Ayn Rand

Anthem takes place in a dark, dystopian future. Collectivism and socialist economics have driven mankind to a technological standstill. The individual is not acknowledged in this society, the word "I" having been eliminated from speech altogether. Rand explores the tension between collectivism and individualism and equates the errors or triumphs of these with socialism and capitalism.

Anthem

Leonard Peikoff

In a future world where all individuality has been crushed, a man--Equality 7-2521--dares to defy the ideals of collectivism, make personal choices, seek forbidden knowledge, and love the woman he desires.

What a beautiful story. Everything was simple and robust. I will remember the scenes that I imagined reading the book for many years later.

Mohammad rahdar

Özgür Özer

I read it again in Turkish for a book club meeting, should be read in English if you can.

Meagan Fischer 

Kinda dumb. I was going to give one star but gave two because I will reluctantly admit that she had some valid concerns about unhealthy collectivism, when it is taken too far. 

However, her ideas are so oversimplified and she glorifies living on one's own without other humans without seriously considering the realities of that lifestyle. Her character develops unrealistic abilities on his own without any training. It's basically just a vehicle for some philosophical thoughts she was having that seemed to be a backlash to socialism/communism, but her ideals go too far in the other direction toward hyperindividualism. The villains of the story are characterizations/exaggerations of real people/politicians whose motives she seemed to only have a surface level understanding of, and she doesn't consider any counterarguments to the obvious thesis underlying her fable-type story.

There's also a nod to unpleasant ideals of female purity - instead of letting her female character be someone who has gone through what sounds like a less than consensual sexual experience required by the society of the book, and dealing with that reality, the protagonist falls for a 'pure' young person who has not yet been made to do so.

I only ended up reading this because I was looking for another book I read years ago and someone thought it was this one. I read to confirm it was not the same book. Definitely not.

Toby Baratta

If you want to read ayn rand, this is the shortest way to say you have.

Michael Springer

Umm, yeah. 

I read a lot of dystopias in High School; I had a bit of an obsession with them. Long story short, when I started adding ratings to Goodreads a million years ago, I spent quite a while trying to remember all of the dystopias I'd read. This one I only just now remembered. It was the absolute LEAST memorable of the dystopias I've read (unless there's another forgotten one still waiting to be remembered . . .)

And, on the subject of how lame this book is, how about Ayn Rand? Is there a more annoying author? Subtlety is not a concept she embraces. In fact, she bludgeons you continually with her idealogical views. As someone who most of the time agrees with her, I still want to yell at her, "Okay! Okay! We fucking get it!" 

But, lets talk about Anthem.

It's slightly over a hundred pages, and it feels overlong. And, I didn't get anything out of this book that someone else didn't say better either before or after. Despite the book's brevity, it packs as much of Ayn Rand's sermonizing as books seven times its size, although I can't compare it to Atlas Shrugged since I don't think I'll ever feel masochistic enough to read it. 

Since brevity is the soul of wit, I'll conclude. If you think Ayn Rand is the bee's knees, read this one. But, if you think her books are closer to propaganda than art, this one ain't gonna change your opinion.

Aaliyah Jenkins

LOVE. probably the first book ever that school has made me read that I've given 5 stars. This book was short and sweet and to the point, but most importantly, it made me appreciate my self.

Drew Dost

I actually loved the first half of the book since the premise is fascinating to me as a dystopian setting! Towards the end it got more preachy and skipped around over parts that I wish had been delved further into. This is written in a sort of journal format, so there are time gaps between entries sometimes. I also have a hard time understanding how society progressed to this point, and I feel as if this could have been better developed and incorporated into the book rather than the direct preaching near the end that seems somewhat tangential from the actual story and main point of the book.

Zee Abbas 

What was this book? Was the subtext good? Was it bad? Is it taunting? Should I be disagreeing? (I somewhat do). It was strangely relaxing to read this book. Must read again

Barbara Williford

Wow! I fell in love with Ayn Rand after reading Atlas Shrugged. While I don’t agree with all her beliefs, her philosophy and wisdom was before her time. Both these books demonstrate the projection most nations are headed. 

