We's for Me

It just now struck my mind, but the novel I'm currently reading shares its name (at least, a homonym of) with the country's hottest-selling holiday item. The book is called We, by Soviet author Yevgeny Zamyatin. Written in the early 1920s, it was the main inspiration (at least from a literary point of view) for Orwell's 1984.
Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty obsessed with 1984, so naturally I was interested in checking out this precursor. In fact, I am a big 'fan' of Dystopian futures in general, (especially those visions from the past) and Alan Moore's recent League of Extraordinary Gentlemen's release, "The Black Dossier," has rekindled my interest.
There certainly are a lot of similarities between We and 1984. An overtly-regimented society; a lone male trying to deal with his socially unacceptable rebellions; a female 'operative' who leads him towards temptation; ultimate punishment for what basically amounts to 'thought crime.'
In many ways, We is a much more 'desirable' dystopia, though they all pretty much suck when you get down and think about it. The people live in glass houses (literally), and a massive clock controls what every citizen does at every minute of the day. They're given a 'personal hour' at the end of the day, but even that is a little shady. On the plus side, they get these little pink tickets , which can be 'cashed in' to nail a chick whenever they want.
The main difference is that Orwell's vision is so very, very bleak. There doesn't seem to be much pollution, destruction, or other ecological disasters in OneState, the Zamyatin city-state. In fact, OneState exists in a sort of dome, with a continuous jungle existing everywhere else on the planet (except for several other city-states, which seem to have little interaction with OneState, at least so far in the novel).
The overall tone of the original is much lighter, and actually reminds me more of Huxley's Brave New World. I guess living through World War II in Europe certainly had a much bigger impact on Orwell's darker voice.