# We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

11 Hacker News commenters recommended We by Yevgeny Zamyatin and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a prescient, subtler Soviet-era dystopia than Orwell's 1984, with immersive worldbuilding. No recurring criticism; some prefer the 'One State' translation.

## Why people recommend it

- Prefer it over Orwell's 1984 (2 comments): "I personally find it more compelling than Orwell's work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46462332)) "it's more subtle than 1984" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48257358))
- Prescient about surveillance and technology (2 comments): "to get some perspective on the extreme of a life where everything you do is potentially visible to any and everyone around you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49889366)) "We was prescient politically, socially and technologically" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46334336))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [1984 by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/1984.md): 42 recommend
- [The Road by Cormac McCarthy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/road.md): 27 recommend
- [Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nineteen-eighty-four.md): 24 recommend
- [The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood](https://hackerapproved.com/p/handmaid-s-tale.md): 6 recommend
- [The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hunger-games.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0241458749?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780241458747) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "We by Yevgeny Zamyatin", https://hackerapproved.com/p/we/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).