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    Anthem
    Anthem
    Anthem
    Ebook96 pages1 hour

    Anthem

    By Ayn Rand

    3.5/5

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    A dystopian terror for teens and adults

    Ayn Rand's shortest work images a world where education is banned and there is one word punishable by death -- "I." The hero discovers that man's greatest duty is the pursuit of his own happiness and embodies the philosophies explored in Rand's later and longer works, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.
    This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

    Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes



    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXist Publishing
    Release dateMar 10, 2015
    ISBN9781623958015
    Author

    Ayn Rand

    Ayn Rand (San Petersburgo, 1905; Nueva York, 1982) fue una escritora y filósofa nacida en Rusia y nacionalizada estadounidense. Tras publicar sus dos primeras novelas, Los que vivimos (1936) e Himno (1938), el éxito le llegó con El manantial (1943) y La rebelión de Atlas (1957), su obra cumbre. En ellas, Rand desarrolló su filosofía, conocida como Objetivismo, en la que concretiza su original visión del hombre como «un ser heroico, con su propia felicidad como el propósito moral de su vida, con el logro productivo como su actividad más noble, y con la razón como su único absoluto».  Más tarde, establecería los fundamentos teóricos de dicha filosofía en sus libros de no ficción: Introducción a la epistemología objetivista (1979), La virtud del egoísmo (1964), Capitalismo: el ideal desconocido (1966) y El manifiesto romántico (1969). Deusto ha publicado sus obras completas. Su legado continúa siendo enormemente influyente entre conservadores y libertarios, tanto en Estados Unidos como en el resto del mundo, porque choca de frente contra la inercia cultural adquirida, cuestionando el eje «misticismo-altruismo-colectivismo» y sustituyéndolo por una filosofía basada en «razón-egoísmo-capitalismo».

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    Reviews for Anthem

    3.5/5

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    • 4/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      This is my first foray into Ayn Rand, not really knowing much about her philosophy except its focus on individualism vs collectivism. This is a dystopian novella, originally written in 1937, today's reader may find the story/plot cliched but one must remember those cliches came from these early writers of dystopia. It's a well-written story of a man finding himself rebelling against the post-apocalyptic world he's only known. He's being force-fed happiness and seeing through it. It ends happily enough for him and a mate he meets of like-mindedness who escape. However, unlike dystopian books written today Rand had a purpose and agenda for writing her story. the last two chapters summarise what was wrong with this society they lived in (utter hard-core socialism) then continues with how the main character will build a better future (based on Rand's philosophy). I find her "individualism" to be similar to today's "libertarianism" and frankly disagree with those philosophies since they make man his own God. However, her observations on socialism and what have come to be predictions speak volumes on our world today where the "We" use "groupthink" to merge socialist idea into realities in our present sorry society. I'm rratherinterested in reading more Rand, not that I agree with her individualistic, capitalist ideologies but I find her warnings of socialism prophetic and wonder whether I'll find her other observations of living through such an era enlightening to me as I continue the fight against such regimes.
    • 4/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      A thoughtful bleak look at a degraded society and the discovery of freedom. It reminds me of Farenheit 451 and 1989 but in a way that is entirely different and mesmerizing.
    • 4/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      This is one of those books I should have been assigned in high school. I probably would have enjoyed it had I not changed my English class during my senior year so that I would get an open hour in the morning. I didn't enjoy the one I switched to, and the one I switched from read this and many others like it. I enjoy these types of dystopia novels that explore human nature in a new environment. The general theme of these types of books is that whatever controlling system is in place to make things better, human nature is to always resist it, to gain control over his or her destiny is ingrained in human nature. Whenever I read a book like this one, or 1984, or Fahrenheit 451, I always wonder about human nature. Wouldn't an individual resist this collective fight against the individual? Of course, with models such as the Soviet Union and Communist China how they come about. This book shows the ultimate goal is the definition of the self against the nature of we. Taking out the futuristic environment, it's a novel that can be applied today and everyday. Favorite Passages: "There is no life for men, save in useful toil for the good of all their brothers. But we lived not, when we toiled for our brothers, we were only weary. There is no joy for men, save the joy shared with all their brothers. But the only things which taught us joy were the power we created in our wires, and the Golden One. And both these joys belong to us alone, they come from us alone, they bear no relation to our brothers, and they do not concern our brothers in any way. Thus do we wonder." Chp.9What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey? chp. 10Here, on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our new land and our fort. And it will become as the heart of the earth, lost and hidden at first, but beating, beating louder each day. And word of it will reach every corner of the earth. And the roads of the world will become as veins which will carry the best of the world's blood to my threshold. And all my brothers, and the Councils of my brothers, will hear of it, but they will be impotent against me. And the day will come when I shall break all the chains of the earth, and raze the cities of the enslaved, and my home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake.For the coming of that day shall I fight, I and my sons and my chosen friends. For the freedom of Man. For his rights. For his life. For his honor.And here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, should we all perish in battle. The word which can never die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory.The sacred word:EGO
    • 4/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      Anthem is dystopian fiction published in 1938 in England."Macmillan turned it down; their comment was: the author does not understand socialism.""Cassell published it in England under the title Ego."Our protagonist, (Equality 7-2521) ,is introduced through a series of journal entries, as he, a street sweeper discovers Liberty 5-3000, a female gardener.Difficulty arises as individualism has been eliminated in favor of 'collective will".A revised edition of Anthem was published in the US in 1946 by Pamphleteers,"The protagonist sits alone in a tunnel and writes down his feeling of rebellion against the collectivist society into which he was born"4 ★
    • 3/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      Anthem is a novella written by Ayn Rand. Rand first developed her idea for the story during the early 1920s, before emigrating, but did not write the story down in its present form until the summer of 1937. Therefore, its publication was preceded by We the Living, and followed by her writing The Fountainhead.The novella already contains all the major elements of Rand's philosophy. It has been suggested that she might have been influenced by Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel We, which was published in 1921, but the main consensus is that Rand independently conceived the idea for Anthem.By the late 1930s, science-fiction was no longer a novelty, but the dystopian nature of Anthem, the idea of technological regression in the future and the social implications of the loss of civilization may have surprised readers. The story of the novella is fairly simple.At the time of the story, people no longer have names. The main characters are identified as Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000. Like their names, all other traces of independence and individuality have been erased. Children are raised away from their parents, and in youth there is no freedom of choice in careers. Thus, while Equality 7-2521's ambition was to become a scholar (i.e. scientist) he is assigned to serve the community as a street sweeper.Outside the city, Equality 7-2521 discovers a place where he can withdraw, devote himself in self-study and develop his invention. He also meets a girls, Liberty 5-3000, with whom he falls in love. With the re-discovery of some lost technology, Equality 7-2521 hopes to impress the authorities, help humanity and be allowed to pursue his career as a scholar, but instead he is cursed. With Liberty 5-3000 he flees the city, to the Uncharted Forest, where is is pursued, but succeeds in hiding.Especially to readers today, Ayn Rand's novella Anthem may seem little spectacular. However, as an early novella within the genre, Anthem may still be read. It also provides a very readable introduction to Rand's work, for readers who hesitate to take on the large tomes, such as The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.While not everybody is interested in Ayn Rand's philosophy, her fictional work has merit in its own right. It is stylistically pure, interesting and very well-written. The novels and early fiction of Ayn Randare classics of modern American fiction, with a unique perspective.
    • 4/5

