Public reader discussion about Anthem by Ayn Rand.
By espressowonder2006
Wow… I don’t even know where to start. This feels like a watered-down, one-joke American version of Zamyatin’s WE, and it comes off kind of dull and preachy, like a lot of Ayn Rand stuff. Honestly, though, it’s still better than Atlas Shrugged. If you’re thinking about reading it, I’d rather you just grab WE instead.
By silver_cougar4061
I just found Ayn Rand and I’m not sure where to start—what book would you recommend I read first?
By Parcel_Watches
Anthem is set after some kind of huge dark-age collapse where tons of tech is gone, and people live in a society that treats everyone as equals basically whether they want it or not. You get handed a role, you’re sent to a place to have a child with someone you don’t even know, and then you never see them again—the baby gets taken right away and you don’t hear from it. All of that is wrapped up in how it tries to push the whole idea of individuality, just in a pretty intense dystopian setup. I’m not really into a lot of Ayn Rand’s other stuff, but this is probably one of my favorite shorter books. You can still see her more extreme beliefs in it if you know what to look for, but it still feels like a pretty accessible look at what “equality” can lead to. It also hit me harder than Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut, and I liked it a lot.
By hidden_raven6223
Just wrapped up Ayn Rand’s novella *Anthem*. I’ll say she’s a really strong author and I enjoyed reading it, but the story feels pretty run-of-the-mill for her. It’s basically a dystopia where everything is decided by committees and the whole thing is about one guy trying to break out of a system that bans individuality. As a knock against Socialism/Communism it’s kind of fun to think about, like a “what if” scenario, and that part held my attention. I’m also curious what other people think of her books in general. I grew up with Goldwater/Reagan conservative parents, so I was encouraged to read her stuff when I was a teenager. I did read *Atlas Shrugged* though, and even though it’s written well, I found it a little too in-your-face for me. You usually hear pretty negative things about her online, and a lot of people seem to rank her as a pretty weak author. I don’t really agree with all that though. She definitely sticks to her politics and philosophy, and her female characters aren’t usually great (especially in *Anthem*), but her writing style is honestly impressive. I also see a lot of critics talk like the books “celebrate selfishness,” and to me that feels more like criticism of what the plot is arguing than criticism of the actual book. So yeah—I’m wondering what everyone’s take is on her. Did you have a similar experience, or did you avoid her because of the usual chatter? I’m not rushing to finish *Atlas Shrugged*, but I am interested in giving *The Fountainhead* a shot.
By EmmaLovesBooks
It seems like, at this point, most people just agree Ayn Rand had some pretty awful ideas, and Objectivism doesn’t really get treated seriously. Still, I keep thinking about *Atlas Shrugged* and wondering if it actually works better as satire than anything else. I’ve always felt like there’s a decent mystery novel buried in it, and the whole thing about people getting complacent and then watching a society that runs efficiently start to fall apart—at least to me—that part hits uncomfortably true. I’m in a government job, and my day-to-day is basically in a pretty well-off but super bureaucratic kind of society. Part of my job is hiring, and after seeing all the obstacles and why they exist, I can’t help but ask how long it takes before leaders admit some policies need to change, like, now. Anyone else get that same vibe? If you strip out the extreme neoliberal stuff and the whole “commie scare” angle, and you imagine it’s meant as a parody, there’s actually a lot to chew on in there.