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Title: Anthem by Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff ISBN: 0-451-19113-7 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.98 (362 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Not the best "first read"
Comment: I first read this book way back in high school, 9th grade to be exact. I HATED it at the time. I agreed heartily with its point and purpose, but thought it was far too simplistic and obvious to promote any serious thought. Then, about 6 years later, I began reading Rand's other works. After reading Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, Anthem made more sense. It wsn't as simple as it appeared to be. I read it again and enjoyed it. People tend to read Anthem at the age that I did, because of school curriculum, and it is their first exposure to Rand. This is likely done because Anthem is her shortest work of fiction. But I think that is a grave mistake, because Anthem is best read after reading her longer works. This approach has probably turned potential readers away from Rand. Recently, I read her letters in their published form, and in them she refers to Anthem as a poem. Armed with this knowledge, as well as with the knowledge of her other works, Anthem is a much better reading experience than it was when I was a 14 year old with no idea who Ayn Rand was.
Rating: 3
Summary: Ayn Rand in a nutshell
Comment: 'Anthem' is a special little book, for it is a really compact reflection of Ayn Rand's ideas, but not only that. It is, more importantly, the very first of its kind. Ayn Rand used the prospective future in which collectivism has assumed world domination as the ideal launchpad for her ideas of objectivism. The world she creates isn't as important as the ideas she expresses, and it is therefore that this book is really short. It serves its purpose and that's it, unlike another of Ayn Rand's works, like 'The Fountainhead', in which she, with the help of a great cast of characters, tells a massive story on an epic scale to make clear her objectivist plans.
Sadly Mrs. Rand didn't (or didn't want to) realise she had gold in her hands with the society she depicted, as writers such as George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Ira Levin later used (or borrowed?) elements of 'Anthem' in their respective masterpieces '1984','Brave New world' and 'A Perfect Day'. Please note that, unlike other reviewers have said, 'Anthem' OUTDATES all three of these mentioned books.
A missed chance? I couldn't say. Fact is that 'Anthem' bridges the gap between two of my favourite books, George Orwell's '1984' and Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead'.
You don't have to agree 100% with Ayn Rand's ideas to like her work. I, for one, don't. In the case of 'Anthem' a reader can appreciate this novelette for its simpleness and clear storytelling qualities. If you like '1984'-type books, this, in any case is a funny, yet worthwhile addition to your collection.
Rating: 5
Summary: Ayn Rand made sense
Comment: Anthem by Ayn Rand is by far the best book by hers that I've read in a long time. I have several of her other books already and have gone so far as to underline the most meaningful parts (I've read each several times). She says things that others are afraid to say for fear of being (gasp) selfish. She, in her books, tells us that it's ok to be selfish, that it's our duty to look out for ourselves first. No one else will look out for you other than you. I realize that's an extreme way to look at things, but in this day and age of if you are more successful than your neighbor you get taxed more to help "others". Helping and the insidious guilt for not doing so is a terrible way to enforce this forced servitude as Ms. Rand calls it. Her books and her philosophy are eye openers indeed. It's a pity she isn't around anymore to keep writing what we all know is true but afraid to say most of the time. It's even worse to know that when we do speak up about the status quo, we get shut out like the characters Howard Roark and Dagny Taggart.
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Title: We the Living by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451187849 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451191145 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $8.99 |
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Title: Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451163931 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 July, 1989 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (Signet Shakespeare) by Ayn Rand ISBN: 0451147952 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: 01 April, 1983 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Rand's Anthem (Cliffs Notes) by Andrew Bernstein ISBN: 0764585576 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 12 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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