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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Okay, so, it's enormously tempting to compare this to Millet's A Children's Bible, which is one of my favorite books ever.
However, while this book shares an obvious theme in that it's about children reckoning (angrily) with the fact that their future has been ruthlessly destroyed, it's way less subtle. Like. Like it's hit you with a baseball bat subtle. There's a Joe Arpaio type, an Epstein type, Trump is in here, as is COVID, and Q-anon, and it's a big shovel smacking you in the head over and over again.
But damn is this a good book anyway. It's not subtle, but it's a dose of dark hot rage and disgust churned with a hell of a fun (????) story. It's bonkers how this is both really on-the-nose and really engrossing. For what it is, it's really good. For a piece of LitErATuRe, I dunno, but also, who cares? We're all about to be incinerated anyway.
However, while this book shares an obvious theme in that it's about children reckoning (angrily) with the fact that their future has been ruthlessly destroyed, it's way less subtle. Like. Like it's hit you with a baseball bat subtle. There's a Joe Arpaio type, an Epstein type, Trump is in here, as is COVID, and Q-anon, and it's a big shovel smacking you in the head over and over again.
But damn is this a good book anyway. It's not subtle, but it's a dose of dark hot rage and disgust churned with a hell of a fun (????) story. It's bonkers how this is both really on-the-nose and really engrossing. For what it is, it's really good. For a piece of LitErATuRe, I dunno, but also, who cares? We're all about to be incinerated anyway.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book but it's certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I liked the story line, the pace, and the characters. I especially liked how the author interjects himself about half-way through the book. Beyond the story (which is a serious downer and kept me up late at night thinking about all that's wrong with the world) I was captivated by the Author's Note, the Epilogue and Acknowledgments. All around 5 stars for me but this is one hard book to summarize or describe and suggest others read ...
DNF’d at 35%. Couldn’t get into it. The writing is odd and fragmented. Not a bad book, just not for me.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Anthem is a novel of our times. Sadly, it feels almost prescient. Nay, more scary as a story of our times. As a father of two, the pandemic of which is speaks is horrifying and reminds me to hug them early and often.
The writing and the spacing can be annoying - a character is met and then forgotten about, only turn up over a hundred pages later. It could be a turn off. It was written very well, but you can tell the author had some major feels as they were writing. It could be a turn off, but it's what pushed the novel forward.
While the story in itself was bleak, I will still hold onto hope.
The writing and the spacing can be annoying - a character is met and then forgotten about, only turn up over a hundred pages later. It could be a turn off. It was written very well, but you can tell the author had some major feels as they were writing. It could be a turn off, but it's what pushed the novel forward.
While the story in itself was bleak, I will still hold onto hope.
This is the way this book ends - not with a bang but a whimper.
I give this book 3 stars because the writing is exceptional. There are also a couple of compelling characters. But the beginning of the book writes checks the end can’t cash and ultimately the overall feeling was savagely anticlimactic. I loved the first 250 pages - I was swept along, interested in what Hawley had to say and the way he said it. Around page 275 I started thinking, "I don't think there is any plausible way to make all of these threads intersect." Around page 300, I thought, "This sonofabitch is about to solve his problems with the 'then a nuclear war happens and everybody dies' plot device." And that made me mad, and I had to get up and walk away for a while.
“Anthem” endeavors to tackle multiple primary characters and storylines at once. Margot Nadir is nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court at the same time that her daughter, Story, goes missing. Turns out her daughter has run off with her boyfriend, Felix, whose real name is Samson DeWitt, to rescue his sister, Bathsheba, who is being held captive by a Jeffrey Epstein analog who impregnated her. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Simon, whose older sister committed suicide, stages an escape from a secure psychiatric facility with a traumatized self-mutilator named Louise and another teenager they call the Prophet. Other random characters include a potentially immortal generically evil woman known only as the Witch; Margot’s husband, Remy, who has just discovered he has ALS (there is a ton of time spent on this which is wild because it ends up having nothing to do with the plot), an antigovernment felon named Avon, and a handful of psychotic teenagers.
Oh, one other thing - there’s an epidemic of suicide among young people. Like they’re just offing themselves in every way they can think of and leaving the same cryptic message behind.
Who is the Witch and what does she want? Is she an immortal force of evil, and if not, how is it she survives third degree burns over 100% of her body, and why does she crouch behind dumpsters to stare at our protagonists? Why is your Jeffrey Epstein guy called the Wizard? What does Margot’s Supreme Court confirmation have to do with literally anything else in this book? Will Remy tell his wife he has ALS? Is the Prophet really talking to God, or is he just insane? Why are all these suicidal kids leaving the same message behind? Will Bathsheba be forced to have pseudo-Epstein’s baby? Is Simon going to be okay?
We will never know. Like, not ever. Because this book does not tell us. Margot and Remy are killed by a suicide bomber before they find out what happened to either Story or the Supreme Court nomination process. Apparently the kids are all killing themselves because they have lost hope, although why this inspires them to all leave the same cryptic message and off themselves in groups we will never know. The Supreme Court confirmation hearings have nothing to do with anything. We don’t know what happens to pseudo-Epstein or his rape baby. The Witch is never, ever explained, and no explanation is hinted at. It does not matter that Remy has ALS, because it never becomes relevant in literally any situation. Maybe the Prophet is talking to God, maybe he isn’t. Maybe Simon will be okay, but who knows.
