Book Review: Anthem
Skylar Powers
Anthem is a 1938 novel written by Ayn Rand. It had it’s first release in the United States in 1946 after being edited and essentially rewritten for American readers. This novel is one that many students at the Homer High School have read, but I want to make people aware of this novel. I am writing a spoiler-free review of the novel.
The story takes place sometime in the future and this makes it a dystopian novel. This isn’t The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, or Divergent. It is the opposite. In this fictional future, all technology and discoveries that humans take credit for today, are gone. Everyone follows a certain set of strict rules, and breaking these rules would result in horrible consequences. Life is set up ahead of time and everyone does what they are supposed to do. This is the case until secrets start to be revealed that go beyond everyone’s logic and intelligence.
The novel, in my opinion, starts out on a slow note. The first chapter drags along, and sometimes it got hard to continue reading. The language was repetitive and the story seemed dull and deprived of emotion. To add onto that, the wording is extremely confusing and the book doesn’t make much sense. For example, “We felt the cords of our neck grow tight as our head rose higher to look upon the faces of the Council, and we were happy” (Rand 26). The characters didn’t seem interesting at first, and they aren’t because that’s the way the story makes them out to be. They aren’t unique or very ambitious. The verb agreement is confusing. They use “We” with “I” verbs, if you know what I mean. It doesn’t take long to get used to the society’s usage and the reasons why they speak the way that they do. The book is a brief 89 pages, so it has to pick up in speed. Just in the second chapter, the story becomes very interesting. I became obsessed with the characters and I wanted to know what would happen next at every moment. As the story’s mysteries start to unravel themselves, the book becomes more understandable and, also, more interesting.
This book deserves more credit. It should be considered with the classics like 1984, another popular dystopian novel. It is a fantastic book with a fantastic ending and great characters. So, if you are looking for something different that can be read quickly, this book is definitely a really good option.
