Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem [Paperback]

Robert Mayhew (Editor), Michael S. Berliner (Contributor), Andy Bernstein (Contributor), Harry Binswanger (Contributor), Tore Boeckmann (Contributor), Jeff Britting (Contributor), Onkar Ghate (Contributor), Lindsay Joseph (Contributor), John Lewis (Contributor), Shoshana Milgram (Contributor), Amy Peikoff (Contributor), Richard E. Ralston (Contributor), Greg Salmieri (Contributor), Darryl Wright (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2005

In this first book-length study of Ayn Rand's anti-utopia Anthem, essays explore the historical, literary, and philosophical themes presiding in this novella written in opposition to the totalitarianism of the Soviet Union (and Nazi Germany). Written in 1937, published in 1938 in Britain, and subsequently in a revised form in the United States in 1946, Anthem investigates the importance of the ego and freedom, and the individual against the state. Editor Robert Mayhew has collected a variety of essays dealing with such topics including: the history behind the novella's creation, publication, and reception; its connection to other anti-utopian novels; and, the significance of ego and freedom, which it portrays and defends. This book is important to philosophers as well as readers looking to gain a better understanding of Ayn Rand and Anthem.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This collection sheds powerful light on the origins, literary genius, and striking philosophical depth of Ayn Rand's wonderful little novel. Some of the essays are astonishingly good. (Gotthelf, Allan )

This book is filled with scholarly nuggets that provide insightful analyses of the history, literary techniques, and philosophic principles in Ayn Rand's futuristic novelette Anthem. It is valuable reading for anyone who desires a deeper understanding of this classic work. (Gary Hull )

About the Author

Robert Mayhew is Professor of Philosophy at Seton Hall University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Lexington Books (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739110314
• ISBN-13: 978-0739110317
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #751,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rand Scholarship...the way it might be and ought to be, April 8, 2006

By 

D. Watkins (Aliso Viejo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem (Paperback)

I was impressed by the scholarship of this volume. Each essay was rich with fresh angles, new insights, and interesting asides into Ayn Rand, Anthem, and Rand's philosophy. I also learned a lot from the philosophical essays, particularly Onkar Ghate's essay on free will and determinism, Greg Salmieri's essay on individualism and the concept "I", and Darryl Wright's essay on the psyche in Rand's early thought. Each of these authors makes a number of interesting and illuminating philosophical points that--to my knowledge--have not been addressed anywhere else in the literature.

Overall, highly recommended.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FASCINATING!, September 24, 2007

By 

William Bucko "Bill Bucko" (Mt. Clemens, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem (Hardcover)

Most recent literary criticism cannot be read for pleasure. It's pretentious, muddle-headed, even corrupt, spouting the poisonous dogma that your mind can't see facts, all it sees is warped by "class, race, and gender." (Then how can they claim that as fact?)

This book is a welcome exception.

It's a clear, straightforward, helpful and ultimately fascinating look at Ayn Rand's second masterpiece, written by noted scholars. Here are just some of the contents:

"Anthem" in Manuscript: Finding the Words, by Shoshana Milgram

"Anthem:" '38 and '46, by Robert Mayhew

"Anthem" and "The Individualist Manifesto," by Jeff Britting

"Anthem as a Psychological Fantasy, by Tore Boeckmann

"Anthem" in the Context of Related Literary Works: "We Are Not Like Our Brothers," by Shoshana Milgram

Sacrilege Toward the Individual: The Anti-Pride of Thomas More's "Utopia" and "Anthem"'s Radical Alternative, by John Lewis

"Anthem" and Collectivist Regression into Primitivism, by Andrew Bernstein

This book provides fascinating glimpses into Ayn Rand's great classic. Don't miss it!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, With Reservations, May 4, 2008

By 

Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem (Hardcover)

Robert Mayhew, a professor of philosophy at Seton Hall University, has edited three collections of essays about Ayn Rand's novels. Prof. Mayhew is associated with Leonard Peikoff's Ayn Rand Institute, which advocates Rand's philosophy (known as "Objectivism") in its most consistent, some would say dogmatic, form.

ANTHEM is my favorite work of Rand's fiction. Written after WE THE LIVING, ANTHEM is a "distopyian" novella describing life in a thoroughly egalitarian society in which people have lost even a sense of personal identity. It was first published in England in 1938. Rand produced a revised version in 1946.

This collection contains essays about the writing of ANTHEM, its background, its critical reception, its one adaption for radio, and philosophical issues raised by the book. As with Prof. Mayhew's collection on WE THE LIVING, the essays concerning the writing of the book and its reception are most interesting. In particular, Shoshana Milgram's essays are outstanding. She shows, for example, that it is likely that Orwell read ANTHEM and that it influenced 1984.

This book does display something of a cultic atmosphere. It is beyond annoying that certain authors constantly refer to Rand as "Ayn Rand." There is also the common Objectivist tendency to downplay the Nietzschean elements in Rand's early thought (which even pops up in later works). For example, Prof. Darryl Wright discusses Rand's notes for a never written novel entitled THE HIDDEN STREET. Although Prof. Wright discusses the protagonist Danny Renahan, he fails to tell his reader that this character was modeled after a child kidnapper and multiple murderer, William Hickman. ("The best and strongest expression of a real man's psychology I have ever heard" Rand said of this creep.)

With a few reservations, I can recommend this book.