Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in the United Kingdom. The story takes place at an unspecified future date when mankind has entered another Dark Age. Technological advancement is now carefully planned and the concept of individuality has been eliminated. A young man known as Equality 7-2521 rebels by doing secret scientific research. When his activity is discovered, he flees into the wilderness with the girl he loves. Together they plan to establish a new society based on rediscovered individualism.
Rand originally conceived of the story as a play, then decided to write for magazine publication. At her agent's suggestion, she submitted it to book publishers. The novella was first published by Cassell in England. It was published in the United States only after Rand's next novel, The Fountainhead, became a best seller. Rand revised the text for the US edition, which was published in 1946. Source: Wikipedia
Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, first published in 1937 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age as a result of the evils of irrationality and collectivism and the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics.
Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word I has disappeared from the language).
As is common in her work, Rand draws a clear distinction between the socialist/communal values of equality and brotherhood and the productive/capitalist values of achievement and individuality.
This Special Collector's Edition contains both the unedited and annotated versions of the Ayn Rand's book, with notes and observations for study, and a Foreward by Ayn Rand.
REVIEWS:
A compelling dystopian look at paranoia from one of the most unique and perceptive writers of our time
- New York Times
A diamond in the rough, often dwarfed by the superstar company it keeps with the author's more popular work, but every bit as gripping, daring and powerful.
- Publisher's Weekly
Ayn Rand was more of a prophet than many people once realized.
- Alan Greenspan
My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose. ― Ayn Rand, Anthem
Anthem has long been hailed as one of Ayn Rand's classic novels, and a clear predecessor to her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out.
Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him--a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd--to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice.