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ReviewsAyn Rand's Forgotten Child; Anthem
So, I know Ayn Rand is a conterversial figure in every circle. Her name has become synonymous with her master work, Atlas Shrugged. I find this fair, but disappointing as her novella, Anthem, is severely neglected in conversation, so, I wanted to see if any of you have read it and what your thoughts are.
I've been on a dystopian future classics kick. I'm talking 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. The WORKS, because I've just been so fed up with our world and our culture that I needed a little camaraderie from these authors. What I didn't expect to be reading was Ayn Rand. I knew of her reputation, and I knew that any mention of her name is bound to elicit eyerolls though I had never actually read her books before. I really let the opinions of others shade my vision of her, which I found as a profound lesson in Anthem.
Anthem is a novella written in 1938, and offers a surprisingly different shade of Rand's philosophy before she went on to create Atlas Shruged. It's setting is within a collectivist totalitarian regime far into a future dark-age. It utilizes many themes presented in 1984, but it's core is about the dangers of collectivism, the importance of individuality, and the indomitable human spirit.
Surprisingly, this read was my favorite of it's kind. Like 1984, there are some daringly similar parallels to our current world, and one that I did not expect of a book nearly 100 years old; pronouns. In this world, the individual is all but abolished. Everyone uses plural pronouns to refer to themselves here. The word "I" comes as a revelation only in the very end of this tale, and is a word that gets men burned alive if ever uttered. It's a word few people know.
Building off of this with 1984's stance on language really put into perspective how truly powerful language is, how badly we are marring it today, and what effects this has already had on us. The future does not look bright to me, but this book has filled me with a new fire to take back control and power over myself. Fuck everything else, I'll be in the tall grass.
Not a book but a useful resource: Spinning Babies. I have no idea about their gender inclusivity or otherwise, I only know I wish I'd known about them earlier than 41+6, because doing inversions off the bed at basically 42w was pretty challenging. But I am sure those exercises saved us a hospital induction, so. Good luck.
Expecting Better, by Emily Oster. It came out at the end of my last pregnancy so I did not buy it, but I read a lot of the reviews and criticisms and came to the conclusion that she was right about most things. I had one of the best OBs who was really evidence based and didn't act like I was going to damage my baby with every bite of food or sip of drink I took. Her conclusions lined up with a lot of the guidance he gave me. He helped me understand why something could pose a risk and how to balance the risk/benefit, where a lot of the time women are just told to avoid things without adequate explanation.
I wanted to like that book, but Emily's comments on alcohol were so irresponsible. Alcohol is a teratogen-- there is no safe amount-- and she was basically saying it's okay to have a glass of wine a day at certain points of pregnancy. Our society has a serious drinking problem if we are going to prioritize blending in socially over protecting a child. I couldn't trust anything she said after that section to be honest. The whole thing read as if she was trying really hard to cherry-pick studies to support her own drinking decisions.
Milli Hill's books
I just looked her up but it doesn't seem she's a scientist or has any medical training?
oops I totally skipped over the science part, sorry about that!