What do you think?
Rate this book
Anthem
An epic literary thriller set where America is right now, in which a band of unlikely heroes sets out on a quest to save one innocent life—and might end up saving us all.
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 known as The Wizard, whose past encounter with Louise sparked her own 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.
Noah Hawley’s new novel is an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners. Unforgettably vivid characters and a plot as fast and bright as pop cinema blend in a Vonnegutian story that is as timeless as a Grimm’s fairy tale. It is a leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart, written with the bravado, literary power, and feverish foresight that have made Hawley one of our most essential writers.
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 known as The Wizard, whose past encounter with Louise sparked her own 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.
Noah Hawley’s new novel is an adventure that finds unquenchable lights in dark corners. Unforgettably vivid characters and a plot as fast and bright as pop cinema blend in a Vonnegutian story that is as timeless as a Grimm’s fairy tale. It is a leap into the idiosyncratic pulse of the American heart, written with the bravado, literary power, and feverish foresight that have made Hawley one of our most essential writers.
427 pages, Hardcover
First published January 4, 2022
About the author
Noah Hawley
11 books2,795 followersNoah Hawley is an Emmy, Golden Globe, PEN, Critics' Choice, and Peabody Award-winning author, screenwriter, and producer. He has published four novels and penned the script for the feature film Lies and Alibis. He created, executive produced, and served as showrunner for ABC's My Generation and The Unusuals and was a writer and producer on the hit series Bones. Hawley is currently executive producer, writer, and showrunner on FX's award-winning series, Fargo.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,280 reviews
January 2, 2022
Disturbing, Dark, and Depressing
4.5 stars
“The adults are lost. We, their children, are starting over.”
Anthem is an ambitious, dark, and dramatic novel about a spiraling post-Covid America. A suicide epidemic has infiltrated American teens, and the country is on the verge of a civil war. The apocalypse has begun, and it is up to three teenagers to save it all.
Simon, Louise, and a 15-year-old boy known as “the Prophet” have all been institutionalized for various reasons. The three bust out on a quest to start a utopia and save America.
There are multiple narrators, storylines, and timelines, including the voice of "the author" to add personal commentary.
Anthem is a social commentary on America and explores the themes of climate change, social media, the big pharma/opioid epidemic, politics, culture wars, and racism, to name a few.
This is an all too real, depressing read, grounded in reality. If you are not a fan of politics, don’t read this. The author, aka, the narrator, tries to stay neutral, but it is clear where his beliefs lie.
A cast of eccentric characters, including a Trump-like God-King; The Wizard; a Jeffrey Epstein-like character; an almost Supreme Court justice, an Opioid-magnate, and Q'anon followers pervade the pages.
This is a complicated and complex read. I can’t say I enjoyed it, and I almost gave up on it several times as I needed to escape the realities of the America that Hawley portrays. It’s a little too real, and in that sense, horrifying.
I would not want to read this again. However, it got under my skin, the characters, especially Simon and Louise, are easy to root for, and in the end, they offered a ray of hope in the darkness ahead.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
“The adults are lost. We, their children, are starting over.”
Anthem is an ambitious, dark, and dramatic novel about a spiraling post-Covid America. A suicide epidemic has infiltrated American teens, and the country is on the verge of a civil war. The apocalypse has begun, and it is up to three teenagers to save it all.
Simon, Louise, and a 15-year-old boy known as “the Prophet” have all been institutionalized for various reasons. The three bust out on a quest to start a utopia and save America.
There are multiple narrators, storylines, and timelines, including the voice of "the author" to add personal commentary.
Anthem is a social commentary on America and explores the themes of climate change, social media, the big pharma/opioid epidemic, politics, culture wars, and racism, to name a few.
This is an all too real, depressing read, grounded in reality. If you are not a fan of politics, don’t read this. The author, aka, the narrator, tries to stay neutral, but it is clear where his beliefs lie.
A cast of eccentric characters, including a Trump-like God-King; The Wizard; a Jeffrey Epstein-like character; an almost Supreme Court justice, an Opioid-magnate, and Q'anon followers pervade the pages.
This is a complicated and complex read. I can’t say I enjoyed it, and I almost gave up on it several times as I needed to escape the realities of the America that Hawley portrays. It’s a little too real, and in that sense, horrifying.
I would not want to read this again. However, it got under my skin, the characters, especially Simon and Louise, are easy to root for, and in the end, they offered a ray of hope in the darkness ahead.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 23, 2022
Two, ten, twenty years from now, whenever I see Anthem on a shelf, the thought that’s going to pop in my head is, “Gawd I hated that book.”
You may know author Noah Hawley from his 2016 smash hit novel Before the Fall, or possibly from his TV producing and screenwriting credits for Fargo. Though I can’t say I really enjoyed either, I knew I was going to read Anthem the second I heard about it. I dunno why.
It’s just another pandemic book. BUT, the pandemic this time is one where teenagers across the US are committing suicide en masse. And do you know the reason? Because the world sucks!
Reading Anthem was like taking a bath in misery, lotioning up with despair, then wrapping myself in a robe of depression. Global warming! Overpopulation! Animal extinction! Sex trafficking! COVID! Donald Trump! IF YOU’RE A KID INHERITING THIS MESS, JUST GO AHEAD AND OFF YOURSELF.
Sure, there were moments of lucidity and well-written passages that kept my attention, primarily in the first 100 pages. (Hence 2 stars instead of 1.) For the most part though, it felt like a book written by Stephen King if he fell off the wagon and started doing drugs again. This SK vibe is pretty overt, too. The similarities to The Stand are so in your face that there’s even a character named Randall Flagg. Oh yeah, and there are unsubtle nods to The Wizard of Oz and Fight Club too. Fun times.
Jeez I’m glad that’s over.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
You may know author Noah Hawley from his 2016 smash hit novel Before the Fall, or possibly from his TV producing and screenwriting credits for Fargo. Though I can’t say I really enjoyed either, I knew I was going to read Anthem the second I heard about it. I dunno why.
It’s just another pandemic book. BUT, the pandemic this time is one where teenagers across the US are committing suicide en masse. And do you know the reason? Because the world sucks!
Reading Anthem was like taking a bath in misery, lotioning up with despair, then wrapping myself in a robe of depression. Global warming! Overpopulation! Animal extinction! Sex trafficking! COVID! Donald Trump! IF YOU’RE A KID INHERITING THIS MESS, JUST GO AHEAD AND OFF YOURSELF.
Sure, there were moments of lucidity and well-written passages that kept my attention, primarily in the first 100 pages. (Hence 2 stars instead of 1.) For the most part though, it felt like a book written by Stephen King if he fell off the wagon and started doing drugs again. This SK vibe is pretty overt, too. The similarities to The Stand are so in your face that there’s even a character named Randall Flagg. Oh yeah, and there are unsubtle nods to The Wizard of Oz and Fight Club too. Fun times.
Jeez I’m glad that’s over.
Blog: https://www.confettibookshelf.com/
January 13, 2022
UPDATE..... I rarely change my rating -- but after several conversations with friends about "Anthem" >> because I can't stop thinking about it ....
-- I'm raising my rating to 4 stars instead of 3.
Its a hard book to think about -to take in the 'devastating' parts -- (so I've been hesitate to recommend it strongly) -- but - I think its the type of book 'worth' having book discussions --
Its worthy to read --
My original review is below:
“Anthem” by Noah Hawley…..(a one of a kind author/ director who fascinates me)….has written such a surreal anti-inspirational chilling-contemporary dystopian thriller….where in part — it’s our teenagers who are at the center of fighting the world’s biggest fight……
This....
.... book is another one of those RARE — OH MY —novels …..where the reader who finishes it might react as I did….(besides feeling as if just hit over the head in bleakness)….
ME THINKING > “I can ‘completely’ understand every rating given to it.
I could see justifications for 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 star ratings.
Let me back up.
Today is January 6, 2022 ….a date tattooed in our brains….the first anniversary of United States Capitol riot.
Current headline news ……as I reach for my phone …..5:33am Pacific Time….[after reading “Anthem” through the night]….
“On the eve the Capitol riot anniversary, January 6 investigation faces a pivotal . . . “
“A Year Later, Jan 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation”
“Opinion/ The impact of January 6 Is Still Rippling Throughout the World”
“CBS News poll: A year after January 6, violence still seeing through US democracy. . . “
“One year after January 6, signs of a nation deeper in peril”
THERE ARE MORE HEADLINES…….all trying to make sense of Jan. 6, 2021.
There will be more throughout the day.
President Biden will speak….
So….on this National Day of Mourning…..2021/2022….
I finished ANTHEM…
Believe me….I debated my own rating. But knowing I could easily give it 2 stars (because it’s not a book I’d go out of my way to recommend)….or 5 stars for the authors ( probably pure heart in examining one of the hardest things to do: OUR CURRENT LIVES)….
I’m giving it 3 stars……right down the middle. (The hardest rating to explain…..
to interpret its full meaning from one reader to another…..
I’ll try to explain - while sharing a few things ……[my experience along with sample excerpts as to give other readers a taste of what to expect should anyone else be curious to read it — regardless of ratings.
NOTE - SEMI- SPOILERS will follow…..
First…it must be said….this book GRABS your attention right away.