      Dec 20, 2018

      It’s hard to classify Anthem. It’s hard to even determine if I like it.I do like the message. That’s an easy thing. I like the way it’s written, too. But the novel itself… do I like it? I’m not sure. The message is not so much aimed at today’s audience, I think. It’s (in my mind) a response to the “unity over all” mentality of communism. It’s about the Self instead of the Community. I suspect it takes the imagery to extremes, but then it needs to. If it used actual events, there wouldn’t be much point. Some people wouldn’t get it. (Actually, I suspect some people still won’t get it.)The hardest thing about reading this novel is the constant use of “we” instead of “I”. As a writer, I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to write this aspect of the novel. It’s simply not something we’re used to as a society. On the other hand, it’s a very simple thing (in theory) and yet it makes such a HUGE difference to the story. It wouldn’t be the same if Rand hadn’t used “we” even when referring to single people.One thing I can tell you without hesitation: I would not want to live in that world.Unrealistic though it seems, however, and as far-fetched as we want it to be, if you have ever seen people in a mob, you know the potential truth to the story. The prospect is rather scary. I hope my world never becomes anything closer to the setting for Anthem than it is today — and, in fact, that it moves farther away from that fictional world. I think — I hope! — that we are in a better place than we were when this was written. If our luck holds, that trend will continue.
    • 1/5

      Jan 29, 2025

      I have never read any Ayn Rand before, and if I had to read anything, it might as well be this, her shortest work of fiction. It was a Retro Hugo nominated novella for 1939, which is why I picked it up.

      Anthem was originally published in the UK. Its first US publication, in 1946, by a small libertarian publishing house, wasn't widely distributed. The book didn't get a major US edition until 1953. Rand revised the text for the '46 edition, and that's the version I read.

      It's a dystopia, and after all of these years, its basic tropes are very familiar -- collective decision making; no room for joy, fun, or spontaneity; individuality thoroughly removed from society.

      So thoroughly, in fact, that our protagonist, a young man named Equality 7-2521, refers to himself as "we" and "us." He meets and falls in love -- forbidden love, for it is unthinkable to prefer the company of any one person over that of any other -- with the beautiful Liberty 5-3000(*). Together, they run away and discover some of the forbidden knowledge of the Unmentionable Times. Those discoveries include -- I suppose this is a spoiler -- the word "I," and the final chapters are essentially a sermon/hymn to the glory of "I" and the self.

      (* -- If you can read the name "Liberty 5-3000" without chanting it to the approximate rhythm of Glenn Miller's "Pennsylvania 6-5000," well, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.)

