Tuesday, September 18, 2007

I shrugged and said what the heck

Ayn Rand’s Literature of Capitalism - New York Times -- I confess that I haven't read any Ayn Rand straight through. I tried years ago, and it didn't speak to me, so whichever work it was never got finished. Reading this reprise by the NYT, I think her writing might be a propos to the times we're in now, so I'll be picking up a copy of Atlas Shrugged soon. One of our very good friends down in Worthington tells us it was a seminal influence on his life and his career, and we think he's done a good job of balancing spirituality and money.

5 comments:

  1. One of my favorite authors of all time.
    A little (make that a lot) preachy with her lengthy monologue treatises on free enterprise delivered by one of her main characters (in any of her books), you don't read Ayn Rand for its literary qualities.
    Rand's early life experiences under the thumb of a socialist regime in its formative years gave her an incredible foundation by which to critique our society. One only need to look at how our local intelligensia continues to blur the lines between for profit and not for profit to see that she knew what she was talking about.
    Any of my oft-read ratty paperbacks or recently listened to audio versions (read by the History Channel's Edward Herrmann)are available to you.

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  2. Thanks for the offer. I may take you up on the audio--let me ask Gloria if I'm allowed to play Ed Herrmann in the car--he was the chicken-hawk vampire, wasn't he? On the books, I buy them because I mark them up.

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  3. it's worth getting a hard copy because if it speaks to you this time around, you are definitely going to want to mark it up.

    it's hard for me to find particular passages because i have underlined so much of this book

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  4. Atlas Shrugged is a good (and very popular) book, but if you want to get back into Ayn Rand I suggest you start with the Fountainhead. It's about 450 pages shorter and has a more cohesive story. Ayn Rand thought it was her best novel.

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  5. William and Tina, thanks for the pointers.

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