We tells the story of D-503, or rather it is D-503 telling us his story, in his words and thoughts and confused feelings and half sentences. He starts by telling us the purpose of the "records" - he is describing the society he lives, so that the records can be sent on the new "INTEGRAL" spaceship, so it can educates the populations of other planets on how to live by the rules of pure logic, and their perceived perfect happiness.
Set in the twenty sixth century, the society D-503 lives in a is under the total control of the powers that be - chiefly the Benefactor. The inhabitants of the society wake up at the same tie, eat at the same time, making sure to follow the rules of the 50 designated chews on each mouthful, leave for work at the same time, making sure to walk in rows of four at the same pace. They follow the same movements in their homes, which are entirely glass, and have every minute of the day controlled and dictated by the state.They believe they are parts of a machine, and they are very happy being autonomous. There is 2 hours every day for "personal time" when the people can do whatever they want, but D-503 hopes that soon the government will figure out the best way to spend these hours and tell everyone what to at these times as well. The people aren't begrudging, and D-503 loves the life he has. He believes to his core that the government knows how to achieve perfect happiness, and as logical animals humans should live their lives by the logical rules they are given, not like the ancients, who lived by emotions and random occurrences. At one point, D-503, who is used to the music composed by mathematical formulae that the composers in his state make, hears the music of the ancients, and thinks it is a cacophonous mess, of random sounds and tones with no logic or reason.
Of course, things start to unravel. D-503 meets a mysterious woman, and starts to experience things he has never experienced, and which his society deems as sickness. He starts to have emotions he doesn't understand, and starts to have dreams, known as "the dream sickness". He visits a Dr who tells him he is growing a soul, which is a great embarrassment and insult to D-503. There seems to be some odd behaviour going on - people aren't acting how they always have.
Going into this book I knew next to nothing about it. It strangely isn't very widely known and considering it inspired the likes of 1984 and possibly Brave New World (Huxley claimed it didn't, Orwell argued it must have), this is a real hidden gem. The similarities start to show early on. The world in We is very similar to the world in 1984 - even the plot is very similar in some respects. Orwell praised the book and even wrote 1984 some 8 months after reading it, saying he was taking it as the model for his next novel. In 1984 we have pondering over 2+2=5, in we it is the square root of -1, for example. If you read this after reading 1984 I'm sure you will pick up on many many borrowings. 1984 is rightly viewed as a classic, and thought the is strong resemblance here, it is in no way a copycat.
Anyway, back to We. The narration is written first hand by D-503, in the time he can find to write. He often writes hurriedly, in quiet moments between any action, so the book unfolds in real time, so to speak. D-503 puts his explanations, thoughts and feelings down as he is experiencing them, or very soon after, and at times he doesn't understand them. For example he experiences dreams for the first time, and mixes them up with realty. All of this leads to a narrative which is at time confusing and challenging, but the message shines through - the reader goes through D's confusion with him. Expect a lot of unfinished sentences, and a lot of unfinished thoughts.
I enjoyed We - I think any fans of dystopian novels will, if they have the perseverance to make it through some of the trickier sections. The plot is great, the atmosphere is great, and though the prose and the narrative is a struggle at times, it will put you squarely in the head of D-503.
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