      It is, of course, not fair to put all of the blame on Rand for the fact that her tropes feel stale and tired in 2023; people have been riffing on those ideas for more than 80 years. But she can certainly be blamed for the hamfisted way in which she pounds her political drum; for the childish selfishness of her philosophy; and for the general ineptitude of her prose, which is clunky and awkward even by the relatively low standards of late 1930s SF.
    • 3/5

      Sep 8, 2024

      It reminded me of 1984, the short story.
    • 3/5

      Apr 18, 2024

      What I like (and dislike) about Anthem is that, as a dystopian novel, it gets to the point. When it comes to dystopias, who're all too similar to one another, I'm notoriously picky about characterization and plot and am forever in search of some moral, which is why I'm not overly fond of Nineteen-Eighty Four or Brave New World. Anthem, however, doesn't screw around wasting your time with particulars but gives you the gist of what's going on in a single sitting. It's a simple book with a simple purpose, and that's exactly what I think a book like this should be.
    • 2/5

      Mar 25, 2020

      A little parable about a very collectivist society. Even the word "I" is banned. It is a very flat characterisation, and unbelievable, and banal.
    • 4/5

      Mar 23, 2020

      Short SF book about the strangulation of man by the state. Since she left the Soviet Union in 1926, to come to the US, she has experience in this area. Readers of Classic SF will say they have read this theme by others who did it better. Published in 1938 she did it before many of the others.
    • 4/5

      Jun 11, 2019

      I read this book on the serial reader app. It is the first Ayn Rand book I have read and I really enjoyed it. I read it during my breaks during work and it was very hard to put down when it was time to go back to work. I felt the story was very original and I was excited to see what would happen to Equality 7-2521. His society was very disturbing although I did find the ending to be equally disturbing. The use of the plural pronouns made the story that much more intriguing to me.
    • 3/5

      Sep 23, 2018

      This was a fairly thin dystopian novel. Not much was said here that you couldn't read in something like "We" or "1984." Rand's tone was fairly didactic, but that isn't surprising given Rand's reputation. Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 stars because I did enjoy it, but I felt that more could have been done with it.
    • 3/5

      Jun 18, 2018

      On a whim, I decided to read Anthem by Ayn Rand. I'd noticed it popping up on Middle School and High School reading lists in recent years. Since this book wasn't part of the reading curriculum in my school years I was curious to read it and see why it was being revisited now.

      As I started reading I made a couple of early observations. First was the odd usage of point of view and pronouns. If you've read the synopsis or any brief outlines of the book you are aware that this book is set in a dystopia where individualism has been eradicated to the sense that the idea of "I" or "me" has been eliminated. Thus, while the book is written in "first person", it is written in first person "plural." That is, the narrator speaks and writes using "we" to narrate rather than "I." Even as he speaks of actions he did alone, he writes "we" rather than "I."

      The other observation I made was that of simplicity. The sentence structure and the delivery of ideas and concepts was very blunt and matter of fact. While there were certainly a lot of nuances and details still left to be learned about this world and the people inhabiting it, the sentences and observations were very to the point. As such, Rand's messages quickly became very clear and often felt a little heavy handed and over the top.

      As you might expect in a world without individualism, I found the characters and the world to lack in terms of depth. Our narrator (whose name was "Equality-7###") was the only character with any depth to him at all and that was presented as an abomination and subversive to society. Indeed, everyone and everything was expected to be precisely the same and completely equal.

      The story of the book progresses as you might expect with the primary tension being because of the narrator's break from same-ness and the consequences of that break if, and when, it is discovered. With more than a century of dystopic fiction (and a recent resurgence in the past decade), it was fairly easy to predict how things might play out. As a result, the story and the plot obviously aren't the most compelling things about this book.

      Rather, this book is more a book of philosophy. As the title suggests, this could be seen as a sort of celebration or eulogy. This book is meant as a way for readers to forge their own personal "anthem" in celebration of their individualism and rights to be their own person.

      The philosophies presented by this book are natural expressions of the author's personal struggles in Russia and her opposition to Communism. But why might this novel be finding its way back onto school desks in America in the 21st century? Without getting too political, I can see a couple of reasons.

      First, as I mentioned above there's been a recent growth in the popularity of dystopian fiction. Kids are latching onto this genre and devouring it. Schools can attempt to tap into this popularity by prescribing dystopian literature as part of the curriculum. But the schools will likely want to steer clear of work that is too violent or racy. As a result, we find a book like Anthem that contains almost no violence or anything else to push it beyond a "PG" rating.

      Secondly, and I think this speaks somewhat to the popularity of dystopian novels now generally, people are more and more dissatisfied with the state of things and are seeking ways to analyze and overcome the problems they see within society. Studying this and other dystopian novels is a way to have a "safe" conversation about a fictional society and then to ponder the potential relation to the real world and our out thoughts and ideals.