As to how long that ‘oh my’ ….’can’t-put-the-book-down’ feeling lasts could begin to wean for some readers …..starting as soon as 20%….
I mean….after awhile ….how much devastating gruesomeness thought can one person take in one sitting?
Point is….this ‘can’t-put-down’ book is laborious—and at times fatiguing to read.
It’s open to paradoxical feelings and thoughts.
“Imagine a kid, hearing that the oceans are dying, that the bees are dying, reading about the opioid epidemic, seeing these political battles and reading about sexual predation. The sense that the world you’re growing up into is being destroyed before your eyes, and what’s going to be there for you? What must that be like, and what can you do?”
Here are those excerpts I said I’d include (spoilers? — actually only slightly —as they are only the tip of the iceberg….
“This book contains math. Not calculus trigonometry— no dense columns of equations—but numbers arranged in order, divided or multiplied, added or subtracted”…..
The idea of fairness exists nowhere else in the animal kingdom.
The dinosaurs went extinct, and none of them said boo phooey.
“Imminent danger they understand. Morality is beyond them”.
“Be fruitful and multiply, God told Moses”.
“Divide and conquer, said the generals”.
“You do the math”.
“Now, your author understands that math is not the why readers read novels. He asks your indulgence and your patience and promises that there is more to the story than numbers. There is drama. There is catharsis. Everywhere you look in this book, you will find people people people in need. People who want what you want—to feel safe, to be loved, to do unto others as they would have others do unto them. Each of their deaths is an act of subtraction.
“This is their story. And if you don’t like it, your author encourages you to put the book down and shout—“
“Boo phooey”.
“The Summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest in history”……
“What skills must our children master to survive in a world where reality itself is polarized? Had this impossible struggle driven them mad?”
“Each child is precious, unique, but once the phenomenon became widespread, their deaths became a statistic. We begin to think of our children as a collective. To talk about them as a ‘generation’, desperate for some kind of lightning-strike insight. They ‘were’ less connected, we told ourselves, to each other, to us, while conversely being more connected to the constant flow of misinformation that had become our society. Today’s teenagers were having sex later. They were going out less, spending less time with your friends—less physical time—while stink connected to them electronically close to twenty-four hours a day.
What does this say lingering vestige of the pandemic, or had some kind of deep fear of their fellow man settled in their bones, robbing them of the desire to touch? Was that the problem, a chronic sense of dislocation, a fatal remove, or something more immediate, a hidden trigger we couldn’t see? Returned to our priests for answers, to our rabbis and imams, to statisticsns and social scientists. They told us that rates of depression and anxiety disorders had been on the rise for years. Why were they just noticing now?”
“In the end all that mattered was that we were their parents.
It was our job to keep them safe, to make them happy, to keep them alive”.
“With a virus, you could inoculate. You could isolate. You could watch for physical symptoms. But this—this was something heretofore unseen in human existence”.
“An act of human surrender”.
“Look around, you have a population of adolescence, who in any other decade would be f…ing their brains out, but instead, we’re on TikTok”.
Half Earth 🌎
“First of all, your author would like to apologize for the world he has created. He knows it is ridiculous. The fact that the world he lives in is also ridiculous is no excuse. The author’s job is to make sense of the senseless.
To create coherence from incoherence. But if the author‘s job is also to reflect reality as he perceives it onto the page, then what is he meant to do when the world he lives in loses all sense?
“Reality has become a personal choice, denial of reality a weapon”.
“The lie is violence. You are its victim. Your injuries are psychological, emotional. Your condition is called ‘anxiety’”.
“Reality itself appears to break down. And with it the mental health of your author and his neighbors”.
“In summation, your author, would like to apologize for the world he has created. He knows it’s ridiculous. He is simply doing his best to re-create reality as he has experienced it”.
“Boo phooey”.
“On August 19, millions of Americans woke up to the sound of an Amber Alert on their phones. They reached for their devices, groggy, studying the blue cloud. They saw the familiar triangle, telling them a child was missing, but instead of a name, the text read your son, your daughter, your nephew, your niece, and the description of the suspects vehicle simply read ‘pray for their souls’”.
“Terrified, people took to the streets. Stabbings increased, clashes between police and protesters, but the assemblies had become confusing. Often the protesters’ signs were blank. When journalists pointed this out, men and women with angry eyes seemed puzzled. They studyied the clear white space where they’re outrage had once been written. They had forgotten to pen their grievances, or had the scope of their outrage exceeded the space available? Around the country men in Hawaiian shirts started showing up at rallies with more guns than they could carry, patriots strapped with six, seven, eight pistols, a stack of rifles weighing down their arms of slung over their backs, like a burden they been forced to carry as penance”.
Simon says:
“Where are my friends?”
“His father pauses, thinking”.
“See, I think that’s what made you so anxious. Nobody tells you the truth. Everyone says what they think you want to hear, or they say what they want, but not the real person they want it. That’s the problem with society. You can’t believe anybody. Nothing makes sense, so let me tell you the truth. This Earth was a gift to us from the Lord. He commanded us to use it. He filled the ground with oil for us to burn and filled the sea with fish for us to eat. Every animal living is alive because we allow it to be alive, and if we choose to hunt it to extension, that is our choice. This planet has seen ice ages, and molten eras as long before we showed up, and it’ll see them again long after we’re gone. We don’t have to be afraid, because we are doing what we were created to do. To enrich ourselves. And if that heats up the atmosphere and sours the seas, so be it. Do you hear me? We are the dominant species on Earth, which means we get to dominate the Earth.
End of story”.
“That’s—awful”.
My final thoughts….
America…..as in “Anthem” …..is a divided nation …..
Fake news, controversial topics, political polarization…..etc.
I applaud Noah Hawley for digging deep into our problems….
I believe wholeheartedly….his aim was to add awareness….and open vital discussions about our political divisions, climate change, insurrection, and explore what it means to be young in a collapsing world.
My personal thoughts….
Radical and compelling messages are awaken….
Instead of the Buddha awakening us within about love, power, and beauty ….
Noah Hawley awakens us ‘to look’ — ‘to deeply think’….about our emerging world….
…..from the pandemic…from climate change…from worldwide division… civil rights and protests, personal computers, mobile phones,….real stuff of science fiction ….
Much of the world’s population …. do not see substantial improvements…..
Noah Hawley gave us a book to process our thoughts and feelings…..
….even giving us the a teaser experience of the Star-Spangled Banner song 🎶…..to proudly reflect….
“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light?” 🎶
I’m glad I read it ….
That said….I seriously worry about our children.
This is not a ‘happy-go-lucky’ book in any shape or form….but I also believe it’s rooted in humanity.
-- I'm raising my rating to 4 stars instead of 3.
Its a hard book to think about -to take in the 'devastating' parts -- (so I've been hesitate to recommend it strongly) -- but - I think its the type of book 'worth' having book discussions --
Its worthy to read --
My original review is below:
“Anthem” by Noah Hawley…..(a one of a kind author/ director who fascinates me)….has written such a surreal anti-inspirational chilling-contemporary dystopian thriller….where in part — it’s our teenagers who are at the center of fighting the world’s biggest fight……
This....
.... book is another one of those RARE — OH MY —novels …..where the reader who finishes it might react as I did….(besides feeling as if just hit over the head in bleakness)….
ME THINKING > “I can ‘completely’ understand every rating given to it.
I could see justifications for 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 star ratings.
Let me back up.
Today is January 6, 2022 ….a date tattooed in our brains….the first anniversary of United States Capitol riot.
Current headline news ……as I reach for my phone …..5:33am Pacific Time….[after reading “Anthem” through the night]….
“On the eve the Capitol riot anniversary, January 6 investigation faces a pivotal . . . “
“A Year Later, Jan 6 Becomes Just Another Wedge in a Divided Nation”
“Opinion/ The impact of January 6 Is Still Rippling Throughout the World”
“CBS News poll: A year after January 6, violence still seeing through US democracy. . . “
“One year after January 6, signs of a nation deeper in peril”
THERE ARE MORE HEADLINES…….all trying to make sense of Jan. 6, 2021.
There will be more throughout the day.
President Biden will speak….
So….on this National Day of Mourning…..2021/2022….
I finished ANTHEM…
Believe me….I debated my own rating. But knowing I could easily give it 2 stars (because it’s not a book I’d go out of my way to recommend)….or 5 stars for the authors ( probably pure heart in examining one of the hardest things to do: OUR CURRENT LIVES)….
I’m giving it 3 stars……right down the middle. (The hardest rating to explain…..
to interpret its full meaning from one reader to another…..
I’ll try to explain - while sharing a few things ……[my experience along with sample excerpts as to give other readers a taste of what to expect should anyone else be curious to read it — regardless of ratings.
NOTE - SEMI- SPOILERS will follow…..
First…it must be said….this book GRABS your attention right away.
As to how long that ‘oh my’ ….’can’t-put-the-book-down’ feeling lasts could begin to wean for some readers …..starting as soon as 20%….
I mean….after awhile ….how much devastating gruesomeness thought can one person take in one sitting?
Point is….this ‘can’t-put-down’ book is laborious—and at times fatiguing to read.
It’s open to paradoxical feelings and thoughts.