Eventually the troubled teenagers head off to a remote area to start a Utopia that has absolutely no way of dealing with the intractable social problems, interpersonal dynamics, and/or unresolved major plot questions the author spends hundreds of pages ranting about.
To me the cherry on top of this frustrating novel dessert was the “Epilogue,” where Noah Hawley breaks the fourth wall to tell us that his daughter keeps asking him how he is going to end the ACTUAL BOOK WE ARE READING and he says, essentially, “I don’t know.”
And he never figured it out, and his editor didn’t make him.
I give this book 3 stars because the writing is exceptional. There are also a couple of compelling characters. But the beginning of the book writes checks the end can’t cash and ultimately the overall feeling was savagely anticlimactic. I loved the first 250 pages - I was swept along, interested in what Hawley had to say and the way he said it. Around page 275 I started thinking, "I don't think there is any plausible way to make all of these threads intersect." Around page 300, I thought, "This sonofabitch is about to solve his problems with the 'then a nuclear war happens and everybody dies' plot device." And that made me mad, and I had to get up and walk away for a while.
“Anthem” endeavors to tackle multiple primary characters and storylines at once. Margot Nadir is nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court at the same time that her daughter, Story, goes missing. Turns out her daughter has run off with her boyfriend, Felix, whose real name is Samson DeWitt, to rescue his sister, Bathsheba, who is being held captive by a Jeffrey Epstein analog who impregnated her. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Simon, whose older sister committed suicide, stages an escape from a secure psychiatric facility with a traumatized self-mutilator named Louise and another teenager they call the Prophet. Other random characters include a potentially immortal generically evil woman known only as the Witch; Margot’s husband, Remy, who has just discovered he has ALS (there is a ton of time spent on this which is wild because it ends up having nothing to do with the plot), an antigovernment felon named Avon, and a handful of psychotic teenagers.
Oh, one other thing - there’s an epidemic of suicide among young people. Like they’re just offing themselves in every way they can think of and leaving the same cryptic message behind.
Who is the Witch and what does she want? Is she an immortal force of evil, and if not, how is it she survives third degree burns over 100% of her body, and why does she crouch behind dumpsters to stare at our protagonists? Why is your Jeffrey Epstein guy called the Wizard? What does Margot’s Supreme Court confirmation have to do with literally anything else in this book? Will Remy tell his wife he has ALS? Is the Prophet really talking to God, or is he just insane? Why are all these suicidal kids leaving the same message behind? Will Bathsheba be forced to have pseudo-Epstein’s baby? Is Simon going to be okay?
We will never know. Like, not ever. Because this book does not tell us. Margot and Remy are killed by a suicide bomber before they find out what happened to either Story or the Supreme Court nomination process. Apparently the kids are all killing themselves because they have lost hope, although why this inspires them to all leave the same cryptic message and off themselves in groups we will never know. The Supreme Court confirmation hearings have nothing to do with anything. We don’t know what happens to pseudo-Epstein or his rape baby. The Witch is never, ever explained, and no explanation is hinted at. It does not matter that Remy has ALS, because it never becomes relevant in literally any situation. Maybe the Prophet is talking to God, maybe he isn’t. Maybe Simon will be okay, but who knows.
Eventually the troubled teenagers head off to a remote area to start a Utopia that has absolutely no way of dealing with the intractable social problems, interpersonal dynamics, and/or unresolved major plot questions the author spends hundreds of pages ranting about.
To me the cherry on top of this frustrating novel dessert was the “Epilogue,” where Noah Hawley breaks the fourth wall to tell us that his daughter keeps asking him how he is going to end the ACTUAL BOOK WE ARE READING and he says, essentially, “I don’t know.”
And he never figured it out, and his editor didn’t make him.
I have a thing where I almost always finish reading a book….that being said I read the large print version of Anthem and skimmed through the second half because it was never ending and I had to get to page 653. The best part of the book for me may have been the epilogue. “This isn’t a fairy tale.”
What?!?
I didn't know much going into this book but holy heck it kept me interested and intrigued. This book is dark and you should be prepared before going in.
This book deals with a hard subject,which is the catalyst for what can only be explained as an apocalypse of sorts. A ragtag team decides to fight back and hope for the best.
The pacing in this book was pretty good, the dry spots didn't last long and were still important to the story. I felt the ending dragged out slightly, though it wasn't enough to pull me out of the story.
The characters were a mix of relatable and intolerable. They seemed to be a group you either liked a certain character or hated them... there didn't seem to be an in between.
Overall this book was enjoyable but again definitely check triggers!!!!
I didn't know much going into this book but holy heck it kept me interested and intrigued. This book is dark and you should be prepared before going in.
This book deals with a hard subject,which is the catalyst for what can only be explained as an apocalypse of sorts. A ragtag team decides to fight back and hope for the best.
The pacing in this book was pretty good, the dry spots didn't last long and were still important to the story. I felt the ending dragged out slightly, though it wasn't enough to pull me out of the story.
The characters were a mix of relatable and intolerable. They seemed to be a group you either liked a certain character or hated them... there didn't seem to be an in between.
Overall this book was enjoyable but again definitely check triggers!!!!