The works of Ayn Rand

sleeper

sleeper

Former LOD President
I just finished reading The Fountainhead, and i am just getting started on Atlas Shrugged.

I found The Fountainhead to be an excellent book. The story is very good, keeping one very interested and wanting to read on.

Ayn Rand espouses her own personal philosophy in her work, Objectivism. This is not readily apparent, if you are not looking for it, but it's not very hard to see either.

Read more on objectivism here: http://www.aynrand.org/objectivism/essentials.html

All i can say is that i agree with her philosophy. I haven't yet encountered any aspect of it that i disagree with.

Here is a good quote from Ayn Rand on Objectivism:

http://www.aynrand.org/objectivism/img/masthead.gif

What do y'all think?
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

I liked her sister Sally better. She was the object of everyone's attention at one time. :+
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

I'm in a book club at work, I'll suggest that for our next round of book voting.

This book club has been great - I get to read a lot of novels that I never would have picked up on my own. So far, I've found that I really enjoy reading a lot more types of books than I ever thought I would.

Interesting article on Sally, too. Maybe she can be my new role model. ;-)
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead was an important book to me in my teenage years. it convinced me that becasue I was so smart I didn't have to listen to anything anyone told me. Egoism and all, you know. Which caused my Dad, techers, bosses etc a lot of grief. I've read it 3 times, and that sucker is loooooooooong!

But Atlas Shrugged is even better. I envy you the experience of reading that for the first time. Except that it is even longer than Fountainhead.

Then there is Anthem, a very short work set in a weird dystopian future. Alex Lifeson based his work "2112" on it.

Her philosophy is interesting, but it doesn't seem practical for a crowded world. I don't think egoism admits the existence or importance of Love or compassion. It's been a while since I read any of it but that is what I remember as how I sortof "grew out of" egoism.

But as a teenager, ostracized for being "a brain", lonely and pissed off, Ayn Rand threw me a life preserver.

Shortly after that I discovered Catholic girls and wasn't as interested in philosophy anymore (at least not one as lonely as egoism) LOL

DC
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

Hmmm... maybe that's what i need, some catholic girls.

Anyways, i think it does allow for love, in it's own way. The relationship between Dominique Francon and Howard Roark is one example, from The Fountainhead, and the relationship between Dagny and Francisco in Atlas Shrugged (I might be off on this one though, i'm less than 100 pages in) is another example.

I can see how it "threw you a life preserver", as you put it, and i would have felt exactly the same way had i read these books as a teenager. It would have allowed me to remain much more calm in my dealings with superiors of inferior intellect.

Compassion has it's place too, but in a different way. Perhaps that's because compassion can be seen as being akin to altruism, and often, people are compassionate for the sake of being compassionate rather than out of true compassion. The girl in the Fountainhead, i think Katherine was the characters name, Toohey's niece, is a good example of this. Compassion doesn't lead to happiness, necessarily. But Roark shows some compassion, when he helps that sculptor (i forget that characters name too), and when he doesn't utter the word "Gail" in his final conversation with Wynand, because he believes that that will destroy him. I think this illustrates that there is room for compassion within objectivism, so long as it is true compassion and not just feeling bad for someone because you think you're supposed to.

To tell you the truth I formed many similar ideas on my own, in some way, and that's how i've been dealing with the world for a long time. It just took a good novel to give the ideas order and reason, and to put them in words.
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

But Atlas Shrugged is even better. I envy you the experience of reading that for the first time. Except that it is even longer than Fountainhead.
Click to expand...

I think that is about the best review one can give for a book, and i can't disagree at all. I'm maybe halfway through Atlas Shrugged, and can say without qualification that it's the best book i've ever read. And i think The Fountainhead is second best.
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

Does it matter what order to read them in? I'm thinking about picking one up but didn't know if I should pick the better one, or if order matters.
 
RE: The works of Ayn Rand

I don't think it really matters what order you read them. When you're reading the second one though, you'll probably notice similarities with the first.
 
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