      Another thought occurred to me while reading...one of strong familiarity. As I read, I kept finding myself thinking of other novels, most particularly The Giver by Lois Lowry. Knowing that The Giver frequently shows up as school reading, I could see lesson plans reading both novels and then writing papers or doing presentations comparing and contrasting the two novels or perhaps writing their own short story dystopia.

      Curious as to if Anthem had influenced The Giver, I did a few searches and found this post from Lois Lowry speaking in response to claims of similarities (or outright plagiarism) that she sometimes receives. As I've often pointed out to people, there are few stories/movies/etc. that I would call 100% original. Everything has similarities somewhere. And when you look within very specific genres you will likely find even more similarities. In my mind, these similarities don't suggest plagiarism but rather that two (or more) individuals had similar ideas that they presented in similar ways. Sometimes the timing and the similarities are uncanny (I remember discussions when the movies "A Bug's Life" and "Antz" were released so closely together...while high level ideas had similarities, there were plenty of differences). In cases where an author has experienced a previous work, there are sometimes even more similarities. I think an author should be aware of this but if the author has an idea they want to share in their own way, they should do so. That's my long-winded way of saying that you shouldn't shout " plagiarism" unless an author is blatantly and obviously copying something without paying homage or presenting their own ideas and concepts.

      Overall, I found Anthem to be a thoughtful read. The story and characters were naturally flat but the ideas and concepts were interesting even if the author really beat you over the head with them. As to the relevance of this story in our modern era of personal freedoms, there is still plenty of space for improvement even in the most open societies. As a piece of literature and philosophy, we can learn from Anthem and use it to inspire conversations moving forward. While it's certainly not the most eloquent or profound piece of writing, it is a worthwhile read and gives good food for thought.

      ***
      3 out of 5 stars
    • 3/5

      Aug 24, 2017

      “And slowly, slowly as a flush of blood, a red flame trembled in the wire.”

      I read in an article that the head brewer of New Anthem named the business after Ayn Rand’s novella “Anthem”. So, of course, I had to read it to source the inspiration. I’m not necessarily a huge fan of Rand or her unilateral and often selfish philosophy—however, there are truths to be gleaned and hints at vision. “The Fountainhead” I particularly enjoyed for its resolve, even if it was a bit stiff and, once again, unilateral. No surprise, then, when “Anthem” seemed even less fleshy, more static, and far too familiar. Zamyatin’s “We” had the same stiff, mechanical coldness—yet, I felt it had far more emotion and poetry (all while being published fourteen years prior). Not that “Anthem” doesn’t have its flourishes—they just seem to come far too little near the end. But then, I’ve read and watched so many dystopic works that I can be a bit bored if nothing startlingly new is presented. “Brave New World” and “1984” are both mind-blowing and painful benchmarks. And there’s nothing I’m going to add to that discussion that Walter Cronkite hasn’t said in his superb foreword to Orwell’s grand masterpiece. Rand’s novella also shares similarities with “Fahrenheit 451” and Fritz Lang’s silent epic “Metropolis” (as well as the aforementioned “We”) in that the principal male protagonist is sparked into awareness by a female character, and that newfound freedom snowballs down various hills of destruction and creation. Oddly enough, “Anthem” also reminded me of Gilliam’s latest movie, “Zero Theorem”, in its employ of plural pronouns (and subsequent discarding upon the growing awareness of individuality).

      If New Anthem’s beer is as adequate yet unoriginal, I won’t be disappointed. From the article, though, it seems the brewer’s definitely dedicated to serving up some unique fare. In any case, the idea of using a philosophical novella as a sudsy moniker is pretty fucking cool.

      “It is our own world, Golden One, a strange, unknown world, but our own.”
    • 3/5

      May 21, 2017

      The first 75% or so of the book is pretty decent, I mostly agreed with it; sheeple are bad, question things, don't follow blindly, etc. But then, it wouldn't be Rand if she didn't smash it into your face and go absurdly over the top, and she ruins it with the ending. Basically (as per her norm) saying, eff everyone else, only do things for yourself not because they benefit humanity, and so forth. Because that is what will obviously make for such an excellent society! *groan*

      Anyhow, the story is decent enough, and it's only a novella, very quick read. But yeah, Rand had some seriously screwed up notions.
    • 5/5

      Feb 20, 2017

      A quick read. Found this book in my daughter’s stack of unread books from high school. I enjoyed the story of a post-apocalyptic society and how one individual went from being part of a collective to an individual.
    • 3/5

      Oct 4, 2016

      I've always steered clear of Ayn Rand. As a 'libertarian or 'classical liberal', I've often been accused of being some Rand fanboy and I was always able to reply that I'd never read one of her books. But I don't suppose you can avoid it forever.

      Rand exists as both novelist and political philosopher and the two cannot be entirely disentangled. This short book, really a novella, is a sort of parable illustrating the key points of Rand's Objectivist philosophy. As a literature it actually works better than I'd been led to expect. The last couple of sections might be a bit overblown, but it is worth remembering that this is written in the first person by a character escaping from a lifetime of deadening submergence in a collective.

