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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
"You see how irony becomes violence?
now the joke's on you."
I end up reading books about the not too distant future, unknowingly about the world after a pandemic where the world is broken. Ironically? Or is it a genre for the current times? "Anthem" is a call-to-arms of dissident and afflicted youth full of anxiety and a world they will inherit that is too broken to fix. In unison, and all alone, they begin a very dark high and disturbing protest: a epidemic suicide in response to a world that is crumbling without anything or anyone who can fix it. That alone is depressing. Add to that moments of dull flat writing, often about nothing and you reach the first third of this book. It gained much more momentum in the last third, but as it ended, I'm not even sure about how it did.
In a way, I thought I was reading a modern and dystopian version of The Wizard of Oz. There is a wizard who is more a sexual predator. There are rich men who seem to be analogies of Trump. None of the adults are working in the best interests of the young. And the young are just trying to find the best in what they can. Because, yes! The children are our future, but they have realised that they have not been taught well, and it is up to a 14 year old called the Prophet to lead the way. After escaping an institution, they convince each other that they are the saviours of the world with a hopeless innocence that seems too coincidental, naive and happily ever after. The world does seem a little sucky, but if the youth of tomorrow just churn out more violence to solve problems, they won't get far.
"We act, in other words, like hatred, intolerance, and violence are normal."
now the joke's on you."
I end up reading books about the not too distant future, unknowingly about the world after a pandemic where the world is broken. Ironically? Or is it a genre for the current times? "Anthem" is a call-to-arms of dissident and afflicted youth full of anxiety and a world they will inherit that is too broken to fix. In unison, and all alone, they begin a very dark high and disturbing protest: a epidemic suicide in response to a world that is crumbling without anything or anyone who can fix it. That alone is depressing. Add to that moments of dull flat writing, often about nothing and you reach the first third of this book. It gained much more momentum in the last third, but as it ended, I'm not even sure about how it did.
In a way, I thought I was reading a modern and dystopian version of The Wizard of Oz. There is a wizard who is more a sexual predator. There are rich men who seem to be analogies of Trump. None of the adults are working in the best interests of the young. And the young are just trying to find the best in what they can. Because, yes! The children are our future, but they have realised that they have not been taught well, and it is up to a 14 year old called the Prophet to lead the way. After escaping an institution, they convince each other that they are the saviours of the world with a hopeless innocence that seems too coincidental, naive and happily ever after. The world does seem a little sucky, but if the youth of tomorrow just churn out more violence to solve problems, they won't get far.
"We act, in other words, like hatred, intolerance, and violence are normal."
This was one of the best books I read in 2022.
The Anthem echoes the "Anthem for Doomed Youth," the World War 1 poem by Wilfred Owen, but it has many other tinges as well of patriotism, and honor.
In a world not too different from ours, where a President rules in limbo, awaiting election results he can accept, a group of teenagers negotiate a environment where teen suicide is endemic. Gun-crazed
While acknowledging the environment, the "heavy" in the novel is a Jeffrey Epstein-esque character who moves above the law, luring children into his lair and trapping them there. In the book's climax the "doomed youth" make there way through a civil-war-like landscape to try to take him down.
The book was so topic, so entertaining. I really enjoyed it. An excellent read, indeed.
The Anthem echoes the "Anthem for Doomed Youth," the World War 1 poem by Wilfred Owen, but it has many other tinges as well of patriotism, and honor.
In a world not too different from ours, where a President rules in limbo, awaiting election results he can accept, a group of teenagers negotiate a environment where teen suicide is endemic. Gun-crazed
While acknowledging the environment, the "heavy" in the novel is a Jeffrey Epstein-esque character who moves above the law, luring children into his lair and trapping them there. In the book's climax the "doomed youth" make there way through a civil-war-like landscape to try to take him down.
The book was so topic, so entertaining. I really enjoyed it. An excellent read, indeed.
Could not put it down. But also, now I’m depressed.
This was...okay. Not sure what I was expecting from this novel, but it's clearly Hawley working out his feelings about the current state of the world (as of 2020) in a very Vonnegut-esque style. I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
I did not not like this book but I definitely didn’t enjoy it.
"The adults are lost. We, their children, are starting over."
Anthem by Noah Hawley is kind of like a shadow. There is no visceral commentary at work here, only the light of real life projected onto caricatured cutouts, their flat shapes moving ceaselessly about the page.
Something is happening to teenagers across America, spreading through memes only they can parse. At the Float Anxiety Abatement Center in a suburb of Chicago, Simon Oliver is trying to recover from his sister's tragic passing. He breaks out to join a woman named Louise and a man called The Prophet on a quest as urgent as it is enigmatic. Who lies at the end of the road? A man is known as The Wizard, whose past encounter with Louise sparked her collapse. Their quest becomes a rescue mission when they join up with a man whose sister is being held captive by the Wizard, impregnated and imprisoned in a tower.
I’m a massive fan of Hawley’s work after discovering his tv miniseries, Fargo, and I’ve realised he is a master at tightly plotting unpredictable stories and writing believable characters. Hawley is also a pop culture maniac (in a good way), borrowing names from Stephen King’s The Stand, Hunger Games, and other sources that provide a bit of vintage wit. More importantly, Hawley recognises that the country is in shakedown, in a terror grip of disasters, social and geological. Anthem is a great novel which invokes many ideas and sentiments around our twisted modern America. Guns, religion, conspiracies and a struggle with a seemingly subjective reality all encompass his young protagonists as they struggle to find purpose in a world beyond the truth.