“Imagine a kid, hearing that the oceans are dying, that the bees are dying, reading about the opioid epidemic, seeing these political battles and reading about sexual predation. The sense that the world you’re growing up into is being destroyed before your eyes, and what’s going to be there for you? What must that be like, and what can you do?”
Here are those excerpts I said I’d include (spoilers? — actually only slightly —as they are only the tip of the iceberg….
“This book contains math. Not calculus trigonometry— no dense columns of equations—but numbers arranged in order, divided or multiplied, added or subtracted”…..
The idea of fairness exists nowhere else in the animal kingdom.
The dinosaurs went extinct, and none of them said boo phooey.
“Imminent danger they understand. Morality is beyond them”.
“Be fruitful and multiply, God told Moses”.
“Divide and conquer, said the generals”.
“You do the math”.
“Now, your author understands that math is not the why readers read novels. He asks your indulgence and your patience and promises that there is more to the story than numbers. There is drama. There is catharsis. Everywhere you look in this book, you will find people people people in need. People who want what you want—to feel safe, to be loved, to do unto others as they would have others do unto them. Each of their deaths is an act of subtraction.
“This is their story. And if you don’t like it, your author encourages you to put the book down and shout—“
“Boo phooey”.
“The Summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest in history”……
“What skills must our children master to survive in a world where reality itself is polarized? Had this impossible struggle driven them mad?”
“Each child is precious, unique, but once the phenomenon became widespread, their deaths became a statistic. We begin to think of our children as a collective. To talk about them as a ‘generation’, desperate for some kind of lightning-strike insight. They ‘were’ less connected, we told ourselves, to each other, to us, while conversely being more connected to the constant flow of misinformation that had become our society. Today’s teenagers were having sex later. They were going out less, spending less time with your friends—less physical time—while stink connected to them electronically close to twenty-four hours a day.
What does this say lingering vestige of the pandemic, or had some kind of deep fear of their fellow man settled in their bones, robbing them of the desire to touch? Was that the problem, a chronic sense of dislocation, a fatal remove, or something more immediate, a hidden trigger we couldn’t see? Returned to our priests for answers, to our rabbis and imams, to statisticsns and social scientists. They told us that rates of depression and anxiety disorders had been on the rise for years. Why were they just noticing now?”
“In the end all that mattered was that we were their parents.
It was our job to keep them safe, to make them happy, to keep them alive”.
“With a virus, you could inoculate. You could isolate. You could watch for physical symptoms. But this—this was something heretofore unseen in human existence”.
“An act of human surrender”.
“Look around, you have a population of adolescence, who in any other decade would be f…ing their brains out, but instead, we’re on TikTok”.
Half Earth 🌎
“First of all, your author would like to apologize for the world he has created. He knows it is ridiculous. The fact that the world he lives in is also ridiculous is no excuse. The author’s job is to make sense of the senseless.
To create coherence from incoherence. But if the author‘s job is also to reflect reality as he perceives it onto the page, then what is he meant to do when the world he lives in loses all sense?
“Reality has become a personal choice, denial of reality a weapon”.
“The lie is violence. You are its victim. Your injuries are psychological, emotional. Your condition is called ‘anxiety’”.
“Reality itself appears to break down. And with it the mental health of your author and his neighbors”.
“In summation, your author, would like to apologize for the world he has created. He knows it’s ridiculous. He is simply doing his best to re-create reality as he has experienced it”.
“Boo phooey”.
“On August 19, millions of Americans woke up to the sound of an Amber Alert on their phones. They reached for their devices, groggy, studying the blue cloud. They saw the familiar triangle, telling them a child was missing, but instead of a name, the text read your son, your daughter, your nephew, your niece, and the description of the suspects vehicle simply read ‘pray for their souls’”.
“Terrified, people took to the streets. Stabbings increased, clashes between police and protesters, but the assemblies had become confusing. Often the protesters’ signs were blank. When journalists pointed this out, men and women with angry eyes seemed puzzled. They studyied the clear white space where they’re outrage had once been written. They had forgotten to pen their grievances, or had the scope of their outrage exceeded the space available? Around the country men in Hawaiian shirts started showing up at rallies with more guns than they could carry, patriots strapped with six, seven, eight pistols, a stack of rifles weighing down their arms of slung over their backs, like a burden they been forced to carry as penance”.
Simon says:
“Where are my friends?”
“His father pauses, thinking”.
“See, I think that’s what made you so anxious. Nobody tells you the truth. Everyone says what they think you want to hear, or they say what they want, but not the real person they want it. That’s the problem with society. You can’t believe anybody. Nothing makes sense, so let me tell you the truth. This Earth was a gift to us from the Lord. He commanded us to use it. He filled the ground with oil for us to burn and filled the sea with fish for us to eat. Every animal living is alive because we allow it to be alive, and if we choose to hunt it to extension, that is our choice. This planet has seen ice ages, and molten eras as long before we showed up, and it’ll see them again long after we’re gone. We don’t have to be afraid, because we are doing what we were created to do. To enrich ourselves. And if that heats up the atmosphere and sours the seas, so be it. Do you hear me? We are the dominant species on Earth, which means we get to dominate the Earth.
End of story”.
“That’s—awful”.
My final thoughts….
America…..as in “Anthem” …..is a divided nation …..
Fake news, controversial topics, political polarization…..etc.
I applaud Noah Hawley for digging deep into our problems….
I believe wholeheartedly….his aim was to add awareness….and open vital discussions about our political divisions, climate change, insurrection, and explore what it means to be young in a collapsing world.
My personal thoughts….
Radical and compelling messages are awaken….
Instead of the Buddha awakening us within about love, power, and beauty ….
Noah Hawley awakens us ‘to look’ — ‘to deeply think’….about our emerging world….
…..from the pandemic…from climate change…from worldwide division… civil rights and protests, personal computers, mobile phones,….real stuff of science fiction ….
Much of the world’s population …. do not see substantial improvements…..
Noah Hawley gave us a book to process our thoughts and feelings…..
….even giving us the a teaser experience of the Star-Spangled Banner song 🎶…..to proudly reflect….
“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light?” 🎶
I’m glad I read it ….
That said….I seriously worry about our children.
This is not a ‘happy-go-lucky’ book in any shape or form….but I also believe it’s rooted in humanity.
February 2, 2022
Noah Hawley’s “Anthem” defies genres. This is a cautionary tale, a dystopian tale, a thriller of a tale, and a fantasy tale. Hawley created a world based on some historical facts to add some fright...could this happen? Hawley includes an opioid epidemic, a God King President, and Jeffrey Epstein-like character, climate change problems, the insurrection, political polarization, children committing group suicides, and a woman being confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice. Hawley shows how our country is broken. He wants us to examine our lives, our country, and our future.
There is so much of Hawley’s world that is like our current world, that I felt the bleakness he intended the reader to possess. The first half of the story is a true cautionary tale; if we don’t make some serious changes, future generations will fail. The second half became so over-the-top that it was akin to a Mad Max movie in a dystopian future.
As the story opens, children are killing themselves out of hopelessness of the state of our world. In addition, there is an opioid crisis, disappearing animal species, wildfires and fear. This world isn’t as far off as our current condition. We meet a group of kids in a mental health facility who decide to unite and save the world. This is when Mad Max comes in.
I see why Hawley did the silly Mad Max bit. This book is an indictment on the intended readers(adults): wake up and do something about our world. The humor is needed for the reader to keep reading; otherwise it’s one big ugly pontification. But the thing with Mad Max is that it is entirely possible outcome, and we know it.
This will be on the “Best of 2022” lists.
There is so much of Hawley’s world that is like our current world, that I felt the bleakness he intended the reader to possess. The first half of the story is a true cautionary tale; if we don’t make some serious changes, future generations will fail. The second half became so over-the-top that it was akin to a Mad Max movie in a dystopian future.
As the story opens, children are killing themselves out of hopelessness of the state of our world. In addition, there is an opioid crisis, disappearing animal species, wildfires and fear. This world isn’t as far off as our current condition. We meet a group of kids in a mental health facility who decide to unite and save the world. This is when Mad Max comes in.
I see why Hawley did the silly Mad Max bit. This book is an indictment on the intended readers(adults): wake up and do something about our world. The humor is needed for the reader to keep reading; otherwise it’s one big ugly pontification. But the thing with Mad Max is that it is entirely possible outcome, and we know it.
This will be on the “Best of 2022” lists.
November 10, 2021
Thirty-five years ago we made a decision. That if we had a child, that child would be our love letter to the future, someone who would contribute and make a difference. And, that the world would deserve this child.
Today, that child is deciding whether they want to have a child. I worry that the world is not worthy of this possible grandchild. That this possible grandchild would inherit a world of turmoil and violence and deprivation.
Reading Noah Hawley’s Anthem was very difficult and several times I considered walking away and leaving the book unfinished. But I trusted the author to take me on a journey past the horror, his imagining the logical outcome of the trajectory we are on–the West burning up, toxic individualism turning to anarchy, the insulated rich indulging their worst natures, children institutionalized for anxiety. And mass suicide, the protest movement of the young.
A group of teenagers go on a rescue journey, and to save the world. In a violent world, they take up violence. They understand what the adults fail to see.
Hawley set his novel in the world of the near future. A society divided, a political system broken, the climate spiraling toward a disastrous reconfiguration. Post-Covid19 lockdown and social isolation and the “lost year,” post “stop the steal.”
