Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

Anthem

By Ayn Rand

(64)

| Hardcover | 9780870041242

Like Anthem?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

Written with all the power and conviction that made THE FOUNTAINHEAD a classic of American letters, Ayn Rand's ANTHEM is a hymn to man's independent spirit and to the highest word in the human language - "Ego."

First written in 1937, ANTHEM was published in England, but was refused in publicationContinue

Written with all the power and conviction that made THE FOUNTAINHEAD a classic of American letters, Ayn Rand's ANTHEM is a hymn to man's independent spirit and to the highest word in the human language - "Ego."

First written in 1937, ANTHEM was published in England, but was refused in publication in America, for reason which the reader might discover by reading it for himself. In 1946, it appeared as a pamphlet, issued by Pamphleteers, Inc., of Los Angeles. This is its first American publication in regular book form.

ANTHEM is one of the most beautiful prose poems ever written. Ruth Alexander, the great Libertarian lecturer and columnist, has said in her column that ANTHEM is "tender and terrific - the greatest novel I have ever read, and I have covered the literary water front in seven languages. You will think - you will weep - you will be inspired to new determination not to let the creeping evil of collectivism happen here." It is written with such power and sincerity and beauty that every thinking American should read it.

ANTHEM tells the story of a man who rediscovers the individualism and his own "I" - in a world of absolute collectivization, a world where sightless, joyless, selfless men exist for the sake of serving the State; where their work, their food and their mating are prescribed to them by order of the Collective's rulers in the name of society's welfare - a world which has lost all the achievements of science and civilization, when it lost their root, the independent mind, and has reverted to primitive savagery - a world where language contains no singular pronouns, where the "We" has replaced the "I," and where men are put to death for the crime of discovering and speaking the "unspeakable word."

The story tells of one man who rebelled, of his struggle and his victory. Assigned to the life work of street sweeper by the rulers who resented his brilliant, questioning, unsubmissive mind - he becomes a scientist, secretly, risking his life for the sake of his quest for knowledge. In the midst of collective stagnation, where men toil at manual labor by the light of candles - he discovers electricity. In the midst of eugenic planning and State-controlled Palaces of Mating - he discovers a personal love and a woman of his own choice. In the midst of brutal morality which proclaims that man is only a sacrificial animal to the needs of others - he discovers that man's greatest moral duty is the pursuit of his own happiness. He endures danger, denunciation, imprisonment, torture - but he breaks the chains of the Collective, he escapes with the woman he loves, to start a new life in an uncharted wilderness, and he reaches the day when he is able to predict that "my home will! become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake."

ANTHEM presents not merely a frightening projection of existing trends, but, more importantly, a positive answer to those trends and a weapon against them, a key to the world's moral crisis and to a new morality of individualism - a morality which, if accepted today, will save us from a future such as the one presented in this story.

Critics

  • Anthem By Ayn Rand

    Ayn Rand's enduring classic Publisher's comments: Ayn Rand's classic bestseller, Anthem, is the unforgettable tale of a nightmarish totalitarian future—and the ultimate triumph of the individual spirit. First published in 1938, and often compared wit ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

4 Reviews

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • "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.

    Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a ba ... (continue)

    "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.

    Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars"

    "But what is freedom? Freedom from what? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else"

    Ayn Rand proposes a straight-forward and radical philosophy which focuses on the individual, "the most endangered minority", as she wittingly puts it, and its rights.
    The plot of this short novel embodies her principles: "Anthem" is a lyrical ode to the ego and a warning against the dangers of collectivism and totalitarianism.

    When approaching Ayn Rand, one can be easily put off by the strength and the implications of her thinking: as a fierce opponent of Altruism and a proponent of Egoism (that we consider a hideous vice) as a virtue, she is quite far from the mainstream.

    One needs to develop a deeper understanding of the meaning Rand gives to such words to see that she is not swearing, but putting forward a coherent and rational way of thinking. She does not set out to create a world in which the weakest are left behind, but one in which no one, not even the state, can initiate force to treat others as a means to its own ends.

    Her prose is powerful and vibrant; nothing is left ambiguous or equivocal. The characters are clear-cut mono-dimensional stereotypes, either good or evil, saved or damned; any psychological analysis that could introduce elements of ambiguity is left out.
    This rather simplistic and ingenuous view of the world lies at the core of her whole philosophy; on the other hand, it gives her writing a strength and passion that make her stand out against most of the other writers and philosophers.

    Is this helpful?

    Gabriele said on Jan 23, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Outstanding

    I guess I just love dystopian novels. This one really got me hooked from the incipit: "It is a sin to write this" - it just forces you to go on with the reading. The whole setting, the mode of writing, the unconventional first-person plural narration, the astonishing set of rules that govern a dista ... (continue)

    I guess I just love dystopian novels. This one really got me hooked from the incipit: "It is a sin to write this" - it just forces you to go on with the reading. The whole setting, the mode of writing, the unconventional first-person plural narration, the astonishing set of rules that govern a distant future Earth just bring you into another point of view, into another dark, blind society where everything is for the sake of the Brother, of the We, with no possible chance for the self to find his or her own way in life, their destiny already given to them at the turning of 15 years old. I don't want to spoil this amazing novel by telling you all the dynamics of the dystopian society created by Ayn Rand, so I'll just leave you with these hints. Don't you already want to read it?!

    Is this helpful?

    sofialautrec said on Dec 29, 2011 about the School & Library Binding edition | Add your feedback

  • Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and the loadstone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They point to me.

    For in the temple of his spirit, each man is alone.

    Is this helpful?

    Giulia Irene said on Nov 22, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • A very powerful story about the need for individualism. It's been a long time since I read it, but it's one of those stories that stays with you. It's a fast, easy read - and one that I will most likely read again someday.

    Is this helpful?

    Bashful said on Aug 31, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780870041242 Hardcover $12.95 $9.32 bn.com
$12.95 $10.66 The Book Depository
Other editions →
+ 2 copies tradable: 1 in USA →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.