I know, it's Thursday, and look, an actual, honest-to-goodness book review! What?! Could it be that I'm actually back to regularly scheduled programming?
Well, probably not, honestly, but I'm trying.
But today it is back to the book reviews.
A few weeks ago I read Anthem by Ayn Rand.
And all I can say is... Huh.
Well, I'll try a little better than that.
Ayn Rand was educated in Russia and lived there during her formative years, before moving to the Unites States. She is most well-known for the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged... which I will likely never read. She was opposed to all forms of collectivism and strongly supported egoism and laissez-faire capitalism.
I think it is important to keep all of that in mind when reading this book.
The premise of this novella follows Equality 7-2521, who is a young man rebelling against the society he knows. The word "I" has been forgotten. Technology has been eradicated; in fact they celebrate the candle as an advanced tool. Equality 7-2521 is a rebel. He believes he is cursed because he learns and questions things quicker than others. He has committed many transgressions; he has made a friend, and he has noticed a young woman, who he thinks of constantly. But worst of all, though he was assigned the role of "street sweeper", he dreams of becoming a scholar. So much so, in fact, that when he discovers hidden tracks in a tunnel, he revisits them, conducting experiments in the hidden area.
Eventually he is whipped, imprisoned, cursed, and his great discovery - electricity, which he planned to share with his fellow man - ignored and threatened. He flees into the forest, where the girl he loves, Liberty 5-3000, finds him. Together they trek deeper into the forest and the mountains, where they find a house from the "Unmentionable Times". Here Equality 7-2521 reads the books left behind, and here the two decide to rename themselves Prometheus and Gaia, based on the new books. Here, too, our protagonist rediscovers the word "I", and he is finally able to communicate with Liberty 5-3000, now Gaia, who is carrying his child, that he loves her. He wonders how people in the past gave up their individuality, and he plans a future in which they regain it.
Okay, so...
I actually really like the dystopian world Rand creates. It reminds me a bit of Harrison Bergeron, which I enjoy and teach. The idea that something positive gets taken too far makes a great dystopian tale, I think.
However, unlike Harrison Bergeron, which focuses on equality taken too far, Rand doesn't seem to think that the original ideals she is exploring are positive.
This is where the story loses its effectiveness for me.
The beginning is great, and the plot itself is solid. But then it gets super, well, "preachy". Rand attempts to smack you across the face with her message, and in so doing, she loses me. Perhaps she was wanting to ensure people with low attention-spans and low intelligence levels can understand it? Regardless, she is just trying too hard at the end, and when she did that, the story lost all its interest for me.
But up to that point, I liked it. I liked the world-building, and though I personally don't agree with most of Rand's principles, the writing was entertaining and she was effectively using her society, characters and plot to explore her beliefs.
If only she'd stuck with that.
But by the end, not only had she lost me, but I was really and truly uncomfortable reading it. I felt like I needed a shower.
This was enough of Ayn Rand to convince me not to read any more of her work. I should have stopped halfway through the story.
Have you ever read Ayn Rand? Are you a fan? Am I missing something?
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