Anxiety is crippling children who lack the stability and surety we are supposed to provide them to grow healthy and whole. They understand that adults have focused on the wrong things–money, power, greed, success, the right to dominate, self-importance. And the outcome is death. The children respond by killing themselves in an “act of collective surrender.”
Then, this world erupts into the worst possible, but not inevitable, outcome. While wildfires destroy the redwoods and the West, home-grown terrorists come out in force to destroy the hated and feared architecture of order–the government, anything that restricts their individual freedom.
The authorial tone is caustic, angry, eviscerating both The Party of Truth and the Party of Lies, slicing open our festering wounds to reveal the rot within, reflecting like a funhouse mirror, the grotesque and disturbing image in which we see both who we are and who we may become. The children talk in deeply reflective language, understanding what has gone wrong, with a precocious maturity. But it is this exaggeration, the extremity of violence and horror, that allowed me to read on, knowing it was a tool, a device, to elicit a a reaction in the reader.
“As a writer, your author has long believed that fiction is an empathy delivery device,” Hawley writes at the end. He tells us that his daughter asks how the novel will end, and he admits the future of his characters is “unclear.” He tells us there is a way out of this inevitable future scenario. “All we have to do is change,” for we are in control of our actions. It is up to us.
This may be considered a ‘plot giveaway,’ but it is important to understand this book is not your typical story. The intrusive authorial voice alone sets it apart. The grappling with deep, existential, societal, and political questions is integral.
It’s a novel that gives a huge wallop, sets you back on your heels, gives you the shakes. You will mull it over for days. And then you will look around and wonder, what can I change today?
Because if my child has a child, I want it to inherit a world on fire to share and repair and forgive and affirm.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Today, that child is deciding whether they want to have a child. I worry that the world is not worthy of this possible grandchild. That this possible grandchild would inherit a world of turmoil and violence and deprivation.
Reading Noah Hawley’s Anthem was very difficult and several times I considered walking away and leaving the book unfinished. But I trusted the author to take me on a journey past the horror, his imagining the logical outcome of the trajectory we are on–the West burning up, toxic individualism turning to anarchy, the insulated rich indulging their worst natures, children institutionalized for anxiety. And mass suicide, the protest movement of the young.
A group of teenagers go on a rescue journey, and to save the world. In a violent world, they take up violence. They understand what the adults fail to see.
Hawley set his novel in the world of the near future. A society divided, a political system broken, the climate spiraling toward a disastrous reconfiguration. Post-Covid19 lockdown and social isolation and the “lost year,” post “stop the steal.”
Anxiety is crippling children who lack the stability and surety we are supposed to provide them to grow healthy and whole. They understand that adults have focused on the wrong things–money, power, greed, success, the right to dominate, self-importance. And the outcome is death. The children respond by killing themselves in an “act of collective surrender.”
Then, this world erupts into the worst possible, but not inevitable, outcome. While wildfires destroy the redwoods and the West, home-grown terrorists come out in force to destroy the hated and feared architecture of order–the government, anything that restricts their individual freedom.
The authorial tone is caustic, angry, eviscerating both The Party of Truth and the Party of Lies, slicing open our festering wounds to reveal the rot within, reflecting like a funhouse mirror, the grotesque and disturbing image in which we see both who we are and who we may become. The children talk in deeply reflective language, understanding what has gone wrong, with a precocious maturity. But it is this exaggeration, the extremity of violence and horror, that allowed me to read on, knowing it was a tool, a device, to elicit a a reaction in the reader.
“As a writer, your author has long believed that fiction is an empathy delivery device,” Hawley writes at the end. He tells us that his daughter asks how the novel will end, and he admits the future of his characters is “unclear.” He tells us there is a way out of this inevitable future scenario. “All we have to do is change,” for we are in control of our actions. It is up to us.
This may be considered a ‘plot giveaway,’ but it is important to understand this book is not your typical story. The intrusive authorial voice alone sets it apart. The grappling with deep, existential, societal, and political questions is integral.
It’s a novel that gives a huge wallop, sets you back on your heels, gives you the shakes. You will mull it over for days. And then you will look around and wonder, what can I change today?
Because if my child has a child, I want it to inherit a world on fire to share and repair and forgive and affirm.
I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
February 6, 2022
2.5 to 3.
“The sins of the father must be made right by the son”
“The world is a lie”.
A few years before the days of judgement, Judge Margot Burr-Nadir watches her nine year old daughter Story (?? She will be important later on) sing the Anthem while baby son Hadrian (good name for an emperor or if you’re building a wall, otherwise pretentious maybe that’s the point!) is snuggled in his carrier. I guess what unfolds is an Anthem to/for America. A few years later, a suicide teen phenomenon sweeps the nation and the world, a symbol of the “sickness” of our universe. I’m not even going to try to explain the plot of this one or I’ll tie myself in knots much like the author does to me. In simple terms it’s a battle of good over evil which obviously depends on your definition since much of the novel is political. A youthful Jesus like figure “The Prophet“ is at the forefront of a charge to freedom from drugs that numb, poverty, intolerance, politics and so on (such as character ‘God’s Truth’ a clue, think orange) while the forces of evil are represented by a pharma billionaire rich on the opioid addiction and an Epstein type figure, rich has Croesus known as The Wizard.
It’s a Four Horsemen, apocalyptic, dystopian tale with the background accompaniment of Wagner‘s Ride of the Valkyries and about as far from an easy read as it’s possible to get. It’s gloomy, full of foreboding and an utterly damning commentary especially on America and which at times descends into an incoherent ramble. Guns, politics, climate change, you name it, it’s here. It’s very complex, too complex in my opinion, deeply disturbing and very, very depressing partly because much of what the author points out is real and here right now.
However, as we are still fighting our own battle against Covid I’m not sure I needed the stress of this book too! It’s a very difficult book to read, I nearly jack in the effort on several occasions but I am a tenacious and obstinate Brit so I keep going. At times, it’s so American I haven’t a clue what the author is on about and yet and yet it does make some valid points in amongst the mayhem and my head scratching. There are far too many characters which makes you even dizzier. The turmoil, madness and chaos builds and you could say it most certainly hits the fan as an orange glow is visible on the horizon.
Do I like it? No, because of the way it’s written as it takes so much effort to stick with it. My advice don’t read it if you want to stay away from anything political or if you’re feeling a bit down but do if you’re curious. Be sure to read other reviews as many rate it much higher than myself.
My final words – boo phooey, it’s all just too much for me!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
“The sins of the father must be made right by the son”
“The world is a lie”.
A few years before the days of judgement, Judge Margot Burr-Nadir watches her nine year old daughter Story (?? She will be important later on) sing the Anthem while baby son Hadrian (good name for an emperor or if you’re building a wall, otherwise pretentious maybe that’s the point!) is snuggled in his carrier. I guess what unfolds is an Anthem to/for America. A few years later, a suicide teen phenomenon sweeps the nation and the world, a symbol of the “sickness” of our universe. I’m not even going to try to explain the plot of this one or I’ll tie myself in knots much like the author does to me. In simple terms it’s a battle of good over evil which obviously depends on your definition since much of the novel is political. A youthful Jesus like figure “The Prophet“ is at the forefront of a charge to freedom from drugs that numb, poverty, intolerance, politics and so on (such as character ‘God’s Truth’ a clue, think orange) while the forces of evil are represented by a pharma billionaire rich on the opioid addiction and an Epstein type figure, rich has Croesus known as The Wizard.
It’s a Four Horsemen, apocalyptic, dystopian tale with the background accompaniment of Wagner‘s Ride of the Valkyries and about as far from an easy read as it’s possible to get. It’s gloomy, full of foreboding and an utterly damning commentary especially on America and which at times descends into an incoherent ramble. Guns, politics, climate change, you name it, it’s here. It’s very complex, too complex in my opinion, deeply disturbing and very, very depressing partly because much of what the author points out is real and here right now.
However, as we are still fighting our own battle against Covid I’m not sure I needed the stress of this book too! It’s a very difficult book to read, I nearly jack in the effort on several occasions but I am a tenacious and obstinate Brit so I keep going. At times, it’s so American I haven’t a clue what the author is on about and yet and yet it does make some valid points in amongst the mayhem and my head scratching. There are far too many characters which makes you even dizzier. The turmoil, madness and chaos builds and you could say it most certainly hits the fan as an orange glow is visible on the horizon.
Do I like it? No, because of the way it’s written as it takes so much effort to stick with it. My advice don’t read it if you want to stay away from anything political or if you’re feeling a bit down but do if you’re curious. Be sure to read other reviews as many rate it much higher than myself.
My final words – boo phooey, it’s all just too much for me!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
January 16, 2022
This might be one of the worst books I’ve ever read.
This felt like something a teenage boy would write to try to be edgy. It covers a vast array of incredibly serious topics with no nuance or ultimate message. Like someone really wanted an excuse to write 400 pages of slurs and get away with it because it’s “satire”.
I’m not convinced that this was written by a human and not by an AI program that was fed conservative news media and 4chan text.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. I’m really glad I didn’t spend my money on this.
This felt like something a teenage boy would write to try to be edgy. It covers a vast array of incredibly serious topics with no nuance or ultimate message. Like someone really wanted an excuse to write 400 pages of slurs and get away with it because it’s “satire”.
