Just finished Part 6 of Ayn Rand's classic dystopian novella, ANTHEM.
I can't stop reading it. I can feel myself switching into "devour" mode. As a voluntaryist, this book speaks volumes to me (no pun intended) as did Atlas Shrugged, and the metaphors, analogies and allegories linking the work to the current state of affairs in the world are immediate, profound, and unsettling.
Some of my favorite excerpts from the work so far:
(*** SPOILER WARNING *** )
- Part One:
International 4-8818 and we are friends. This is an evil thing to say, for it is a transgression, the great Transgression of Preference, to love any among men better than the others, since we must love all men and all men are our friends.
- Part Two:
There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the city, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak.
We feel it also, when we are in the Home of the Street Sweepers. But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground.
- Part Three:
No single one can possess greater wisdom than the many Scholars who are elected by all men for their wisdom. Yet we can. We do. We have fought against saying it, but now it is said. We do not care. We forger all men, all laws and all things save our metals and our wires. So much is still to be learned! So long a road lies before us, and what care we if we must travel it alone!
- Part Four:
"Our dearest one," we whispered.
Never have men said this to women.
- Part Five:
We made it. We created it. We brought it forth from the night of the ages. We alone. Our hands. Our mind. Ours alone and only.
- Part Six:
When the Council of the Home questioned us, we looked upon the faces of the Council, but there was no curiosity in those faces, and no anger, and no mercy. So when the oldest of them asked us: "Where have you been?" we thought of our glass box and our light, and we forgot all else. And we answered:
"We will not tell you."
I really love the pluralization of the first person pronouns in ANTHEM.
I feel it conveys the atmosphere of a dystopian collectivist society with an almost profound immediacy. It also raises questions about the very nature of consciousness itself, and emphasizes the necessity of human community, in my view, even in the context of such an "individualist" work.
Looking forward to your posts! Remember to use the tag #kafkasbookclub, and don't post about anything past part 6 until the next and final post--next week!
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DTube and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
Hey @kafkanarchy84, finished anthem on my flight home yesterday from Mexico City. Looking forward to chatting with you once you finish... I'd hate to spoil anything. Thanks again for the rec. The last two chapters were my favorite.
Excellent, man. Looking forward to it. I’ve finished it as well. If you post about it, lemme know. I’ll be posting about it next week!
Will do! Maybe we should do a dlive with people who read it and share thoughts?
reading and writing are the two best things we can do when we feel bored.
they will change our mind and refresh our mind.
Too true.
yes thank you for replying <3
Nothing like a bit of anarchy to start the morning, will get onto this thanks for the heads up.
YES!
I've heard a lot about Ayn Rand and so I was pretty excited to read this.
I thought the pronoun thing got old pretty fast, it's like "OK, I get it, they don't have the word I" and after that it is just sort of makes it unpleasant to read. Someone recently wrote something on here and suggested that her works were satire, in light of that, brilliant.
amazing post upvote and resteem
I do not see it resteemed on your blog.
Wonderful
Yes, it really is.
グラハムスミス氏は、新潟に住まれている方なのですね！
Have a nice and successful day
That sounds like a great book, ive never read anything by Rand so thanks for the recommendation.
nice post please vote my comment, because your vote is very valuable to me