      As political philosophy Anthem is not the evil book that some of these reviews would have you believe. It is based on the simple and obvious observation that people exist as individuals and that when people say 'we' do this or think that what they really mean is that some of us do this or think that and extending that action or thought over people who might not do or think it is wrong.

      Either way, if you think you might like or hate Rand as writer and/or philosopher, this book is probably a good place to start.
    • 3/5

      Sep 29, 2016

      This is not my favorite Ayn Rand book. I read it first because it was her shortest. Bad idea.
    • 5/5

      Jun 23, 2016

      This novella takes place sometime in the far distant future in a totally controlled society and it will surely make you stop and think long after you turn the final page. It is about a dystopian society, yet I wonder if it is not really about what some would consider a utopian society. Everything is decided by a Council. There is no danger to speak of. There are no uprisings. There is no dissent. If there should be, it is halted immediately and the guilty one is subjected to severe physical punishment. There is no due process. All societal threats have been removed because of the severe consequences for infractions. Conversation is controlled and limited so no new ideas are generated. Children are raised in group homes. There is no parental involvement. Adults live in homes organized by profession. Older adults are consigned to Homes for the Useless to await the end of their days at about age 40. No one is educated unless they are chosen to be by the Council of Vocations. Careers are not chosen but assigned. Mating and procreation is strictly controlled. It is basically a slave society, but the slaves don’t know anything else but that life, and so they meekly obey.
      The author has written a prescient tale of an America that becomes unrecognizable. The time of its publication is pertinent. Written in 1937 and published in 1938, it echoes the rising number of abuses instituted by Adolf Hitler, practices which were gaining enormous support. The theme of Arbeit Macht Frei on the gates of the Concentration Camps, “work will make you free” is a repetitive theme in the novella. Mating is conducted according to a strict schedule with mates chosen by the Council of Eugenics, This harkens back to Hitler’s Lebensborn program, created to raise a society of pure Aryans. It illuminates his effort to control thought and behavior with the rising popularity of the Hitler youth movement; the young were trained and taught to hate those that were different, those that were not pure Aryans. They were taught to blindly obey, even if it meant betraying their own family and friends for the benefit of Hitler’s Germany. The survival of the whole, the Fatherland, was of utmost importance.
      In the society of the book, everyone is supposed to be the same. Individuals are identified by numbers because individuality is forbidden. The individual exists only for the benefit of the group, not for themselves. Free thought and free choice is forbidden. Feelings are forbidden. Strict schedules guide and govern daily life. Children are raised in group homes. At 15 a Council decides their futures. Hard work is the main goal in life. Ambition does not exist. There is no need for political correctness; politics, and conversation are both forbidden. Obedience is absolute. In this new world, it is forbidden to make mention of the past “Unmentionable Times”. History has disappeared entirely. The “we” is worshipped as a “G-d”. There is no “I” allowed. Nameless people are identified by a number and occupation, i.e. equality 7-2521 is a street cleaner. Others are in groups that are scholars, others are half-brains like Union 5-3992. Liberty 5-3000 is a woman. It is a crime to think, smile or walk about without purpose. It is a crime to be too tall because it makes you stand out, it makes you different. Even those who live past 40 are gaped at like animals in a zoo.
      Men and women do not fraternize. This keeps emotions in check, which reminded me of religious rules forcing women to cover their bodies in burqas to prevent men from having sexual thoughts about them. Women are separated from men except at times of mating. Mates are chosen by the Council of Eugenics. Love does not exist, nor do any other human emotions because all opportunity to experience feelings has been removed. Equality 7-2521 refers to everyone as they and himself as we. He has no self-identification because everyone exists for the benefit of everyone else, not for one man alone.
      Candles light the world. There are no mirrors so Equality does not know what he looks like. He has been told he is evil. He is too tall. His eyes are too bright. He thinks and it is not allowed. He knows that he is different. He thinks that hard work will redeem his sins, but he has no idea what his sins actually are. Soon, he begins to break rules. He believes he is doing something that is good, but he is not allowed to believe in what he does, only what the group does. He is committing more and more sins. He is learning and for him, further education has been forbidden. When he comes upon Liberty, during his work as street sweeper, he begins to feel something he has not felt before. It awakens something unknown in his body. Before long, she acknowledges similar feelings. They communicate without speaking.
      How will their relationship change the existing society? With individualism will the sins of jealousy and greed renew again? Will humans form their own groups and will they shut others out or be inclusive? Will selfishness once again rear its head and survive? What new sins will be birthed by their transgressions? Will free will and choice bring about a new beginning that is doomed to end? Will the story of Adam and Eve be relived with Prometheus and Gaea, aka Equality and Liberty? Will they lose interest in the needs of others to further benefit only themselves? Will there be no happy medium? Will the “absolute and unbridled” thirst for knowledge ultimately corrupt them too, as in the Unmentionable Times? Will the desire to seek their own pleasure destroy their desire for righteousness and compassion? Will they be too naïve to make the necessary changes and march forward into a better future?
      Is there a middle ground between dystopia and utopia? Can overregulation be curbed to the point where it does no harm? Can socialism find a way to fund all without benefitting the few at the top who are protected from the tentacles of its policies? Can non-conformity by positive before it becomes too negative and demanding of others for constant approval? Is it like the bible story of Adam and Eve? Will the sins of Gaea and Prometheus benefit or injure the new world they wish to create? If obsession with self becomes more prevalent, does it always mean selfishness will be the end result? Can obsession be prevented?
      This book makes one think hard about society and its needs. In this brief little tale, the sins of our current society are evident. Our history is being rewritten, revised, as I write. Political Correctness demands it, as it has curbed free speech as well. Some think they have the one right way for all and demand to be followed. If they don’t get there way they find means to achieve it that may not be politic. Where the many ruled, times are changing, as in the tale. Now the individual has begun to take a supreme place in the dialogue of the day. Small groups of individuals band together and rise up, like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. They demand that everyone agree with their ideas or they riot or commit acts of civil disobedience which go unpunished. Some ideas are “over thought”. Fear rules most of our daily lives; there is the fear of terrorism, of some uses of science as in cloning and stem cell research, of some religious beliefs, some life choices, some alternate lifestyles, of the unknown, of change, and of those that make rules for others but exempt themselves. Is our Council of Elders, i.e. Congress, guilty of making too many rules, or of not following those they made? Will Americans have to find a place to “hide” to find peace and freedom eventually, like Equality and Liberty eventually did? What awaits us in the future?
    • 5/5