I’m not convinced that this was written by a human and not by an AI program that was fed conservative news media and 4chan text.
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy. I’m really glad I didn’t spend my money on this.
January 18, 2022
Boy oh boy… First of all I decided to read this book because it was Barnes & Noble’s book pick for the month of January. I usually really like their book picks, and I’m trying to branch out and read beyond my comfort zone (although after reading this book, I’ll stick to my usual read of thrillers).
Oddly enough, when I first started reading Anthem, I thought that I was really going to enjoy this book. I felt that what the author was writing was definitely different, but good (and educational). Unfortunately, as the book progressed, I became so bored and had to literally push myself to get through all 428 pages. I could have saved myself A LOT of time if I would have just read the Epilogue. I didn’t think that this story would ever end!!
I feel that social media, our news stations, and our paper media are constantly pushing their thoughts and ideas down our throats 24/7. The political correctness, and whether or not the liberal or conservative views are the right ways. Then there’s Covid and “science”. I’ve literally had enough at this point, so reading this book DID NOT help my feelings at all! Yes, there’s good and bad everywhere- let’s just try to be a good person and do the right thing!
This book was not for me, so I can’t say that I would recommend it. Although, I did give it a try. Others have obviously loved this book, so I guess it depends what interests you in the world right now. My final thoughts on this book (as the author would say), are ‘boo phooey’.
Oddly enough, when I first started reading Anthem, I thought that I was really going to enjoy this book. I felt that what the author was writing was definitely different, but good (and educational). Unfortunately, as the book progressed, I became so bored and had to literally push myself to get through all 428 pages. I could have saved myself A LOT of time if I would have just read the Epilogue. I didn’t think that this story would ever end!!
I feel that social media, our news stations, and our paper media are constantly pushing their thoughts and ideas down our throats 24/7. The political correctness, and whether or not the liberal or conservative views are the right ways. Then there’s Covid and “science”. I’ve literally had enough at this point, so reading this book DID NOT help my feelings at all! Yes, there’s good and bad everywhere- let’s just try to be a good person and do the right thing!
This book was not for me, so I can’t say that I would recommend it. Although, I did give it a try. Others have obviously loved this book, so I guess it depends what interests you in the world right now. My final thoughts on this book (as the author would say), are ‘boo phooey’.
January 10, 2022
I am not over this one. I can tell it will take some time to process everything between these pages. It is so relatable right now. In a way that sends shivers down your spine and keeps you up late at night. It is stressful, eerie, addictive, compelling, and upsetting. It is a rollercoaster of emotions. Reality and our future versus Anthem the book. It can blend so easily for those with imagination. This is a deep thrilling ride, but it is a good one!
December 28, 2021
Anthem is a quietly terrifying novel, imagining the next stage of human existence, based so much in fact that you can see how it could easily come to be.
An apocalyptic story without a truly definable apocalypse, Anthem takes you on a journey - it is beautifully epic in nature and unbelievably difficult to turn away from yet you sometimes wish you could, so horrifyingly likely is the scenario.
The characters are quirky, engaging, realistic, frightening in their complexity. The events unfold with insightful clarity, a violence born in the signs of our times, a complex, thought provoking tale of past and future.
In short this novel is superb. Do not miss it.
An apocalyptic story without a truly definable apocalypse, Anthem takes you on a journey - it is beautifully epic in nature and unbelievably difficult to turn away from yet you sometimes wish you could, so horrifyingly likely is the scenario.
The characters are quirky, engaging, realistic, frightening in their complexity. The events unfold with insightful clarity, a violence born in the signs of our times, a complex, thought provoking tale of past and future.
In short this novel is superb. Do not miss it.
September 14, 2022
Noah Hawley's 'Anthem' left me speechless. A phenomenally insightful, no-holds barred
- dramatized - look at where the U.S may very likely be heading if things don't fundamentally change with us as human-beings - and how we (mis)treat each other. - Morally, ethically, and selflessly. My numerous highlights pretty much summarizes what struck me and gave me lots of pause for reflection. Noah Hawley never ceases to intrigue and touch on hot button topics. Highly recommend.
- dramatized - look at where the U.S may very likely be heading if things don't fundamentally change with us as human-beings - and how we (mis)treat each other. - Morally, ethically, and selflessly. My numerous highlights pretty much summarizes what struck me and gave me lots of pause for reflection. Noah Hawley never ceases to intrigue and touch on hot button topics. Highly recommend.
March 9, 2022
I love Noah Hawley's work on the page an on the screen. And ANTHEM? Brilliant. It is both a riveting page turner -- sharp dialogue, pyrotechnics, a world on the cusp of implosion -- but it is also a novel of ideas. It asks the hard questions: Why do we not rise to the challenge of climate change? How has the United States become so divided? Why do we not care about our children? I savored it on both levels, and remain grateful for the ways it left me uneasy.
January 4, 2022
One of my goals for 2022 was to read better books. We're not doing too hot on that one so far. :/
I guess the good thing about reading the worst book of the year on the SECOND day of the year is that it an only go up from here.
Some questions for authors before their book is printed:
- Did you create an outline? If not, your plot won't make sense.
- Can people other that you understand what's happening? Because at no point in the book did I understand what was happening.
- Are you a character in your own NOVEL? If so, please remove yourself.
- Are you forcing your reader to trudge thought 400+ pages of the convoluted story for absolutely zero payoff because there's no real ending? Please take your reader out of their misery and give them SOMETHING for their time.
- Are you bringing up many complex ideas and debates? If so, awesome!
Quick follow up:
- Are your ideas nuanced? At all? Are you adding literally ANYTHING to the conversation? Because just grazing the surface of these debates is doing nothing.
If you're looking for a book to hate read this would be a good one.
I guess the good thing about reading the worst book of the year on the SECOND day of the year is that it an only go up from here.
Some questions for authors before their book is printed:
- Did you create an outline? If not, your plot won't make sense.
- Can people other that you understand what's happening? Because at no point in the book did I understand what was happening.
- Are you a character in your own NOVEL? If so, please remove yourself.
- Are you forcing your reader to trudge thought 400+ pages of the convoluted story for absolutely zero payoff because there's no real ending? Please take your reader out of their misery and give them SOMETHING for their time.
- Are you bringing up many complex ideas and debates? If so, awesome!
Quick follow up:
- Are your ideas nuanced? At all? Are you adding literally ANYTHING to the conversation? Because just grazing the surface of these debates is doing nothing.
If you're looking for a book to hate read this would be a good one.
November 10, 2021
I have an idea for the marketing of Noah Hawley’s thoroughly terrifying new novel #Anthem. Here goes. Starting in January 2022 it should be placed ,like Gideon’s Bible, in all the hotel and motel rooms of the country. Maybe some insomniac traveler will give it a look see and drift off while contemplating it’s somber message. Seeing how apocalypse at the hand of madmen is a challenging sell, the exposure to the wandering sojourners who traverse the world might be just the ticket. You see, a new epidemic is threatening our existence- mass youthful suicide. But to thwart this one must put our survival in the hands of young warriors, those who will risk all in their attempt to put living back into life. #Anthem is a mutant book, pulling from sources as varied as A Clockwork Orange to Animal Farm, and will certainly scare the bejesus out of you. My advice : only read #Anthem if you have somebody near you to give you a big hug when you’ve finished and remember, you are not Alone.
Read
December 30, 2021If it is possible to read a book with eyes averted, that was how I read this one. Praying he's wrong, terrified he's right, never been more glad to be almost seventy, and I just hope I can sleep tonight.
January 21, 2022
I understand what the author was trying to do, but I hated the preachy and pretentious manner in which he conveyed his message. There was a lot of needless sermonizing contrasting hard and fast action sequences. I also cannot stand the pseudo-intellectual voice he gave all of the teenage characters. Overall I found this book absolutely ridiculous. I love social commentary in books, but I hated how the author spent 400+ pages lecturing the reader on how the ramifications of recent history could affect our near future. No shit, sir.
January 24, 2022
Noah Hawley, who skillfully blends literary and mainstream fiction, has written a brilliant novel for our times--or, rather, a speculative fiction that is also realistic, an anthem for the era we live in. The nation is polarized, deeply divided, the most it has ever been. Instead of disagreeing on policy or opinions, America is divided on what the facts are, what is real. There’s Earth 1 trying to save our democracy and Earth 2 living the Big Lie, producing the God King. And, certain groups pledge to ban books written by Nobel Prize and Pulitzer winner, Toni Morrison, and other great writers. And they want to burn them, too! What darker age are we living in? The darkest. And, in Hawley’s masterpiece, the forces are gathering, and suicide is on the rise for our youth.
This is what our modern times hands us. No wonder teenagers in this story are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Some at-risk kids are at The Float Anxiety Abatement Center, placed in treatment by their parents, who are clueless about their children, but desperate to save them. But, as the nation veers out of control, it may be left to the kids to save the world. Enter Simon, the Prophet, and Louise, who escape the Center for an epic quest. The Prophet, once named Paul, tells others kindly that God speaks to him, and has given him directions on how to save others from madness. His anathema is the Wizard, a Jeffrey Epstein-ish character with billions of dollars to exploit others with his sadistic, twisted debaucheries. The Prophet persuades Simon and Louise to join him on this odyssey.
