Anthem (1936)

A short, fierce fable that makes the individualist case against collectivism. Equality 7-2521, a street sweeper in a society where thinking for oneself is outlawed, rediscovers electricity in a forgotten tunnel and, later, the forbidden word that the whole state exists to suppress: "I". Ayn Rand's later novels are doorstops; this one can be read in an evening, which makes it the easiest way into the libertarian and conservative strand of dystopian writing. The prose is deliberately archaic and the characters are symbols, so read it for the idea and for the arguments it starts, not for subtlety.