      Nov 12, 2015

      One of my friends recently asked me to read one of his favorite books, he said though, if I am going to read it I have to read Anthem first. So I agreed and picked up this pretty short book. I adored it. The writing style of this author is so beautiful, she writes in a way that I feel is lost to the modern novel.

      I loved the content of the book. I think that this book feels like a true dystopian. If you are a fan of dystopian fiction and have not read this book, you are missing out. It is written very stylized and very methodical, as the world in the book is. I enjoyed that most of all. I was awwed by this author and already started 'The Fountainhead".
    • 4/5

      Nov 11, 2015

      Along with books like 1984 and Brave New World, Ayn Rand's Anthem does a great job of describing a dark future and the beliefs and ideas that lead to it. The story's premise (which I won't spoil here) creates a fun backdrop for Rand's typical themes of individuality and objectivism. It's a very quick and fun read and is probably the lightest and easiest of Rand's novels to get into.

      Having said that, I found this to be the least moving of Rand's novels, possibly because the central concepts are presented so transparently, quickly and obviously. The novel also includes a lot of deliberate mis-use of the English language which is definitely important to the story, but can be somewhat annoying to listen to. However, the audiobook itself is extremely well read and overall, the story is definitely worth hearing.
    • 3/5

      Aug 10, 2015

      I like to keep relatively current on young adult fiction and to add to my library of YA fiction so that I can recommend more to my students, but I REALLY just need to realize that there is no place for this genre in my life anymore. Nothing, nothing will compare to 1984, so I'm constantly disappointed. And The Giver covers it all, so all of these different ways of showing the same theme are just unnecessary. I'll just recommend The Giver to young adults, and the Uglies & Matched trilogies to girls who want another, especially one with a bit more romance and action, and 1984 to adults (you can skip Brave New World, in my opinion) and this one is just.....eh. However, there's the potential to win an essay contest if a student reads this one and wants to write about it, so some of my students will still want to read Anthem (Honors, only, I expect). It was "good." That's it.
    • 4/5

      Jun 21, 2015

      A true dystopian novel in the spirit of 1984 and Brave New World. Anthem takes a harsh view of collectivism and ends by glorifying the individual. This being the first thing by Ayn Rand I've read, I was impressed by her writing, but a little jarred by the swinging being two extremes (collectivism and individualism in this case). Certainly a book worth discussion and thought.
    • 3/5

      May 30, 2015

      You're a little transparent, Ayn. Just a little.
    • 5/5

      Mar 24, 2015

      I think. I am. I will.

      This book is about rediscovering individualism. It's about a future possibly where people are deprived of names, independence, and values. It is a very short but good read.
    • 2/5

      Jan 25, 2015

      For years I have been meaning to read this book and I finally did over the summer. After I was done with it, I wondered why I hadn’t read this book in the first place. I blamed it on the fact that I tend to be more of a fantasy reader than a science fiction reader. However, I am now finding a place in my heart for this genre.

      I was pretty disturbed by this book. Not only was the government in this book “recruiting” young geniuses to fight their wars for them, but they were turning it into a game. Since every training exercise was a game many of the children would forget the fact they were training for war, which gave me the creeps. War, in this future world, is a game to the people who are being forced to fight it.

      This book really made me think about the prevalence of war based video games today. Now, I’m not against these games but I did find it interesting to compare what these children were doing during training to what my friends do in their own living rooms. There were some eerie similarities between the two, like the planning and strategy that sometimes goes in to playing them.

