It’s surprising how long a shadow this book casts. I haven’t read 1984 or Anthem in a long time but both of them came back to me clearly while reading this. And it feels a lot less like homework than Brave New World.

It’s also much more interesting coming from the perspective of a Russian author under the communist regime, rather than an American author inventing an authoritarian regime. I found the whole Unanimity Day scene and the aftermath of the ‘election’ carried a lot more weight given the context of the book.

It also felt less difficult than a lot of translated work that I’ve read, especially from Russian. Still kind of felt like homework though.