Yuffie's Book Reviews

Anthem - by Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand has been the object of immense controversy for her philosophy of Objectivism. Rand's philosophy is extremely anti-socialist, and Anthem is a heavy-handed ode to the "merits" of selfishness, of rejecting community, of only helping those who have earned your help (and it's well known she's vehemently against charity to the poor and needy). You can imagine I don't agree with Rand's extreme philosophy. I'll touch on this a bit, but I'll also objectively analyze the writing and storytelling itself, so don't confuse my praise for her writing as praise for the philosophy behind the story.

The story depicts a dystopian society where all people are referred to as "we", and "I" is banned. They live in a technology-less future, where everyone is equal and considered a single entity. You aren't allowed to love anyone specific, because you must love all men equally. You aren't allowed to be different than anyone else, to be smarter or taller (as the MC is). The government choses your job, and when you can mate. you're not allowed to have friends or family, because everyone is loved equally. Men aren't allowed to speak to women.

A very heavy-handed extreme catering to Rand's Objectivist ideas. Through the MC, Equality 7-2521, Rand bashes all sense of community by depicting a horrific extreme that is clearly awful. But in doing so, she pushes the agenda of the completely opposite extreme of the spectrum, saying that community, love, and sharing should be condemned, that people need to be selfish and only look out for themselves, that man is his own god. *cringes* I believe in individuality, absolutely, but Rand's ideas take this too far and reject helping those in need (which is hilariously ironic considering she needed public aid and social security in the latter years of her life). It's a very self-centered, egotistical view of life. (The book's original working title was Ego, in fact.)

Equality is a free-thinker in a world where thoughts are damned, so he spends the book slowly breaking the rules of his society, going off on his own and secretly conducting science experiments in a cave, falling in love with a girl he passes on his way home from work, and such. I love his characterization. He's such a strong protagonist in that he has clear goals and motivations. He's fighting for what he believes in, fighting for knowledge that was denied to him, fighting for the right to his own personal joys and freedom to make his own decisions and lives for himself, not a servant to others. That's awesome. ... Until the last 2 chapters, where he (ie. Rand) went on a BS rant:

"I do not surrender my treasures, no do I share them. The fortune of my spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom. I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet." (Except of course, your girlfriend... yeah forgot about her, didn't you? -.-) And it just rants on and on like this, about how he's so important, and others have to earn the right to his love. And all of this was completely proven otherwise by the Golden One (the woman he loves), whom he shares everything with, whom he lives for and covets. So if he truly believes in solitude, why did Rand include the Golden One?

Let's talk about the Golden One for a second. This chick only existed as a tired trope of the pure young beautiful maiden in white and hair of gold, who absolutely worships Equality every step of the way, who was completely submissive to him as though she was an apostle of Jesus. It was slightly concerning, and again contradicting Equality's/Rand's rant about selfishness and ego, because she completely lived for Equality.

So content aside, Rand's writing was riveting. It's absolutely poetic and moving, with a damn strong character voice. I found myself lost in the beautiful rhythm of her words—which is quite scary, since many of her words are Objectivist BS. There was a scene where Equality fled the city and ran into the woods, and the evocative imagery, the sheer emotion Rand put into his elation and wonder at his new freedom moved me like no book has in a very long time. I teared up because I felt so happy for him and shared his joy (ha, take that, Rand!). It was a beautiful scene. Seriously, Rand may have some .... objectionable ideas, but the quality of her writing, the rock-solid characterization, and the steady pacing are top-notch, at least to me.

Agh, if not for the horrific last two chapters praising selfishness, self-centeredness, and egotism, and some of the obviously heavy-handed preaching throughout, this book would have gotten 5 stars. Writing/characterization/pacing-wise it's 5/5. Heavy-handed preaching of Objectivism forces me to dock a star. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I gave Ayn Rand 5 stars, so I'm giving it:

4/5 stars