Hey, I would say i'm a well read person and all, but i'm having a hell of a time with this book, i'm like exactly half way through and i can't exactly grasp the meaning of alot of the conflicts in the book. i don't really understand what the hell toolsy is doing, i mean i read up on the conflicts and representation of altruism being a source of evil but i still don't know what shes really trying to get across,i can't decide whether i like or hate ann rand, at first i was loving her and now i think shes a little over done and rediculous in her ideas of individualism and all as apposed to collectivism, any help? thanks
To understand Ayn (Rhymes with Swine, her words) Rand, you need to understand her past. She lived under stalinist communism, and it was that system that devastated her family during her early life. Her father's pharmacy was siezed by the government, and her family fled to Crimea. After this, the soviets took Crimea. When she sees government and social morality, she isn't capable of seeing a distinction between libertarianism and stalinism. That's her flaw, and you'll see that in most of her writings.
Penguin UK have just launched The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as "Modern Classics" under the slogan "the greatest books you've never read". It's true, Ayn Rand is virtually unread and indeed practically unknown in the UK. I wonder if these books will take off - I have my doubts.
Sounds like you're doing just fine to me! It's great to wrestle with her ideas. All of the characters in her book are just pawns to illustrate the benefits of her philosophy, so keep that in mind... the characters' purposes will probably be all too obvious by the time you finish. Just remember that Roark is her definition of the perfect hero, and go from there, comparing the other characters to him. Your conflicted opinion of Rand is not surprising. Take what you can from it. A lot of people need to hear a message of individualism... and you can see how powerfully her works have affected many people. Many people cite Rand's work as life-changing. But even if you disagree with some of its major tenets (as I do), I think there is a lot to be learned from her. happy reading P.S. interesting to hear she isn't as widely read in the UK. I feel like just about every intelligent 20 year-old American has read at least one of her books.
I have the book, but I have yet to conquer it as it is a very large book. But I hear nothing but great things =)
You've got me wondering what smart kids in the UK are reading nowadays. In my day it was stuff like Steppenwolf, The Dharma Bums, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Solzhenitsyn and Yevtushenko. The scarily clever types were reading Althusser and Kristeva.
