Earlier today I finished reading “Anthem”, the famed novella by Ayn Rand.
I got this courtesy of the Project Gutenberg. They have many books in text format, and some in audio book format. What amazes me is that “Anthem” is available in trade paperback form and clocks in at 256 pages. I pasted the story to a MS Word document, using 10 point font, and it was only 40 pages! I would think that the font size on that trade paperback edition would be big enough to read from across the street.
From Amazon.Com and the “review” by AudioFile (I took part of it since it best described it) here is kind of what it’s about:
Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” is a short dystopic novel about a man who escapes a society from which all individuality has been squeezed. Its allegory is crudely transparent, and the ideas have lost their political urgency. (The book was published in 1938, a decade before Orwell’s 1984.) But “Anthem” provides a good introduction to Rand’s philosophy of “objectivism,” which is built on individuality, freedom, and reason.
I think this is a great way to describe the novella. I don’t know if I would have used the word “crudely”, but it is somewhat heavy-handed. And it’s political ideals and social issues that it addresses have lost their luster. Mostly because individualism has become the norm around the world. Part of Rand’s views here were expressed against the communist regimes.
Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand)
As a story in itself, and given when it was written, it is interesting. Mostly what interested me was to see how someone could become lost in a world created to work for the “brotherhood” instead of for oneself. The main character (Equality 7-2521, and later names himself Prometheus) acts early on like what we would think of as a member of a cult, knowing that his desire to think freely and learn is a transgression in his society, and though he excels in math and sciences, is happy to do penance as a street sweeper when given his role in society. But he discovers a subway and lets himself get lost in desires and gives into them. Though a short novel, the story is well put together by Rand to progress the character and his discoveries. She could have done more with his discovery of the word “I” and what it means on a psychological level. But she quickly goes through the discovery of the word right into his feelings after thinking about what it means. The pacing overall though was good. Anything longer probably would have been painful to read.
The political issues are lost on me given the society that I have grown up in. Sure we clamber to buy the latest clothes or gadgets that the guy down the street has. But compared to the societies behind the “iron curtain”, we are a society of free thinkers. Regardless of the message’s impact on me, I can see why many have found this work of fiction inspiring in the real world. It even inspired one of my favorite bands (Rush) to write a song that is very similar (”2112″), though their ending is much sadder, yet ironic.
There are many stories or books that people say SHOULD be read. I think “Anthem” would be a good choice. It gives you a good idea of what political and personal views can do to a work of fiction. It also displays some science fiction, or at least what was called science fiction back in it’s day (though it was never, and should never be classified as such). And given it’s short length and availability, it is very accessible to any reader.
Recent Comments