Anthem by Noah Hawley is kind of like a shadow. There is no visceral commentary at work here, only the light of real life projected onto caricatured cutouts, their flat shapes moving ceaselessly about the page.
Something is happening to teenagers across America, spreading through memes only they can parse. At the Float Anxiety Abatement Center in a suburb of Chicago, Simon Oliver is trying to recover from his sister's tragic passing. He breaks out to join a woman named Louise and a man called The Prophet on a quest as urgent as it is enigmatic. Who lies at the end of the road? A man is known as The Wizard, whose past encounter with Louise sparked her collapse. Their quest becomes a rescue mission when they join up with a man whose sister is being held captive by the Wizard, impregnated and imprisoned in a tower.
I’m a massive fan of Hawley’s work after discovering his tv miniseries, Fargo, and I’ve realised he is a master at tightly plotting unpredictable stories and writing believable characters. Hawley is also a pop culture maniac (in a good way), borrowing names from Stephen King’s The Stand, Hunger Games, and other sources that provide a bit of vintage wit. More importantly, Hawley recognises that the country is in shakedown, in a terror grip of disasters, social and geological. Anthem is a great novel which invokes many ideas and sentiments around our twisted modern America. Guns, religion, conspiracies and a struggle with a seemingly subjective reality all encompass his young protagonists as they struggle to find purpose in a world beyond the truth.
This was a strong 4.25... edging 4.5!
I know there is a bit of controversy around this title... let me breaknit down for you...
"I like Action-Thrillers":
The pitch: The world is in an uproar as children are discovered to be committing suicide in record rates, with only a cryptic one-word message left behind. Meanwhile, a brother races to save his abducted sister. A wild ride that takes The Stand and makes it real!
"I like cerebral books that make you think":
The pitch: Imagine a world where the Covid pandemic is but the calm before the storm. Hawley takes an in-depth look at how our fragmented social strata is being hyper-sensationalized and paints a startlingly realistic look at what the future may hold for us in. Regardless of political motivation, or right or wrong, this cause-and-effect look at world events is sure to make you look at the world differently.
"I like well-written, literary books":
Noah Hawleys prose is beautiful, as he first brings us back to a time of pride, safety and plenty, then sweeps us forward with clarity and insight thru the eyes of children. The relationships he creates, histories that he unearths and future that he paints will have you laughing and crying. Filled with personal stories of a family struggling to find their child, a father looking to redeem himself, young love and the redeeming power of faith, you will love these characters and their struggles.
While I didn't rate it as high as it may seem I enjoyed it (no spoilers), I think this was and exceptional book ro either enjoy, or get you thinking about where the world is headed. Bravo, Noah!
I know there is a bit of controversy around this title... let me breaknit down for you...
"I like Action-Thrillers":
The pitch: The world is in an uproar as children are discovered to be committing suicide in record rates, with only a cryptic one-word message left behind. Meanwhile, a brother races to save his abducted sister. A wild ride that takes The Stand and makes it real!
"I like cerebral books that make you think":
The pitch: Imagine a world where the Covid pandemic is but the calm before the storm. Hawley takes an in-depth look at how our fragmented social strata is being hyper-sensationalized and paints a startlingly realistic look at what the future may hold for us in. Regardless of political motivation, or right or wrong, this cause-and-effect look at world events is sure to make you look at the world differently.
"I like well-written, literary books":
Noah Hawleys prose is beautiful, as he first brings us back to a time of pride, safety and plenty, then sweeps us forward with clarity and insight thru the eyes of children. The relationships he creates, histories that he unearths and future that he paints will have you laughing and crying. Filled with personal stories of a family struggling to find their child, a father looking to redeem himself, young love and the redeeming power of faith, you will love these characters and their struggles.
While I didn't rate it as high as it may seem I enjoyed it (no spoilers), I think this was and exceptional book ro either enjoy, or get you thinking about where the world is headed. Bravo, Noah!
39% of the way through the book and I decided to call it quits. The first couple of chapters were great and pulled me into the story, but then it turned dull very quickly. There wasn't any conflict. Someone needs to tell this author that a book is supposed to have three acts in it, which helps with reader engagement. This book is one very long act that doesn't go anywhere.
A fictional, crazy story that somehow tied in all the non-fictional crazy storylines we've been dealing with the last few years. Covid, climate change, Epstein, Trump, oxycontin, depression/anxiety, political division & extremism... this is not a feel-good book.
And yet I kinda liked it. The writing style was interesting, with the author breaking through and speaking directly to the reader every so often.
Trigger warning: The suicide thing was too extreme and almost fell by the wayside in terms of plot.
It was ridiculous and over-the-top, but it kept me interested and it felt like the perfect novel to read while I watched things unfold in Ottawa this weekend.
And yet I kinda liked it. The writing style was interesting, with the author breaking through and speaking directly to the reader every so often.
Trigger warning: The suicide thing was too extreme and almost fell by the wayside in terms of plot.
It was ridiculous and over-the-top, but it kept me interested and it felt like the perfect novel to read while I watched things unfold in Ottawa this weekend.
I’m not exactly sure what to say about this book other than this: do not read it. It’s satire gone awry - completely over-the-top (and yet still likely realistic) but without a clear vision for what we are supposed to learn from/do with it. The author even admits this at the end (and in several weird asides through the book). I couldn’t keep the characters straight by the time I reached part 2…and I also didn’t care. There was plenty of gratuitous violence, ire, and indignation, but it really just felt like a privileged white man railing at the world. Nothing (new) to see here. Skip it.