MHJ
Literature reviews, by category
Ayn Rand:
Anthem

Rating: * * * *

I read Anthem at the wrong time in the wrong place. Actually, the book screwed up with my life for a moment - but it is a strong story, written in a compelling manner.
I started Anthem when I had just entered Costa Rica for my exchange student year. The book’s leading idea is the individual’s quest against self-denial and extreme altruism - the traditional antagonists in Rand’s works. This didn’t really work out for me, as I had to cope with a new, culture that values social life, family and the feeling of belonging to a group. Instead of going with it, I – the 17-year old boy wearing a school uniform for the first time, not understanding the language of the people and not knowing who to trust – identified with the hero of Anthem and rebelled against my new surroundings. Not a very good attitude, and the results were pretty bad too, but I got over it later on.
Anthem is an extreme book, and it’s sci-fi story setting has to be taken with a pinch of salt. A thousand metaphors that relate to the modern world are still there, but the message is more mature than many think, as I see now years later. It is still about the quest against the grain, but not so much in the form of rebelling against the society as in the form of asking yourself who you are: are you more a part of ”I” or a part of ”We”, and who is it that defines those concepts for you?

[b a c k]