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Ayn Rand

'Atlas Shrugged' author sees resurgence

'Atlas Shrugged' author sees resurgence


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CNN has an interesting article for Ayn Rand fans

In the midst of the credit crisis and the federal government's massive bailout plan, the works of Rand, a proponent of a libertarian, free-market philosophy she called Objectivism, are getting new attention.
"If only 'Atlas' were required reading for every member of Congress and political appointee in the Obama administration. I'm confident that we'd get out of the current financial mess a lot faster," Wall Street Journal columnist Stephen Moore wrote in early January.

"So many people see the parallels with actually what's going on, with the government taking over the banks, with the government kind of taking over the automobile industry, a president who fires the CEO of a major American corporation. These are the kind of things that come out of 'Atlas Shrugged,' " Brook said.
 
Thanks for the article Robert, with Obama being elected, it has done wonders for objectivists in America.
 
I read The Fountainhead when I was young, and only remember being bored to tears. Flat characters, is all I really recall, well, that and it was rather a depressing book. I doubt it's even worth it to me to go back and attempt a reread.
 
The article actually caught my eye because I already have Atlas Shrugged on my summer reading list for the reasons stated by Mr. Ganley.
 
I took the Fountainhead with me to Scotland to help fill in the downtime but ended up never opening it. I'll read it eventually I suppose.
 
An old video that is a good one.

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Alright, I am new here, so bear with me on this... I just looked up authors and books that I had an interest in first, so forgive me for dredging up this tired old thread as a starting point... I read all of the posts with interest... I was frankly surprised that so many people have such of negative view of Rand's books... I have read The Fountainhead a couple times and read Atlas Shrugged about once a year on average for the last 5 years or so... I list it as my favorite book, and I guess I will unless someone could suggest one that may displace it... :) ... It appears to me that many who don't like Rand's writing dislike her political views moreso than her writing style or story-telling ability... Now, I personally think she creates an impossibly black and white society... That would be mildly annoying except that I had never heard of objectivism when I began reading the book so I was reading it as what it is -- merely a fictional story... As such, it is no more difficult to accept than any other fictional society (Douglas Adam's galaxy, for instance)... In fact, no one has mentioned this yet, but what I found more difficult to believe than the perfect adherence to the two opposing philosophies of her characters, was that they matched their respective philosophies perfectly in PHYSICAL appearance... Every one of the Galt advocates were perfect human specimens -- chiseled features, naturally sincere smiles, perfect hair, wide eyes, grace of movement, etc., etc... On the other hand, every Jim Taggart wannabe was overweight, slow of speech, slow of foot, slovenly, pouty-lipped, red-eyelidded, pasty-white, etc., etc... She tried to give the impression that she could pick out a moocher at 100 yards by mere appearance... As much as she preached against the stereotypes of women, she doomed all of humanity to one type of sterotype or another...

As for the speeches, I do think some consolidation would have been in order, buy hey, artistic license I guess... I think the larger mistake is that Galt's speech became anti-climactic given that Rearden's speech was far more shocking to those present in the room with him, and was more poignant, in general... I thought his speech was well-timed in the overall scope of the plot... Galt's speech at that point became unnecessary... Nonetheless, every time through the book, I still read all 50+ pages of it... :)

On the audience of the book, many have suggested that young readers would find it more appealing... Possibly true if the motive in reading is to gather political ideas from the writing... I was past the point of having formed any political ideas I may have when I read it, so the political philosophies were not so important to me... Rather what I gained from it was a new way of viewing the motives and ideas of those around me... I find myself always trying to read between the lines now, whether it is in conversation with a kid behind the counter at Taco Bell, or watching Obama give a speech... I constantly find myself asking, what is he really saying here?... Is he really in favor of trying to help out the poor, or is there some other motive at play?... Is he against the war, or does he gain something by claiming to want to bring U.S. troops home?... I do see a trend toward more and more restrictive laws being passed, even to the point of absurdity and I believe she hit this particular nail on the head... Anyway, politically, I tweaked my own belief system with thoughts and ideas that she expounded, but in no way agree with everything she writes...

About it for my two cents...

B
 
I had a pleasant surprise as I opened my most recent copy of Newsweek and found an article titled Atlas Hugged by South Carolina governor Mark Sanford. A scalding review of the essay can be found here. The greatest point can be found here:

But really, this piece has middling-to-no credibility, thanks to its source. In fact, it’s loaded with irony, thanks to how un-Randian Sanford’s behavior was. Yes, he did what he wanted (selfish!) — but would John Galt have groveled his way through an 18-minute press conference? Would Howard Roark have sniveled about how he was in loooove? No – he would have raped his way through that press conference* and then blown it up for good measure.

:lol::lol:

Oh well, I'm not certain that Objectivists would count him as one of their own.
 
capitalism is very evil. just ask all the third world people working 16 hours a day 7 days a week for pennies an hour so you can shop at places like walmart
 
The only book I've read by Ayn Rand is Atlas Shrugged. I found the story compelling, but like most novels it had more fantasy than reality in it. In addition, she droned on and on throughout several speeches in the book. I dealt with the downside of the book and felt that overall it was a good read.

Most important I learned a great deal about myself and my own personal views by seeing how the characters reacted to their situations in life. It doesn't matter if you agree with an author's point of view if the book makes you think. Ayn Rand does a good job of making you think in Atlas Shrugged so I'd recommend it to anyone.
 
capitalism is very evil. just ask all the third world people working 16 hours a day 7 days a week for pennies an hour so you can shop at places like walmart

I'd ask them what they'd do without that job. ;)
 
The main problem with her works is that she wrote too narrowly. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead were essentially about the same thing. They were about the brave individual struggling against a parasitic-collectivist society. Other than the lead characters and the industries they represented, the books did not vary significantly. You could say that she was a right wing version of Steinbeck, but he branched out and wrote things such as The Winter of Our Discontent, Tortilla Flats, and The Moon is Down. Not every novel he wrote was The Grapes of Wrath. I can't think of anything that she has written that wasn't the same boilerplate material.
 
I agree with you Zooie- i too read Atlas Shrugged only--way back when I was in school...though the thick fat book did enlighten me about the pros of Industrialisation and Commerce, I was not inspired to read another one of her novels. She sounded predictable.
 
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