Hawley is a pop culture maniac (in a good way), borrowing names from Stephen King’s The Stand, from Hunger Games, and other sources that provide a bit of vintage wit. More importantly, Hawley recognizes that the country is in shakedown, in a terror grip of disasters, social and geological. It's the Rashomon effect. The thought police are telling you that facts ain't facts. They are telling you that civil rights are taboo subjects in school--it might cause "discomfort." “The future isn’t what it used to be.” We live in the age where some folks believe absurdities, and can be convinced to commit atrocities. And the teen suicide rate goes up, up, up.
This is a finger-burning, page-turning, adventure-drama, tempered by droll wit, relatable and well-developed characters, and a story about saving the world. Addictive and astonishing, you won’t be able to stop until the final page. And even when you finish, you’ll be thinking about it, talking about it, and sharing it with others. If you dispute reality, then you may not like ANTHEM.
Addendum: the author breaks the fourth wall now and then, but he does it with very small seams “…your author would like to point out, dear reader, that the times in which he lives stopped being simple long ago. In the new times—-the age of Tribal Thinking, the Age of Inverted Reality” (like, people dying in hospitals from a disease which they insist doesn’t exist) “—irony has been stripped of its humor. And irony without humor is violence.”
If you only read one book this year, this could satisfy!
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book group for sending me a finished copy for review.
This is what our modern times hands us. No wonder teenagers in this story are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Some at-risk kids are at The Float Anxiety Abatement Center, placed in treatment by their parents, who are clueless about their children, but desperate to save them. But, as the nation veers out of control, it may be left to the kids to save the world. Enter Simon, the Prophet, and Louise, who escape the Center for an epic quest. The Prophet, once named Paul, tells others kindly that God speaks to him, and has given him directions on how to save others from madness. His anathema is the Wizard, a Jeffrey Epstein-ish character with billions of dollars to exploit others with his sadistic, twisted debaucheries. The Prophet persuades Simon and Louise to join him on this odyssey.
Hawley is a pop culture maniac (in a good way), borrowing names from Stephen King’s The Stand, from Hunger Games, and other sources that provide a bit of vintage wit. More importantly, Hawley recognizes that the country is in shakedown, in a terror grip of disasters, social and geological. It's the Rashomon effect. The thought police are telling you that facts ain't facts. They are telling you that civil rights are taboo subjects in school--it might cause "discomfort." “The future isn’t what it used to be.” We live in the age where some folks believe absurdities, and can be convinced to commit atrocities. And the teen suicide rate goes up, up, up.
This is a finger-burning, page-turning, adventure-drama, tempered by droll wit, relatable and well-developed characters, and a story about saving the world. Addictive and astonishing, you won’t be able to stop until the final page. And even when you finish, you’ll be thinking about it, talking about it, and sharing it with others. If you dispute reality, then you may not like ANTHEM.
Addendum: the author breaks the fourth wall now and then, but he does it with very small seams “…your author would like to point out, dear reader, that the times in which he lives stopped being simple long ago. In the new times—-the age of Tribal Thinking, the Age of Inverted Reality” (like, people dying in hospitals from a disease which they insist doesn’t exist) “—irony has been stripped of its humor. And irony without humor is violence.”
If you only read one book this year, this could satisfy!
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book group for sending me a finished copy for review.
February 22, 2024
I had a love hate relationship with this book/story. But I love the author and the catalog of work he has done. But......
Anthem, is an apocalyptical/ dystopian novel whose underling premise is what the U.S. would look like if Donald Trump (continued) is reelected as president. So an apocalyptical, dystopian America filled with frivolous bizarre malignant characters and constructs is not so unbelievable. Though very unpalatable.
There is a bizarro cause of mass child suicide do to this now very messed up world. And the characters in this story are mostly children or teenagers. (I think) these kids are all, mostly (?) amazingly brilliant kids (really kind of stretches belief). Interestingly all these kids are also into classic-rock (which has nothing to do with the story, it just seemed a tad unlikely, maybe?)
This is a more modern day, Mad-Max dystopian tale of roadtripping kids. I'm not exactly sure how many, that part gets lost or confusing or maybe irrelevant as the story smashes its way through.
Anyway, they are out to save the world? Maybe more themselves. Theres a ton of violence and unexplained cause and effect and cynical, republican party rhetoric.
Things I liked were the unfortunately short lived relationships between the more adult characters. There were a lot of great story lines with these situations that were never developed or resolved or were truncated for maybe orchestrated purposes. One being the plight of a couple in search of their lost daughter. A very necessary narrative to this story to connect the plot but then this couple were basically and literally blown up (to get rid of them maybe?). I don't know.
Some parts are 5 star. Some are irritably 1 star (the ending for sure).
3.5 stars for sure. Sorry Noah, I suppose i should do the study thing in the back of the book (hate those things).
;-)
Anthem, is an apocalyptical/ dystopian novel whose underling premise is what the U.S. would look like if Donald Trump (continued) is reelected as president. So an apocalyptical, dystopian America filled with frivolous bizarre malignant characters and constructs is not so unbelievable. Though very unpalatable.
There is a bizarro cause of mass child suicide do to this now very messed up world. And the characters in this story are mostly children or teenagers. (I think) these kids are all, mostly (?) amazingly brilliant kids (really kind of stretches belief). Interestingly all these kids are also into classic-rock (which has nothing to do with the story, it just seemed a tad unlikely, maybe?)
This is a more modern day, Mad-Max dystopian tale of roadtripping kids. I'm not exactly sure how many, that part gets lost or confusing or maybe irrelevant as the story smashes its way through.
Anyway, they are out to save the world? Maybe more themselves. Theres a ton of violence and unexplained cause and effect and cynical, republican party rhetoric.
Things I liked were the unfortunately short lived relationships between the more adult characters. There were a lot of great story lines with these situations that were never developed or resolved or were truncated for maybe orchestrated purposes. One being the plight of a couple in search of their lost daughter. A very necessary narrative to this story to connect the plot but then this couple were basically and literally blown up (to get rid of them maybe?). I don't know.
Some parts are 5 star. Some are irritably 1 star (the ending for sure).
3.5 stars for sure. Sorry Noah, I suppose i should do the study thing in the back of the book (hate those things).
;-)
February 26, 2022
I really liked Before the Fall, so I tried to get through this - really, I did.
Long ago, I realized I had to make a choice: either give up reading, or ignore all the leftist ideology in books. I made my choice and I live with it, but Noah Hawley's Anthem is just too much.
I no longer give a damn why all the kids are "self-exterminating," I just want to drop this bullshit book. DNF @ 37%.
Long ago, I realized I had to make a choice: either give up reading, or ignore all the leftist ideology in books. I made my choice and I live with it, but Noah Hawley's Anthem is just too much.
I no longer give a damn why all the kids are "self-exterminating," I just want to drop this bullshit book. DNF @ 37%.
March 26, 2022
West Side Story is a reimagining of Romeo and Juliet. Wicked is a reimagining of The Wizard of Oz. And, of course, the successful television show, The Bachelor is a reimagining of Dante’s Inferno. Author Noah Hawley has continued this tradition with his newest novel, Anthem where he updates the well-loved Dr. Seuss book The Lorax. As that yellow mustachioed little Lorax is fond of saying, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better. I’s not.” In Anthem, it is the children who care, but being children with little power they cannot change things, so they end up killing themselves in large numbers. There is a pandemic of child suicides. We then move to a band of teenagers who are on a mission to rescue a young woman from a child molester called the Wizard. The kids in Anthem cannot catch a break. Let me state for the record, that I really enjoy Hawley’s television show Fargo, The Lorax is my favorite Seuss book, but Anthem misses on many levels. The story gets away from Hawley early on. Like that time I accidently stepped on the skateboard our neighbor’s kid left outside, you find yourself zigging that way, and zagging the other way only to end up crashing through the Window of a Victoria’s Secret destroying their display sprawling unceremoniously with several mannequins as a shower of embroidered, full cup, push-up bras in vibrant colors rain down over you. Many details of the story remain unanswered, and the ending lacks the satisfaction I demand in my books (as well as in my ice cream sundaes). Hawley can definitely write well, there were many times he ratcheted up the suspense to such a degree I was worried my achy breaky heart would blow up and kill this man. In other sections he would creep me out worse than that infamous April 1st where my wife threw a bunch of East Kentucky nightcrawlers on my sleeping body as a joke. Overall the story was lacking so giving Anthem three stars seems about right.
December 7, 2021
It's all here. The frightening possible day after tomorrow. Given what fills the news broadcast, we should not be surprised, but there's nothing gentle about our future.
September 11, 2022
Dark, dystopian near-future story with today’s political and environmental issues as its seeds. He adds in a billionaire pedophile, the confirmation hearings of a nominated Supreme Court judge, and some truly sad issues impacting teens by the tens of thousands.
I love Hawley’s writing, and despite not liking dystopian tales, could’ve hung in. As in earlier books he translates real-world entities into conglomerates of fictional ones. Domestic terrorists strutting around in aloha shirts with weaponry and home-scrawled placards reading “Free Kyle!” will certainly ring a bell with readers. Each time one catches a whiff of the sly or the overt parallels it's admittedly fun. Referring to TFG as the "god king" was too much a compliment in my opinion, but his followers would I guess disagree.
