand's theory of objectivism, giving a glimpse at her background and providing a basis for her later work. It has good shelf value and is a good book to be handed down. A must-read book on all counts, this is a sound investment.