      While there were some parts that were a little slow, the book was totally worth the read. It really makes the reader look more critically at how our society views war today and even video games. I give this book a 4/5 and I recommend it to most everyone. This book is proof that the science fiction genre can have literary value despite what critics of the genre may say.
    • 3/5

      Jan 12, 2015

      This is on of Ayn Rand's shorter works that encapsulates her ideas about objectivism. I read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged in high school and found them troublingly off-putting. Anthem was no different in that respect. While I sympathize with Rand's emphasis on the importance of individuality, I have trouble with the idea that differences between human beings can and should be used as justification for unequal treatment. Condemning people to street sweeping because they are "less good" in some way than other human beings is no better than condemning people to street sweeping because they do not fit with the dominant culture's idea of "good" people, which is one of the great evils put forth by this novella. I don't think that individual differentiation should be erased by any means, but neither do I think that constructing a social system based on some perception of inherent goodness is an act of justice. Inherent goodness is a relative concept that changes with context and according to the views of the dominant majority. I think there is a middle road to be had here, one that respects individuality and skills without using that respect as an excuse for allowing the suffering of groups deemed less valuable in some way.

      I understand Rand's background coming out of the communist Soviet Union, but I don't think that socialism is the social ill that she paints it as in her works. Socialized medicine seems a very good idea to me, for instance. There is no reason that anyone in this country should not be getting the medical care that they need.
    • 3/5

      Jan 3, 2015

      I have this notion that the similarities between Ayn Rand and H.P. Lovecraft merit a closer look, and so I was kind of excited, when I was about two chapters in, to discover that Anthem was first published in 1937, the last year that the Old Gent dwelt within the confines of Euclidean space. Because, and I cannot stress this enough, this novella starts off very much in the Poe/Lovecraft mode of the first-person Gothic tale, with our narrator confessing to his terrible crimes in writing. He's even writing by the light of a stolen candle, and it's hard to get more Gothic than that. And then we learn--more shades of Lovecraft--that the confession is connected to the protagonist's discovery of a subterranean space belonging to a lost civilization about which dark things are muttered.

      The setting also has something of the feel of Lovecraft's Dreamlands, since the setting is a city of no later than medieval technology run according to traditions interpreted by a council of elders. (Though no mention is made regarding prohibitions on feline homicide.) So, here we have all the makings of a strong Gothic tale: the society with its arbitrary laws and customs, the daring (if off-kilter) protagonist, the discovery of the lost civilization, the quest for forbidden knowledge. I wish I could say that the story lives up to that early promise, but it doesn't, and since most people won't read this for its Gothic qualities, I'll try not to dwell too much on that.

      The first chapter is actually solid enough. There are a few flaws in the world building, but nothing to really ruin the plausibility. In the second chapter, when the main character falls in love with a beautiful lady, we learn that men and women are not allowed to have sexual thoughts except for once a year when they have sex in order to reproduce. This society doesn't have powerful libido-suppressants or brainwave modulators or anything like that at it's disposal. It basically tries to suppress the human sexual drive through disapproval, a strategy with the same long-term prospects as stopping a locust swarm with a large umbrella. (Even Lovecraft, who liked sex way less than Rand did, would only have attempted such a thing with a society of aliens or transdimensional beings or something along those lines.)

      Soon, the protagonist discovers electricity--through a plot contrivance that is, frankly, amateurish--and realizes that electricity and lightning ('The power of the sky') are the same thing. Soon, he is experimenting with electricity and, having recreated a light bulb, declaring: "The power of the sky can be made to do men's bidding. There are no limits to its secrets and its might, and it can be made to grant us anything if we but choose to ask." That's not the only instance of an increasingly mad scientist tone that the protagonist takes on.

      Having figured out the principles of the funny glass spheres in the cave and the protagonist reinvents the light bulb. He gets excited about showing it to the elders, reasoning that never had such an invention been offered to men. And I realize that maybe he means the people of his current civilization, but the way it's written, I just wanted to point out the whole cave full of batteries and light bulbs and how he's taking credit for someone else's invention.

      This peaks in the climax of the novel, when he shows the light bulb to the elders, and they say it will have to be destroyed, and he runs out, yelling, "You fools! You thrice-damned fools!"

      That's also pretty much where the story leaves off being interesting. He runs away to surprisingly unpopulated woods, his lady friend joins him, he makes a bow and arrow (though there's no reason to believe he would have any training in how to do this), they find a conveniently abandoned and well preserved house where he learns (because she's a woman and not up for learning on her own, or something) about the past, and then he engages in a long and tedious rant which is either the kind of thing you're into (if you like Rand's politics/philosophy) or should just be skipped over.

