In the world of Anthem, men live in the collective, raised to be entirely equal. This story would have benefited greatly from more pages and less of the dreaded opinion hammer. The dystopian society depicted in Anthem is a fascinating one, and I really wish that she had done justice to it. This was just a way for her to tell you her opinions, which she will do via her character.

Though written in story format, Anthem is a thinly veiled philosophical and political tract.

As such, she very much does not approve of collectivism, and that is what she is challenging in Anthem. She believes in the power of the individual and has loathing for anything that compels a person to do anything. One thing that would be helpful to know is that she's crazy. Readers unfamiliar with Ayn Rand should know some things before they launch into Anthem. Though heavy-handed, there is a lot that is interesting in Ayn Rand's brief philosophical work. Now that I'm older and better educated, I have a much better understanding of what Ayn Rand was up to. At the time, I loathed it, as I did much of my required reading. (Summary by Wikipedia and the Reader)įor further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.įor more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit, I have already read Anthem, ages ago, when I was in my sophomore year of high school, so long, apparently, that the yellow of my highlighting is scarcely discernible. This is a novel upholding Rand's central principles of her philosophy and of her heroes: reason, values, volition, individualism. Rand, as a teenager living in Soviet Russia, initially conceived Anthem as a play. 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 use of the word 'I' is punishable by death). It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics. This Novella by Ayn Rand was first published in England in 1938.

LibriVox recording of Anthem by Ayn Rand.

Anthem by ayn rand audio