Anthem

Written by Ayn Rand

Narrated by J.D. Kelly

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evans Way Publishing
• Release date: Apr 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781662209819

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) wrote the bestselling novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) and founded the philosophy known as objectivism. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Rand taught herself to read at the age of six and soon resolved to become a professional writer. In 1926, she left Communist Russia to pursue a screenwriting career in Hollywood, and she published her first novel ten years later. With her next book, the dystopian novella Anthem (1938), she introduced the theme that she would devote the rest of her life to pursuing: the inevitable triumph of the individual over the collective. 

Reviews for Anthem

[Rebellious Reviewer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ayn Rand is the best critic of her own philosophy. Too bad she never realized it.

[Scott Pichard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great narrator! Great dramatization of collectivist vs individualist paradigms! Great development of the protagonist!

[Eleanor Carson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A book that tells the horror of a utopia gone bad, where individualism is a crime punishable by death. At the end, the protagonist spells out its polar opposite, a worldview built upon individualism. The only reason I docked this book a star is that, like other of her books, females are made silent and subservient to men. Women are capable of individualism too, but nowhere does this idea really take root in this book. Otherwise, this is an excellent book.