      Interestingly (and getting back to the way the story collides into Gothic archetypes), the story ends at a familiar premise: the hero in an ancient, isolated structure believing himself safe and the rightful lord of the property wherein he dwells. In a Gothic text, that tends to be where things start to go wrong

      There are some other elements, minor absurdities which wouldn't stand out so much if the rest of the work was actually engaging. One thread is how certain words--such as I, she, he, and ego--have been forbidden, but it's kind of half-assed, and if you're interested in how a regime might manipulate language to make the wrong kind of thoughts impossible, stick to Orwell's 1984. (Rand may have experienced totalitarianism up close, but her understanding of it does not match Orwell's.)

      Really, the main problem is that at this point in her career, the need to deliver a polemic has started to take over whatever gifts Rand has as a writer. At least a pulp stylist like Lovecraft could have made this entertaining, though the moral message would likely have been much more ambiguous. I do wonder what Ayn Rand's version of "Herbert West - Reanimator" would have been like, though.

      A note on scoring: I oscillated between 2 and 3 stars for this. That lest section, though brief compared to the filibuster ending of Atlas Shrugged, is painfully dull, but right up until that point, I was entertained enough to be leaning towards 3 stars. I thought about downgrading, but since it's so eminently skippable, I decided I shouldn't penalize the novel for it.
    • 5/5

      Sep 9, 2014

      I think. I am. I will.

      This book is about rediscovering individualism. It's about a future possibly where people are deprived of names, independence, and values. It is a very short but good read.

    Book preview

    Anthem - Ayn Rand

    range.

    PART ONE

    It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!

    But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be discovered we know not, for no such crime has come in the memory of men and there are no laws to provide for it.

    It is dark here. The flame of the candle stands still in the air. Nothing moves in this tunnel save our hand on the paper. We are alone here under the earth. It is a fearful word, alone. The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil. But we have broken many laws. And now there is nothing here save our one body, and it is strange to see only two legs stretched on the ground, and on the wall before us the shadow of our one head.

    The walls are cracked and water runs upon them in thin threads without sound, black and glistening as blood. We stole the candle from the larder of the Home of the Street Sweepers. We shall be sentenced to ten years in the Palace of Corrective Detention if it be discovered. But this matters not. It matters only that the light is precious and we should not waste it to write when we need it for that work which is our crime. Nothing matters save the work, our secret, our evil, our precious work. Still, we must also write, for—may the Council have mercy upon us!—we wish to speak for once to no ears but our own.

    Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said:

    There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers. But we cannot change our bones nor our body.

    We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to thoughts which are forbidden. It has always given us wishes which men may not wish. We know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it. This is our wonder and our secret fear, that we know and do not resist.

    We strive to be like all our brother men, for all men must be alike. Over the portals of the Palace of the World Council, there are words cut in the marble, which we repeat to ourselves whenever we are tempted:

      "WE ARE ONE IN ALL AND ALL IN ONE.

      THERE ARE NO MEN BUT ONLY THE GREAT WE,

      ONE, INDIVISIBLE AND FOREVER."

    We repeat this to ourselves, but it helps us not.

    These words were cut long ago. There is green mould in the grooves of the letters and yellow streaks on the marble, which come from more years than men could count. And these words are the truth, for they are written on the Palace of the World Council, and the World Council is the body of all truth. Thus has it been ever since the Great Rebirth, and farther back than that no memory can reach.

    But we must never speak of the times before the Great Rebirth, else we are sentenced to three years in the Palace of Corrective Detention. It is only the Old Ones who whisper about it in the evenings, in the Home of the Useless. They whisper many strange things, of the towers which rose to the sky, in those Unmentionable Times, and of the wagons which moved without horses, and of the lights which burned without flame. But those times were evil. And those times passed away, when men saw the Great Truth which is this: that all men are one and that there is no will save the will of all men together.

    All men are good and wise. It is only we, Equality 7-2521, we alone who were born with a curse. For we are not like our brothers. And as we look back upon our life, we see that it has ever been thus and that it has brought us step by step to our last, supreme transgression, our crime of crimes hidden here under the ground.

    We remember the Home of the Infants where we lived till we were five years old, together with all the children of the City who had been born in the same year. The sleeping halls there were white and clean and bare of all things save one hundred beds. We were just like all our brothers then, save for the one transgression: we fought with our brothers. There are few offenses blacker than to fight with our brothers, at any age and for any cause whatsoever. The Council of the Home told us so, and of all the children of that year, we were locked in the cellar most often.

    When we were five years old, we were sent to the Home of the Students, where there are ten wards, for our ten years of learning. Men must learn till they reach their fifteenth year. Then they go to work. In the Home of the Students we arose when the big bell rang in the tower and we went to our beds when it rang again. Before we removed our garments, we stood in the great sleeping hall, and we raised our right arms, and we said all together with the three Teachers at the head:

    We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers are we allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen.

    Then we slept. The sleeping halls were white and clean and bare of all things save one hundred beds.

    We, Equality 7-2521, were not happy in those years in the Home of the Students. It was not that the learning was too hard for us. It was that the learning was too easy. This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick. It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them. The Teachers told us so, and they frowned when they looked upon us.

    So we fought against

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