Unfortunately, the wooo-wooo prophet and witch, over the top coincidences, and some sloppy editors’ boo-boos (eg., a prisoner on suicide watch specifically given only a spoon to eat just a few sentences later.. picks up her FORK to devour her quinoa salad).
The author also breaks the pane several times, speaking to the reader. He reveals some things about his own family, and as a parent, I wouldn't have done so. Meh.
I love Hawley’s writing, and despite not liking dystopian tales, could’ve hung in. As in earlier books he translates real-world entities into conglomerates of fictional ones. Domestic terrorists strutting around in aloha shirts with weaponry and home-scrawled placards reading “Free Kyle!” will certainly ring a bell with readers. Each time one catches a whiff of the sly or the overt parallels it's admittedly fun. Referring to TFG as the "god king" was too much a compliment in my opinion, but his followers would I guess disagree.
Unfortunately, the wooo-wooo prophet and witch, over the top coincidences, and some sloppy editors’ boo-boos (eg., a prisoner on suicide watch specifically given only a spoon to eat just a few sentences later.. picks up her FORK to devour her quinoa salad).
The author also breaks the pane several times, speaking to the reader. He reveals some things about his own family, and as a parent, I wouldn't have done so. Meh.
January 6, 2022
Noah Hawley takes what's been happening in our world and creates a dystopian novel of what could happen next in the near future. God, I hope he's wrong. Very dark and disturbing but gets high points from me for creativity and laying it all out there.
I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 12, 2023
It's a Gen Z Mad Max Fury Road meets The Stand set exactly one second in the future. This is what you get when you ask ChatGPT to fictionalize the news as it's understood by Reddit. It's the mutant offspring of Don't Look Up savagely violated by Fight Club. I mean it could be scathing satirical fun if it wasn't hewn so close to how the world works now.
It does kick off with a promising start. A massive teenage suicide epidemic seems to have gone viral. Massive numbers of kids impassively off themselves leaving the enigmatic symbol A11 behind. One of the victims is 17 year old Claire Oliver, daughter of the CEO of Rise Pharmaceuticals that has made millions on the sale of oxycodone. Her brother is shuttled off to be heavily medicated and therapeutically placated at the ritzy Float Anxiety Abatement Center where he meets a monk-like 14 year old who has the temerity to be referred to as the Prophet.
He's roped Simon into his mission that will involve thinly veiled counterparts to Jeffrey Epstein, Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump, the Sacklers, QAnon, Proud Boys and Juggalos alongside characters that refer to themselves as Tyler Durdens, War Boys, Katniss, Cyclops, Legolas and Randall Flagg. And maybe therein lies the problem. The line between Hollywood dystopia and our real world farce is hopelessly porous. The book is unwilling to commit to being a cynically fun satire or novelistic thrill ride and in trying to do both instead ends up feeling ponderously nihilistic and a bit of a buzzkill. So it goes.
It does kick off with a promising start. A massive teenage suicide epidemic seems to have gone viral. Massive numbers of kids impassively off themselves leaving the enigmatic symbol A11 behind. One of the victims is 17 year old Claire Oliver, daughter of the CEO of Rise Pharmaceuticals that has made millions on the sale of oxycodone. Her brother is shuttled off to be heavily medicated and therapeutically placated at the ritzy Float Anxiety Abatement Center where he meets a monk-like 14 year old who has the temerity to be referred to as the Prophet.
He's roped Simon into his mission that will involve thinly veiled counterparts to Jeffrey Epstein, Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump, the Sacklers, QAnon, Proud Boys and Juggalos alongside characters that refer to themselves as Tyler Durdens, War Boys, Katniss, Cyclops, Legolas and Randall Flagg. And maybe therein lies the problem. The line between Hollywood dystopia and our real world farce is hopelessly porous. The book is unwilling to commit to being a cynically fun satire or novelistic thrill ride and in trying to do both instead ends up feeling ponderously nihilistic and a bit of a buzzkill. So it goes.
December 22, 2021
You must read this as soon as it’s released.
You MUST!
Trust me.
This one is special.
My review is…
READ THIS BOOK!
I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
You MUST!
Trust me.
This one is special.
My review is…
READ THIS BOOK!
I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
January 4, 2022
I’m not the right reader for, “Anthem”, the new novel by Noah Hawley. Perhaps I’ve aged out of the post-apocalyptic genre that asserts a bleak and hopeless future, pits good against evil, and send its characters off on a Quest. There is a lot of “The Stand”, by Steven King, in “Anthem”…and while I loved that kind of novel in my youth – a clarion call for the next generation to be better humans – now, after living more than half a life, I find the angsty, woke, catastrophizing to be divisive rather than unifying.
I get it, if this story is too depressing and dire for you – then “Ok Boomer” you’re the problem! As I said, this novel isn’t for me.
That’s not to say that Hawley isn’t a terrific writer and storyteller (the TV series, “Fargo”, is a masterpiece) and that other readers won’t find this speculative “not a fairy tale” captivating, thought-provoking, and “true”.
In “Anthem”, Hawley has set up a world just a few years after the Covid 19 pandemic, where teenagers across the globe have suddenly, and without warning, turned to suicide, as if they have caught hopelessness as a virus. Parents are frantic – of course! Nothing seems to work against this insidious “trend”. What has caused this and what can end it?
The characters, especially teens Simon and Louise, are fascinating and realistically drawn, and many scenes in the novel are cinema-graphic, Hawley is a stunning screenwriter too, of course, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the novel becomes a TV series; I would definitely watch it.
I get it, if this story is too depressing and dire for you – then “Ok Boomer” you’re the problem! As I said, this novel isn’t for me.
That’s not to say that Hawley isn’t a terrific writer and storyteller (the TV series, “Fargo”, is a masterpiece) and that other readers won’t find this speculative “not a fairy tale” captivating, thought-provoking, and “true”.
In “Anthem”, Hawley has set up a world just a few years after the Covid 19 pandemic, where teenagers across the globe have suddenly, and without warning, turned to suicide, as if they have caught hopelessness as a virus. Parents are frantic – of course! Nothing seems to work against this insidious “trend”. What has caused this and what can end it?
The characters, especially teens Simon and Louise, are fascinating and realistically drawn, and many scenes in the novel are cinema-graphic, Hawley is a stunning screenwriter too, of course, so I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the novel becomes a TV series; I would definitely watch it.
September 1, 2022
I was introduced to Noah Hawley through his amazing novel, “Before the Fall”, and I was overjoyed to explore “Anthem”, Hawley’s newest novel about a teenage suicide pandemic, and a battle for humanity, where the quest for power and the naiveté of youth faceoff.
Simon Oliver has been sent to an elite treatment centre for mental illness, after the tragic loss of his sister, Claire, to suicide. He bands with other residents, a young woman named Louise and a boy who identifies himself only as “The Prophet”, and breaks out of the treatment centre, where they find themselves caught in the middle of the ultimate battle of Good vs. Evil. Simon is desperate to find closure after losing his sister, Louise wants revenge from the greedy men who took everything from her, and the Prophet is convinced that they are all on a quest from God. Their quest crosses paths with others, who are also seeking something that their their country took from them, and soon a battle of unparalleled proportions has set the country on fire.
Hawley’s novel is prophetic and moving, and I expected nothing less. His novel is divided into five “parts”, although they are all connected in a single plot. Each chapter is narrated by one of the starring characters, although Simon does take a substantial role. The first part of the story is utterly terrifying and mesmerizing, as an unknown plague sweeps the nation, causing thousands of teenagers daily to commit suicide. The latter half of the novel changes tone completely, and focuses on Simon’s quest for closure and the young “misfits” fighting for freedom and refuge in an unrecognizable world. Although the novels’ characters are connected, I felt the two parts of the novel were entirely different animals. Ironically, there is a character in the second portion identified as “Randall Flagg” (from the Stephen King novels), and it is entirely appropriate as the second half of the novel had a Stephen King’s “The Stand” vibe to it.
Hawley writes in short sentences that pull a reader in, and there are so many emotional heartstrings being tugged it’s hard not to relate to at least one of the characters. “Anthem” is a battle of young vs. old, at its core, but it also tackles some pretty deep subjects, suicide, teenage trafficking and abuse, and mental illness, just to name a few. There is something in these pages that will stick with you, and will burrow into your mind.
Hawley has a way with words, and his style is unique. He manages to drive home some pretty vital messages, while still telling an engaging tale. “Anthem” is an essential read for anyone questioning the state of the world, and the future that awaits us.
Simon Oliver has been sent to an elite treatment centre for mental illness, after the tragic loss of his sister, Claire, to suicide. He bands with other residents, a young woman named Louise and a boy who identifies himself only as “The Prophet”, and breaks out of the treatment centre, where they find themselves caught in the middle of the ultimate battle of Good vs. Evil. Simon is desperate to find closure after losing his sister, Louise wants revenge from the greedy men who took everything from her, and the Prophet is convinced that they are all on a quest from God. Their quest crosses paths with others, who are also seeking something that their their country took from them, and soon a battle of unparalleled proportions has set the country on fire.
