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A review by bear_reads_books
Anthem by Noah Hawley
5.0
I must admit I’m a little intimidated by this attempt to review Noah Hawley’s latest novel. Only because it’s difficult to concisely describe everything this epic tale covers and how I felt reading it. Right off the bat I can say Noah Hawley is one of my favorite authors. His writing never fails to impress me. Diving into one of his books is like binge watching the best kind of tv show, full of heart, drama and thrills. He’s a master at entertaining you while making you think.
In regards to Anthem, I believe Hawley has truly outdone himself. Setting his novel in the very near future, he attempts to include every issue the world and the United States specifically are dealing with and make sense of it all and I believe he succeeded. Writing this must have taken a lot of research and I imagine a whole lot of stress. Has anyone checked on Noah Hawley, is he okay?
A group of young adults are drawn together on an epic quest in the hopes of building their own utopia, starting over and eschewing the world the previous generations have given them. That’s the gist but doesn’t begin to fully describe the plot. I would sum it up as Stephen King’s The Stand reimagined for the modern era. There’s even a character who chooses the name Randall Flagg for himself so I don’t think I’m too far off in that assessment.
When I got to the end I immediately started over again, something I never do. I think Anthem is such an important read. Hawley does an amazing job of explaining and making sense of the political divide in the United States in an unbiased way. There’s also plenty of facts and figures concerning the effects of global warming and other issues.
Which is why I will say this novel isn’t for everyone. Due to being all about the very real and serious things going on in the world, the subject matter can be anxiety inducing. I know I felt tense pretty much the whole way through! We are inundated constantly with doom and gloom online and feeling the strain in our daily lives. Sometimes you read to escape reality for awhile and if you’re sensitive or not able to read about what we’re all going through right now, this book might not be for you.
While there are content warnings galore, I wholeheartedly believe you should give Anthem a try. While Hawley doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he does leave you feeling like change is still possible.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet.
Expected publication date: January 4th, 2022
Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC
Review also posted at my blog
In regards to Anthem, I believe Hawley has truly outdone himself. Setting his novel in the very near future, he attempts to include every issue the world and the United States specifically are dealing with and make sense of it all and I believe he succeeded. Writing this must have taken a lot of research and I imagine a whole lot of stress. Has anyone checked on Noah Hawley, is he okay?
A group of young adults are drawn together on an epic quest in the hopes of building their own utopia, starting over and eschewing the world the previous generations have given them. That’s the gist but doesn’t begin to fully describe the plot. I would sum it up as Stephen King’s The Stand reimagined for the modern era. There’s even a character who chooses the name Randall Flagg for himself so I don’t think I’m too far off in that assessment.
When I got to the end I immediately started over again, something I never do. I think Anthem is such an important read. Hawley does an amazing job of explaining and making sense of the political divide in the United States in an unbiased way. There’s also plenty of facts and figures concerning the effects of global warming and other issues.
Which is why I will say this novel isn’t for everyone. Due to being all about the very real and serious things going on in the world, the subject matter can be anxiety inducing. I know I felt tense pretty much the whole way through! We are inundated constantly with doom and gloom online and feeling the strain in our daily lives. Sometimes you read to escape reality for awhile and if you’re sensitive or not able to read about what we’re all going through right now, this book might not be for you.
While there are content warnings galore, I wholeheartedly believe you should give Anthem a try. While Hawley doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he does leave you feeling like change is still possible.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet.
Expected publication date: January 4th, 2022
Thank you Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for the e-ARC
Review also posted at my blog