Other editions of book Anthem

Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and 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 use of the word "ego" is punishable by death). Initially, Rand planned on publishing Anthem as a magazine story or serial, but her agent encouraged her to publish it as a book. The work has inspired many musical pieces, including full-length albums. Anthem is also credited by Neil Peart for influencing Rush's "2112" with strong parallels to the plot, structure, and theme of Anthem. The Libertarian Futurist Society awarded Anthem its Hall of Fame Award in 1987.The book was adapted into a stage play in 2013 by Jeff Britting, the Department Manager of the Ayn Rand Archives at the Ayn Rand Institute. First performed in Denver, it opened on Broadway in September 2013. In 2011, Anthem was adapted into a graphic novel by Charles Santino, with artwork by Joe Staton.

Written with all the power and conviction that made THE FOUNTAINHEAD and ATLAS SHRUGGED classics of American letters, Ayn Rand's ANTHEM is a hymn to man's independent spirit and to the highest word in the human language -- the word "Ego." ANTHEM tells the story of a man who rediscovers individualism and his own "I" It is 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. It is a world which lost all the achievements of science and civilization when it lost its root, the independent mind, and 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." 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 that, if accepted today, will save us from a future such as the one presented in this story.

Equally reviled and loved in a surprising polarization of opinion, the world-renowned American political philosophy writer Ayn Rand's controversial dystopian novella paints one of the grimmest imaginable futures in a world engaged in total war against the individual. Equality 7-2521 was born with a curse, the desire to think and to question; and if that was not bad enough in the cold, collectivist brotherhood of the City, he had a gift for math and science, and lived in the transgression of seeing himself as other than We. Robbed of his dream to be a Scholar by the Council of Vocations, who are only too eager to crush the seed of individuality out of Equality 7-2521, they assigned him to the profession of Street Sweeper to toil in the silent suffering for the common good. Tiring quickly of his mundane existence far below his talents, his curiosity takes over his better judgement; and while this curiosity leads him to find love, lost science, and self-determination, it costs him everything he knows. Escaping only with his life, his love, and his simple discovery, he builds a new life for himself as an individual beyond the control of the City in the Uncharted Forest, where he uncovers the greatest of all truths once lost in time: the Ego.

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An Entrancing Dystopian Novella about Regaining One's IndividualitySet in an obscure and undetermined future dystopian era, when humankind has shed its individuality almost completely, Anthem is one of Ayn Rand's greatest works, and speaks as a warning to all humanity about the dangers of ignoring individual thinking. The story tells about a 21 year old young man, known by the designation Equality 7-2521 who lives in a world where individual actions and thoughts are all but banned and anything from selecting a partner or a vocation to technological evolution is regulated in great detail by various Councils.Equality strays from the normal path, however, and despite his brilliant scientific mind, he is assigned the work of a street sweeper. This turn of events, however, allows him the freedom to explore lost underground tunnels where clues of a world from a distant past are hidden. He also befriends a young girl by the name of Liberty 5-3000 who later becomes his lifelong partner on his path to rediscovering individuality.Written in 1938, this remarkable book was well before its time and is seen by many to have been a warning for both current and future generations against what socialism could become. This, in fact, became the grounds for much criticism brought against Anthem, with two publishers in the US and England refusing to publish the book, commenting that “the author does not understand socialism.”It was only many years later that the novella was finally published in the United States under a small publishing house with libertarian views, owned by some of Ayn Rand's friends.To this day, the book and the story behind it remains quite controversial, and has sparked the interest of conspiracy theorists, many of whom believe that Ayn Rand's work itself and the criticism it had sparked during past decades may actually be proof that individual freedom is much less accessible than most people think.