Hawley’s novel is prophetic and moving, and I expected nothing less. His novel is divided into five “parts”, although they are all connected in a single plot. Each chapter is narrated by one of the starring characters, although Simon does take a substantial role. The first part of the story is utterly terrifying and mesmerizing, as an unknown plague sweeps the nation, causing thousands of teenagers daily to commit suicide. The latter half of the novel changes tone completely, and focuses on Simon’s quest for closure and the young “misfits” fighting for freedom and refuge in an unrecognizable world. Although the novels’ characters are connected, I felt the two parts of the novel were entirely different animals. Ironically, there is a character in the second portion identified as “Randall Flagg” (from the Stephen King novels), and it is entirely appropriate as the second half of the novel had a Stephen King’s “The Stand” vibe to it.
Hawley writes in short sentences that pull a reader in, and there are so many emotional heartstrings being tugged it’s hard not to relate to at least one of the characters. “Anthem” is a battle of young vs. old, at its core, but it also tackles some pretty deep subjects, suicide, teenage trafficking and abuse, and mental illness, just to name a few. There is something in these pages that will stick with you, and will burrow into your mind.
Hawley has a way with words, and his style is unique. He manages to drive home some pretty vital messages, while still telling an engaging tale. “Anthem” is an essential read for anyone questioning the state of the world, and the future that awaits us.
February 15, 2022
“Anthem” by Noah Hawley is a cautionary tale that unfolds a short time in the future, just a few years after the COVID-19 plague swept the planet. Before every game, concert, gathering; before every great event there is the national anthem. It is only fitting that in this moment in history, one that defies comprehension, starts in this manor; a nine year-old girl named “Story” with a supportive family, a busy life, and a beautiful voice, sings “The Anthem”.
Hawley says so much in so few words, “The summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest in history.”
The narrative unfolds in separate but connected present tense stories; some are “now,” and some are “before.” In additional passages, the narrator talks directly to readers, making observations and commenting on events. This tale is filled with average people, extra ordinary people, smart people, delusional people, bad people, and people who gather in the rain, arguing over whether or not they are getting wet. All are people readers know by different names.
The familiar world is replaced by something unrecognizable. The future that people dreaded has arrived, and America is having a nervous breakdown, teetering on the edge. Information and disinformation collide in a mashup of “A Clockwork Orange,” “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”(“Blade Runner”), and “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” God is mad; California is burning; the world has gone crazy, and there are clowns.
I received a review copy of “Anthem” from Noah Hawley and Grand Central Publishing.
The narrative poses this question: “How many grown-ups does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer is, of course, “None,” because they do not want to change; they like the “light” the way it is. Plan your time wisely; once you start reading “Anthem” you will not be able to put it down. Even after you turn the last page, it will remain with you. Now, all we have to do is change.
Hawley says so much in so few words, “The summer our children began to kill themselves was the hottest in history.”
The narrative unfolds in separate but connected present tense stories; some are “now,” and some are “before.” In additional passages, the narrator talks directly to readers, making observations and commenting on events. This tale is filled with average people, extra ordinary people, smart people, delusional people, bad people, and people who gather in the rain, arguing over whether or not they are getting wet. All are people readers know by different names.
The familiar world is replaced by something unrecognizable. The future that people dreaded has arrived, and America is having a nervous breakdown, teetering on the edge. Information and disinformation collide in a mashup of “A Clockwork Orange,” “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”(“Blade Runner”), and “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” God is mad; California is burning; the world has gone crazy, and there are clowns.
I received a review copy of “Anthem” from Noah Hawley and Grand Central Publishing.
The narrative poses this question: “How many grown-ups does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer is, of course, “None,” because they do not want to change; they like the “light” the way it is. Plan your time wisely; once you start reading “Anthem” you will not be able to put it down. Even after you turn the last page, it will remain with you. Now, all we have to do is change.
March 17, 2022
Read it and weep. And then Do. Something.
This is a horror story of real life in 21st century America, set in the near future (likely 2023 or 2024). The horrors are not monsters; they are school shootings and anxiety-caused illnesses in youth (like cutting and anorexia and silent withdrawal) and teen suicides and sexual abuse of children and corporate instigation of opioid addiction and ecological disaster and us versus them identity politics and societal descent into anarchical chaos. I dislike comparing novels to other novels, but think Stephen King's The Stand, updated and particularized to the United States over the past two decades, and where that can lead. It is the story of the children's response to the world they have been handed. If you look for trigger warnings before deciding to read a book, you probably should not crack the cover of this one.
There is a huge cast of characters, and the adolescents are the heroes. Story and her little brother Hadrian, the children of federal judge Margot Burr-Nadir who has just been nominated to the Supreme Court and her husband Remy who is a political pundit. Simon and his sister Claire, the children of Ty Oliver who is immensely rich from his opioid-producing company. The Prophet (don't call him Paul), orphaned at six when his father murdered his mother and then raised by his mid-western grandparents. Louise, born to a drug-addicted mother and fallen prey to the sexual appetites of the sixth richest man in the world. Duane, the van driver beaten regularly by his father. Randall Flagg, the Walking Man, who was at school during a mass school shooting where his brother was murdered. Samson and Bathsheba, the off-the-grid children of sovereign citizen Avon DeWitt. There are also Cyclops, Katniss, Javier, Evan the Troll, the sisters Girlie and Rose, the Goblin Security Consultants owned by Gabe Lin, the Float Anxiety Abatement Center, the boogaloo Clowns and all their ilk, and the major political parties of the Drinkers (aka Swimmers) and the Cooks (aka Surfers). Appearances are made by Dr. Seuss and Freud, the Pied Piper, Saints and Martyrs, the Boy Scouts, the God King (that guy who was elected president in 2016), the FBI, just to name a few.
This is a violence-filled road trip to Utopia. The adolescents don't know each other at the start. First they must:
escape from the castle
free the boy in the cage
find the boy who is not lost
vanquish the Witch and the Wizard
rescue the dragon
Along the way there will be horrible violence. "... if you think the next act of American life is going to unfold without gunfire, you're not paying attention." Magic is not required, though the fable-like overtones help the medicine go down.
The story goes all over the country, as the country burns both literally and figuratively. It visits: Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Florida, Austin TX, Fort Stockton TX, Marfa TX, San Francisco CA, Los Angeles CA, Palm Springs CA, Alaska.
At points I had to stop reading; it was overwhelming and I needed to catch my breath. At other points I couldn't look away; bearing witness seemed the most important thing. This is an epic that leaves you reeling.
This is a horror story of real life in 21st century America, set in the near future (likely 2023 or 2024). The horrors are not monsters; they are school shootings and anxiety-caused illnesses in youth (like cutting and anorexia and silent withdrawal) and teen suicides and sexual abuse of children and corporate instigation of opioid addiction and ecological disaster and us versus them identity politics and societal descent into anarchical chaos. I dislike comparing novels to other novels, but think Stephen King's The Stand, updated and particularized to the United States over the past two decades, and where that can lead. It is the story of the children's response to the world they have been handed. If you look for trigger warnings before deciding to read a book, you probably should not crack the cover of this one.
There is a huge cast of characters, and the adolescents are the heroes. Story and her little brother Hadrian, the children of federal judge Margot Burr-Nadir who has just been nominated to the Supreme Court and her husband Remy who is a political pundit. Simon and his sister Claire, the children of Ty Oliver who is immensely rich from his opioid-producing company. The Prophet (don't call him Paul), orphaned at six when his father murdered his mother and then raised by his mid-western grandparents. Louise, born to a drug-addicted mother and fallen prey to the sexual appetites of the sixth richest man in the world. Duane, the van driver beaten regularly by his father. Randall Flagg, the Walking Man, who was at school during a mass school shooting where his brother was murdered. Samson and Bathsheba, the off-the-grid children of sovereign citizen Avon DeWitt. There are also Cyclops, Katniss, Javier, Evan the Troll, the sisters Girlie and Rose, the Goblin Security Consultants owned by Gabe Lin, the Float Anxiety Abatement Center, the boogaloo Clowns and all their ilk, and the major political parties of the Drinkers (aka Swimmers) and the Cooks (aka Surfers). Appearances are made by Dr. Seuss and Freud, the Pied Piper, Saints and Martyrs, the Boy Scouts, the God King (that guy who was elected president in 2016), the FBI, just to name a few.
This is a violence-filled road trip to Utopia. The adolescents don't know each other at the start. First they must:
escape from the castle
free the boy in the cage
find the boy who is not lost
vanquish the Witch and the Wizard
rescue the dragon
Along the way there will be horrible violence. "... if you think the next act of American life is going to unfold without gunfire, you're not paying attention." Magic is not required, though the fable-like overtones help the medicine go down.
The story goes all over the country, as the country burns both literally and figuratively. It visits: Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Florida, Austin TX, Fort Stockton TX, Marfa TX, San Francisco CA, Los Angeles CA, Palm Springs CA, Alaska.
At points I had to stop reading; it was overwhelming and I needed to catch my breath. At other points I couldn't look away; bearing witness seemed the most important thing. This is an epic that leaves you reeling.
Read
November 4, 2021I am not rating this book because I don't think it would be fair. I picked it up because I loved Hawley's previous book and I am a fan of his TV writing. This book is dystopian in nature but takes so much from the current state of affairs and goes one or two steps further. So well done because I am completely scared to death right now. So kudos to the writing as usual but not a book that I can personally handle right now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,280 reviews