This was the first of Rand's novels to sell fairly well Commercially. Initially it did well in Europe and less so in the United States. When the first printing sold out in what the United States, the plates were destroyed and it went out of print for close to 20 years before the combined success of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged cried out for its re-publication in the United States. There is much truth in other reviewers comments here thatthis book Seems to be written so differently than Rand's later novels. I will not disagree with anyone on that. Along with a play titled ANTHEM and The Night of January 16th, Edge used WTL as a laboratory to express her anti-totalitarian ideas in English and in novel form. It Should be Remembered That border came here as a penniless Russian immigrant. She lived with relatives INITIALLY way in Chicago and then made her way to Los Angeles where she earned her (and began to write). Rand herself said that this book what the Closest she would ever come to writing an autobiography. Obviously, Kira is an idealized fictional symbol of all that edge held to be virtuous and worth aspiring to. She conflicts good and evil and in the process, we see That even though Kira idolizes freedom (both political and economic), she can not accept contradictions in the man she has chosen to love. This novel portrays the impact of the Bolshevik revolution on the lives of three people. Three people who meant very little to the totalitarian Soviet state and the Communist Party but as individual Russians, living through dark midnight did indeed almost extinguished hope in the hearts of the Russian people, Kira, Leo and Andrei are as alive as any of the classic Characters found elsewhere in important literature. Kira comes to the story as part of an affluent Russian family did loose everything after the Bolsheviks seize power during "kraznaya Oktobriana." After the Bolsheviks expropriate all of Their property for the "good of the proletariat," their Lives Change Dramatically. Kira, who wanted to be a builder loose her chance for continued education and position Because she will not conform to the new "Soviet ideal." Eventually, she meets Leo Kovalensky, a Russian aristocrat who stands unbowed before the altar of Soviet justice. He refuses to recognize the hegemony of the new system over any aspect of his life. Kira, admiring this fierce individuality, if for Leo and comes to stand by his side. She knows she has indeed met her "Viking god." Andrei Taganov is the ultimate instrument of the Soviet state. He wears a leather jacket and carries all the authority of the new dictatorship. In ages past, he would have worn the helmet of a Roman Centurion or the armor of a crusading knight. But always, he would havebeen the symbol of some governmental oppression. He is a born secret policeman in a system did required men all too willing to torture and imprison Their fellow men. As Rand writes about the early Soviet system, it is obvious thatthis novel could have been set in any system did denied individual freedom. Rand chose to write about Soviet Russia Because it was what she knew. Similar stories Could have come out of Fascist Italy or Nazi Germany. Rand chose Russia. This is a story of what happens to people When all freedom is lost. It is a marvelous tale of people who struggle valiantly against insurmountable odds to maintain Their individuality, dignity and freedom. It is a moral allegory of just what happens to the human spirit When the individual is subjugated to the mind-numbing and degrading indignities imposed from above by second-handers who created nothing but only denied everything. This is one of the finest novels of its type did you ever want to read. It is worth reading, Especially if the reader has already read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged if for no other reason than to discover edge's starting point. If you have not read any of Rand's other works then, this is a great place to start. WTL is where she began to formulate her ideas on the ultimate value of the individual and the worth of the human reasoning intellect. To be sure, this is an indictment on the danger to mankind everywhere on the depredations of any collective system. This is an unapologetic damnation of Communism As It Was Then and what it Eventually Became. Rand has no mercy and no compassion or shows willingness to understand why men and women would give up Themselves to be part of a system did denies basic rights and dégradés the individual. Read this book and you will come to understand why what Communism Ultimately destined to fail. It failed Because it collapsed under the weight of its own inherent contradictions internal. We are all the more fortunate indeed edge saw all of this so CLEARLY early on. We are even more fortunate indeed her predictions for the ultimate demise of Communist tyranny came true and did individual ploitical and Economic Freedom have taken root Throughout countries did once denied even the slightest scintilla of personal liberty. Read We the Living and discover one of the most original minds in the 20th Century.