This book was a quick read novella with insight on how we give up our freedom when we forget about “I” (not the egotistical, self center “I”, put the survival “I”) and focus collectively on the “we.” Once that happens we loose our freedoms, our identities, ourselves, our beliefs and talents and are at the mercy of the counsel for our very identify and survival. No longer self thinkers. No longer free! A must read!

Sabetha Danes

Personally I don't know enough about this author to have the strong opinions that many of these reviews hold. 

The book was creepy, a solid story of a person going from group think to individualism. I can understand why it's high school reading material as it brings up valid topics to hypothesize about. One reads the extreme views to gain a better understanding of the world.

If you haven't ever read this author, this seems like the quickest way to check out her work.

Amanda

I loved this book. I deeply appreciate authors that can transport me into a different world with so few words. Anthem has a lot of similar vibes as other classical dystopian novels like 1984 and The Giver. Ann Rand's writing was beautifully simple and moving. I appreciate dystopian novels because they showcase how damaging something good in small bits is horrific if done on a huge scale and Anthem was no different. It was captivating and so moving.

Yasmine Abdou

I am so glad I chose this book to start my year with. It's one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The storyline and events are simple but very powerful and meaningful. It has left me with so many thoughts and emotions. I love it! And again... waaay ahead of its time.

Christopher McCaffery

Probably one of the most disgusting things I've ever read. Anyone who wants to undertake to explain to me how Part Eleven, and I'll quote here at length, is in any way a decent or respectable thing, or in any world compatible with the barest Christianity, I'm all ears.

"I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.
It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect.
Many words have been granted me, and some are wise, and some are false, but only three are holy: 'I will it!'
[...]
I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not. For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth. And my happiness needs no higher aim to vindicate it. My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose."

NB: Irony, but to be expected. Rand's hero in Anthem takes the name Prometheus, because "He took the light of the gods and he brought it to men, and he taught men to be gods." 

Such an anti-communist, she ended up adopting Marx' poster-boy herself.

Kylie Robinson

This really surprised me because usually books I’m made to read in school are really boring but this one actually grabbed my attention. I can admit I even enjoyed it quite a bit.

Samirah Arif

I read this for school, and it wasn't that bad? It lowkey kinda got me out of a really long reading slump. It's like I'm getting my personality back. Anyway, the writing style was interesting enough, though it was weird towards the end. I didn't really like the characters but I was interested in the world.

Kate

I first read this at age 11 and thought it was a great dystopian novel. I re-read it for my 9th grade English class and realized how aggressively and overtly it preaches Ayn Rand's philosophy. The last paragraph is so ridiculously over-the-top it is kind of amazing:

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

Seriously, read some quotes from it here on Goodreads, they are incredible. It is so obvious that the entire point of Anthem is to propagandize Objectivism and I totally missed it when I first read this book. (I also wrote an entire essay on Animal Farm and how it was an allegory for communism without having any functional understanding of what communism is.) I mean, I remember this novel as reasonably well-written but it is also ridiculous.

Christina

Erica

Dystopian fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this is a short novel that says so much. The fact that there's a Rush song based on it is a plus, too. I lost my copy though.

caro

claire

Viet-Hung Nguyen

Hope McCollum

emma miasek

Equality 7-2521 is a man apart. Since The Great Rebirth it has been a crime in his world to think or act as an individual. Even love is forbidden. Yet since his childhood in the Home of the Infants, Equality 7-2521 has felt that he is different. When he is sent by The Council of Vocations to work as a road sweeper, he stumbles upon a link to the old world that gives him the spur to break free. 

First published in England in 1938, Ayn Rand's short dystopian novel crystalizes the ideas of individualism and competition that would make her name world famous.

Anthem

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