Anthem

Rating:
Summary: A Personal ANTHEM
Review: I first read Anthem when I was a teenager. Having been raised in a cult religion that served as a government, ("Thought Police"), this simple, short story impacted my life. I related to this man and his struggle to express himself outside of the realm of the great "We". I was drawn to this particular book because of the compostion by the Canadian rock trio, Rush. Anthem was musically manifested in 20 minutes of songs that told the story of a man who found himself, and risked his life just to live his dream while under the control of an oppressive religious government. For anyone who is interested, the title of the CD by Rush is "2112". In the musical version, the story's hero finds a guitar in a cave behind a waterfall. Anthem is subtly impacting and forcefully meek.

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Summary: The original Dilbert
Review: This fiftieth anniversay edition is even better than when it was first published, with Rand's magnificent insight to the impersonality of the modern corporate world and its 'organization man' mentality.

Today, think in terms of Dilbert. We now view corporate society with a sense of humor, people laugh at the conformity demanded of the business world. In 1930s, with the rise of right wing dictatorships in Europe and their isolationist fellow travellers in the Americas, the thought of absolute corporate control was no laughing matter. The result was a series of books, from 'Brave New World' to 'Animal Farm' and '1984.'

Freedom is a wonderful concept. No writer tells of people who willingly become corporate drones, the story is one of rebellion against such tyrannies. Rand was one of the best who presented a chilling portrait of capitalist excesses that we have come to know, accept and sometimes laugh about. I read this 40 years ago, and never dreamed then how much of her vision would come true by the year 2000.

Anyone who is familiar with the Seattle and subsequent protests against the Worled Trade Organization will sympathize with this story; it reflects the enduring struggle against the suppression of the individual by a domineering corporate culture. Rand says in her 1946 introduction, "Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it." Unfortunately, today's corporate drones never have to explain why "it's my way or the highway." It makes the book more relevant today than when first written.

Books such as these, written just as the vogue was starting for efficiency studies, employee motivation and other work more for less schemes were getting underway in the 1920s and 1930s, were a warning of an impersonal future. Today, in a world of multi-national firms that casually throw 10,000 or even 100,000 people out of work merely to boost the stock price, this book has immediate meaning. Any corporate employee may read this and wish, "Ahhh, if my job could only be this unstressed and simple."

There are two types of stories; one is the horror of a tyranny which requires everyone to serve a vast impersonal corporation that has less personality than a desktop computer. The other is the escape story, in which people flee the corporate world to a rustic paradise such as 'Lost Horizon' and, in more recent years, 'The Blue Lagoon' and 'Cast Away' with Tom Hanks. In her view, freedom is gained by running away, not be rebelling or overthrowing the system.

Rand wrote one of the best. It's a short escape story, just 80 some pages in the American edition that was published in 1946. The publishers include a copy of the original edition, showing the changes she made nine years later for the American market. It is a wonderful example of a writer's mind at work, illustrating how a truly good author is never satisfied with a final version.

Read it. Even in today's corporate tyranny, all hope is not lost. Freedom, the worth of the individual even a world of cookie-cutter sameness, is still possible. Just don't let the Cubicle Police catch you referring to it on the job.

Rating:
Summary: Let us not abandon 'I'
Review: Anthem is a book that everyone needs to take a couple hours out of their life to read. It doesn't take long at all. What you will get in return will last forever, if you let it.

Anthem tells us of a future where all current knowledge is forgotten and all that remains of it is condemned and evil. Much focus in the society is the candle and how great of an invention is is. This is a future that we brought amongst ourselves.

Anthem teaches us the value of Individuality. We learn that we cannot progress without this Individuality, without 'I'. I learned I cannot progress without Indiviuality, without 'I'.

Rating:
Summary: "The Wonderfulness of the self"
Review: I have read most of Ayn Rand's work-brilliant intellectualism, cold, determined, dynamic characters, and of course,artfully depicted ideas of "objectivism". This is definitely a departure. She creates a more colorful, compassionate web of "humanism"- a new way of describing to her readers how the individual reigns above all. Short, sweet, RAND.

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Summary: this book was really interesting
Review: I read this book on recomdation of one of my teachers and founds this book to be really enjoyable. For one this book wasn't very long so therefore it didn't allow much time for the story to get boring. Another thing is just the concept of the book is so different from most, being that this book was written at the prime of the communists party's rise, this book is forecast of the futre through the eyes of the author. This book is really intruiging and make you think, I'd reccomend this to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Spiritually uplifting... a satisfying feast for the spirit
Review: I loved this book. I don't regret having bought it in the place of a tape I would have liked to buy. ^_^ This is the first Ayn Rand book I've ever read, and it's certainly *not* going to be the last. She has a beautiful, fluid writing style that'll wash your eyes clear, and her philosophy is very relevant to modern-day living. I finished reading it the very same day I bought it (which is actually... today ^.^;;), which isn't something I do with every book I buy. It just hooked me from the very first paragraph. I strongly recommend it to souls who are groping around in the dark for something to nibble on.

Er... although I must warn you--if you're a conservative believer of any religion, and if you don't want your faith "challenged", you might not want to read this book, as the author is an atheist, and her writing sure reflects it. (Then again, if you allow her work to "disturb" you, then maybe your faith wasn't steadfast enough to begin with) I myself am a believer of God, but this book simply glowed for me and I enjoyed it, and my faith is still pretty much intact. (Then again, I'm not a 'traditional' sort of believer, so that's probably to be expected *sweatdrop*)

Oh, yes, and if you *do* decide to read the book, I suggest you read the introduction and foreword first, for a much clearer understanding of the themes of the story.

That said, I wish you the best in your experience of "Anthem!"

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Summary: Ayn Rand Insults Dystopias
Review: Ah, the dystopia: an oppressive, monolithic society that crushes the individual in favor of the upper class. There are some great dystopias out there: 1984 and Brave New World, for instance. Anthem is not one of them.

Anthem is the story of a dystopian society: everything's done by central management. However, there's one flaw in Rand's society that would've been picked apart long before Anthem happened. That would be the fact that EVERYONE EXCEPT THE MAIN CHARACTER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND IS A MORON! No society full of people so dumb could oppress so easily.

Then, apparently in an effort to show the triumph of the individual, the hero and the girl run off and live happily ever after in a cabin in the woods.

*cough*

So, in short, Anthem tells the story of 1984 where the Inner Party is a bunch of special school graduates and not Machiavellian genii. Of Brave New World where the World Controllers keep peace through keeping all at the lowest common denominator, instead of psychological conditioning and free sex and drugs.

It's a short read. But it's not worth it. It's a horrific attempt at presenting a negative utopia.

Rating:
Summary: Not Rand's best, but a good start
Review: Weak compared to her tomes, this is the Rand narrative. A tale of I overcoming WE, this is a weak, uninspired work. Maybe her others make this one look bad but it didn't hold as well or seem to be as effective as her later works.

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Summary: Dangers of Communism
Review: With Anthem, Rand delivers a powerful message concerning the dangers of extream Communism. The style of this book highlights the problems encountered in collective societies, and it would be an extreamly interesting read to anyone interested in political thought.

Rating:
Summary: I
Review: One of a handful of books on individualism I've read in the past year. This is a little bogged down by Rand's writing (I wasn't crazy about her style, as she couldn't decide whether she was writing a novel or about philosophy at times), and the ending is quite preachy. I feel the ideas behind Objectivism scream out at you in the story alone, and she did not need to place any added emphasis, such as she did to end the novella. Still, this is a good, quick read for one becoming interested in Rand.