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I just can't believe it took me so long to learn of the existence of this book, which has so clearly inspired both Orwell and Huxley in their most famous works.

An absolute fantastic read, specially in this latest, beautifully put together edition.

“There's no final revolution, there's no final number”

Beautiful prose but no idea what it was about!

I've been collecting both recommendations and books that “we should have read” and it's really amazing to find that this book was written in the 1920s, before 1984 and A Brave New World.

The book was originally written in Russian and banned from publication for many decades. The version I've read is apparently a faithful and good translation but I do always wonder if the language has been modified or not (in one section I found a reference to electric toothbrushes - something that was invented some 30 years later).

None the less, the words to this book really are poetry.

The problem I had is that I really wasn't sure where I was in the story. The character thinks he's going insane, but he's actually discovering he has a soul, but often it did read like a madman and hallucinations.

It does end predictably, but only because I've already read the likes of 1984. I can't imagine the impact on a reader reading this back in the late 1920s. It's also worth adding that the writing really does hold up nearly a century later, which is baffling amazing.

So, great stuff for nearly 100 years old, but “just okay” because I struggled to fully follow the character.

I have to respect the impact this book has had. Reading it for the first time, I can see its influence writ large upon many of my favourite dystopias, from Brave New World to 1984. The oppressive controlling state forms the center, a direct challenge to the rising authoritarianism in Bolshevik Russia. The concept that happiness and freedom can directly oppose one another. These are big themes, dealt with in an impressive way.

Surprisingly, a lot of the world and concepts seem very timeless. The glass buildings to remove privacy are eerily reminiscent of modern glass skyscrapers (it brings to mind the Tate Modern in London which overlooks some expensive penthouses where people have been complaining). The rocket ships and surveillance is all very ahead of its time. There is also a very liberal view on sex and sexuality - very enlightened for its time.

The prose itself is on the poetic flowery side, which is not to my personal taste, but I can see it is well constructed and beautifully done. There is a kind of stream of consciousness flow to everything which can be a bit exhausting, but the descent to rebellion is well captured.

This is one of the foundational texts for modern dystopias. It still reads well and powerfully to this day, almost 100 years after it was first written