February 02, 200499 YearsNinety-nine years ago, Alisa Rosenbaum was born in Russia. She grew up to become Ayn Rand, novelist-philosopher. Quite an amazing life that she lived - intellectual, controversial, sexual, political, and more. As most of you know, I largely subscribe to the philosophy that she described: Objectivism. I first attempted reading "Atlas Shrugged" in November, 1982, while a junior in high school. The back cover of the book spoke of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world...and being something of a sci-fi junkie, I took that quite literally, and wondered how this story would unfold. Would it be akin to "Journey To The Center Of The Earth," with the hero traveling into the earth's innards and finding some sort of literal mechanism to stop the world from rotating? After about six or seven chapters, I was somewhat disappointed as I realized that it was not "science fiction" proper; still, I sensed that there was something intriguing about the writing. So I turned to "The Fountainhead" and devoured it within hours. After finishing it, I went back to Atlas and was, unironically, a true believer. (Not a Randroid, mind you -- an Objectivist - and there are lots of us!).(tip o' the link to Mark for reminding me) Posted at February 2, 2004 01:58 PM | TrackBackCOMMENTS!
The Objectivist persepctive is interesting. I may do more research on it. Posted by: Burnt Fuse at February 2, 2004 03:28 PMI always thought Rand a bit of a hedonist. Posted by: Renee at February 3, 2004 10:50 AMDefinitely a bit of a hedonist. Notice that she has no way of incorporating children into the selfish quest. I enjoyed Rand. If it hits you, it changes you. But look at the extremes, you can no more take Rand "literally" than you can take the Bible "literally." (Lest you should find yourself sacrificing a lamb.) Having said that, I am in awe of her passion for capitalism and her hatred of socialism. I wish everyone that has the mental comprehension necessary to read Rand, would do so. The way she portrays the primary characters is phenomenal. I was helplessly intriqued. She generates a sexual undercurrent through strength of character alone. Fountainhead in hours?!?! As in 10, or as in 100? I was a devoted reader, but I didn't get through it THAT quickly. Posted by: Key at February 3, 2004 03:53 PMPost a comment
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