The best anarchist in fiction?

[Blagsta]

V

I think V for Vendetta is a pretty poor story about anarchism. It's a great comic book, but it's essentially a story about vanguardism.

 

[tar1984]

Is that where the guy wears that mask? theres a film too?

 

[Blagsta]

That's the one. A lone hero struggles against oppression and tries to awake the masses. Hardly anarchism which is about collective social struggle.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

An Enemy of the State by F. Paul Wilson (Science Fiction)

 

[chilango]

George Washington Hayduke

 

[rekil]

An Enemy of the State by F. Paul Wilson (Science Fiction)

Nope. Nothing to do with anarchism. Why not John Galt while you're at it.

 

[Zabo]

"The Master and Margarita"

"The devil comes to Moscow wearing a fancy suit. With his disorderly band of accomplices including a demonic, gun-toting tomcat he immediately begins to create havoc. Disappearances, destruction and death spread through the city like wildfire and Margarita discovers that her lover has vanished in the chaos. Making a bargain with the devil, she decides to try a little black magic of her own to save the man she loves. A masterpiece of magical surrealism, a triumph of the imagination.' - "

Sunday Telegraph", Books of the Century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita

 

[Belushi]

A play rather than a book. but the Maniac in Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

 

[DotCommunist]

I think V for Vendetta is a pretty poor story about anarchism. It's a great comic book, but it's essentially a story about vanguardism.

V was a symbol and an individual rather than a leader of organised resistance.

 

[strung out]

V was a symbol and an individual rather than a leader of organised resistance.

Symbols are given power by people. A symbol, in and of itself is powerless, but with enough people behind it, blowing up a building can change the world.

 

[Cid]

Take your pick from the Culture series.

 

[chico enrico]

i'd have thought The Good Soldier Svejk?

can't really think of any others. plus, it's author, Jaroslav Hasek, was an anarchist. and a fucking funny character (got a biography of him called The Bad Bohemian which is a classic)

 

[jcsd]

The most famous example I can think of is "The Man who was Thursday" by G K Chesteron. Without spoiling the plot, most of the characters are either anarchists or pretending to be anarchists.

Though of course G K Chesterton himself said thaqt the fictional anarchists in the book were not meant torepresent real anarchists.

 

[the button]

Shevek.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The Chink: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.

 

[albionism]

Would you say Germinal was an anarchist?

 

[Barking_Mad]

List here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Anarchist_fiction

This chap seems to crop up a few times : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dispossesse...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252651749&sr=8-3


Maybe 'The Great Anarchist Fiction Novel' is still waiting to be written...

 

[foo]

he's a nihilist first and foremost

yes, of course, you're right.

 

[phildwyer]

Gabriel Syme, from The Man Who Was Thursday.

 

[rekil]

Klaus Kinski in Dr.Zhivago.
Ana Belen in Libertarias.
Err, Dennis in Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

 

[albionism]

Yes! Dennis!

 

[albionism]

Mark from Zabriskie Point?

 

[camouflage]

Satan from the bible.

 

[mrs quoad]

I wish I knew why you thought it could be smartarse. I was on about Alan Moores finest creation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V.

I thought you were being proper elusive / Hinterlekshewel.

 

[Blagsta]

V was a symbol and an individual rather than a leader of organised resistance.

This is my point. An individual acting as a vanguard.

 

[Idris2002]

Captain Nemo - though I suppose he was more of a vague 'people's debt collector' type than an actual anarchist.