Ayn Rand

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Titanoboa92
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Re: Ayn Rand

Post by Titanoboa92 »

I enjoy Ayn Rand's novels a lot. She does push her philosophy strongly, and I'm not sure if I agree completely with everything she believes, but I keep an open mind while I'm reading her works just like with any other author.
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laureng
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Post by laureng »

I tried Atlas Shrugged a few years back and I couldn't get passed page 50. Her ideas and philosophies were a bit to much for me. I know some people love her writing and ideas, but I couldn't get into her at all.
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Post by David Dawson »

Never read. I am normally very reluctant to dismiss writers without reading them, but I think the famous turgidity of her prose and the beliefs that I would regard as pretty malevolent, make me fairly comfortable about living my life without reading her.
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Post by Job419 »

David Dawson wrote:... the beliefs that I would regard as pretty malevolent...
They are not at all malevolent, just the opposite in fact. Try "We The Living," it's the shortest.
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Post by David Dawson »

Job419 wrote:
David Dawson wrote:... the beliefs that I would regard as pretty malevolent...
They are not at all malevolent, just the opposite in fact. Try "We The Living," it's the shortest.
I suspect our disagreement is derived from political principles rather than my failure to read Rand.
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freak_show
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Post by freak_show »

I read atlas shrugged first and then switched to the fountainhead. The fact that she put forward a philosophy so staunch in her era is commendable. Instead of focusing on the plethora of 'causes of destruction' of our society, she went after the root and with all her might, tried to get it out. After reading her prologue in the fountainhead, i was shocked. I quote her here:

"It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man's proper stature--and that the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning--and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine; it is not me or The Fountainhead that they will betray: it is their own souls."

I had always thought that she created protagonists like Howard Roark and John Galt out of her imagination, as a manifestation of the peaks of humanity she wanted achieved. But to think that she actually believed people like them exist....
Nevertheless, i am a reader and it is my soul i ended up betraying at last.
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Post by sarah_jane »

We read Anthem freshmen year at my school in English class. I really enjoyed it, although it took some getting used to for her calling Equality 7-2521 'our' instead using 'I' when talking in first person. But I guess that was the whole concept of the book, to show how one society believing that everyone should be completely equal with no individuality can turn ugly. Just shows what can happen when something that is considered good is taken to the extreme.
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Post by pagenumber394 »

I have read part one in The Fountainhead. I really enjoyed what I have read so far.

I want to take my time with this book. I have put it to the side to finish other books.

I enjoy her writing style and her ideas. I think her characters are great, and she touches a lot on social issues. I heard Anthem was great.
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Post by cgoss74 »

I read Atlas Shrugged I thought it was an interesting read but it was long and it took me a while to get through it. I had a boss that told me not to take her writing too seriously. I don't generally read material of a political nature, but for some reason this book caught my attention.
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Post by DennisK »

I've known people who treat her works as something of a religious experience. Others, I've known, regard her venomously. Regardless of what side they take, their opinions seem to be quite pronounced.
Because of that, my respect for her as a writer grows. If after the book is read, you find yourself in a place that challenges you, causes you to think, causes you to form opinions; then that, leaving aside your opinion of the prose, is a good piece of literature. It has been years since I've read Atlas Shrugged, but I do remember its story as being a bit juvenile. Never the less, I am still questioning the merits of capitalism, socialism, and our responsibilities to one another to this day. Her arguments plays a prominent place in my thinking.
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B3cca 3ll3r
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Post by B3cca 3ll3r »

I love how you phrased that DennisK! I very much agree with you. To anyone else who has middle-of-the-road feelings I highly recommend both "The Early Ayn Rand" and "Three Plays by Ayn Rand" both of these have shorter pieces that are much easier to get through. Rand's philosophy get really heavy in many of her books, especially "Atlas Shrugged", but her earlier work has a bit more levity to it. In addition the same basic philosophy is stated but in a way that is gentler and not quite so loud!
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BarryEM
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Post by BarryEM »

I have to agree with pretty much everything said in this thread about Ayn Rand. And she's still one of my favorite authors.

It's important to remember she was born in Russia and lived through their revolution before managing to come to America. She was revolted by the ideas of socialism and her books came from that revulsion.

Someone mentioned her comic book-like characters and I think that was intentional. Each character represented human qualities that she loved or hated. Each was either all good and noble or wily and evil. And, of course, humans aren't like that so she drew caricatures. Then she made them come to live and that was her genius.

When I first read "The Fountainhead" it made me think for the first time about things I'd never considered before. My conclusions about these things were often different than hers but she got me started thinking about what kind of person I really want to be. I'm not sure she'd approve of the result, though. :)

About 30 or so years ago a magazine, I think it might have been "Psychology Today" did a large scale survey of world leaders, including national leaders, industry leaders and leaders in the sciences, and one of the questions asked what books most influenced your thinking. I don't recall the numbers but her books were on nearly everyone's list and high on many of those lists. No other author came close and the article written about the study said she was probably the most influential writer of the 20th century.

Personally though, I don't much care about any of that. I love her stories and their complexity and how beautifully the characters come to live in them. I really do believe she's one of the great writers I've encountered and that has nothing to do with philosophy at all.

Offhand I'd guess I first read "The Fountainhead" 50 or more years ago. Since then I've had many discussions and arguments about her books, some friendly, some not. I'm always finding discussions of her on the internet and other sources and no-one can ever quite agree about her. I'm not sure I even can agree with myself about her because she stirs so many contradictory feelings and ideas. That's quite an accomplishment for an author.

By the way, to the person who said nobody would read her books for fun, I always and only read for fun and I find her books to be great fun. She's easy to read and her books are easy to follow. More than any other author she draws pictures in my head of the scenes I'm reading, always in black and white. I often visualize scenes in books but never as vividly as hers and the others are usually in color.

Barry
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holymolymdp
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Post by holymolymdp »

I struggled through The Fountainhead in high school and that started my fascination with Ayn Rand's work. I'm ready now to go back and reread her works from an adult perspective.
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Post by stanley »

I read "The Fountain Head" and "Atlas Shrugged" 50 years ago and have not been back since. That said, I am probably not qualified to comment, at least with out a quick review. I'll stick my neck out and comment anyway. It's interesting that reactions to the books, pro and con, are very similar to what they were then. My feeling was that Ayn Rand was greatly over rated as both a novelist and a philosopher. As a writer of credible fiction she seemed to me inept. Any social philosophy, express or implied, in the two works was tedious, didactic, and simplistic, or so it seemed to me then. I had intelligent friends whose opinions I respected who could not have disagreed with me more. How interesting that fifty years ago can sometimes feel so close.

-- 07 Dec 2015, 23:33 --
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DennisK
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Post by DennisK »

stanley wrote:I read "The Fountain Head" and "Atlas Shrugged" 50 years ago and have not been back since. That said, I am probably not qualified to comment, at least with out a quick review. I'll stick my neck out and comment anyway. It's interesting that reactions to the books, pro and con, are very similar to what they were then. My feeling was that Ayn Rand was greatly over rated as both a novelist and a philosopher. As a writer of credible fiction she seemed to me inept. Any social philosophy, express or implied, in the two works was tedious, didactic, and simplistic, or so it seemed to me then. I had intelligent friends whose opinions I respected who could not have disagreed with me more. How interesting that fifty years ago can sometimes feel so close.

-- 07 Dec 2015, 23:33 --
It seems her work has become ageless.
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