Ayn Rand: a hundred years of reason

[Stormwatch]

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.

"But to win it requires your total dedication and a total break with the world of your past, with the doctrine that man is a sacrificial animal who exists for the pleasure of others. Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the virtue of your pride. Fight for the essence of that which is man: for his sovereign rational mind. Fight with the radiant certainty and the absolute rectitude of knowing that yours is the Morality of Life and that yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on this earth."

- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged"

[sethsez]

Oh god I hate this woman. Not because of her values, but because she just cannot write.

Really, Rand, nobody missed the point of your book. WE DID NOT NEED TO READ THAT SPEECH.

[Specineff]

NOOOO! NOT ANOTHER FLAMMABLE TOPIC WITH SOME WRITING FROM SOME HACK STARTED BY STORMWATCH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Rob]

What was that speech, like 100 pages? Good grief. I can't believe I finished that book.

[sethsez]

What was that speech, like 100 pages?

Something like that, yeah. And there was probably half a page's worth of actual, meaningful content.

[Stormwatch]

Don't exaggerate. In my copy, it's about 40 pages (mentioned later as a three hour speech).

[Rob]

In mine it goes from page 1009-1069. Anyways, it's unbearably long and horribly repetitious. Aside from that I thought the book was entertaining or I wouldn't have read it (and another), but her take on good vs. bad is represented with as much sophistication as a Johnny Turbo comic.

[Acid King]

She's on the cover of the new issue of Reason. I've never read any of her books, never really had an interest in her, though I should probably read atleast one of them.

[Stormwatch]

Acid: A nice introduction to Rand's worldview is her early novella Anthem.

[Andi]

In mine it goes from page 1009-1069. Anyways, it's unbearably long and horribly repetitious.

If you add in "grossly heavy handed" you can sum up most of Ayn Rand's works.

[Tar-Palantir]

NOOOO! NOT ANOTHER FLAMMABLE TOPIC WITH SOME WRITING FROM SOME HACK STARTED BY STORMWATCH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Word.

[greg]

I've never read Ayn Rand. Whenever I hear her name, I always remember the "Chicken F'er" episode of South Park where the sherrif learns to read, and his first book he read was an Ayn Rand book... either "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged." "Because of this book, I'll never read another book again!"

I've had people recommend her books, and some people I greatly admire and respect are fans of Ayn Rand. But she sounds too preachy. I don't like preachy books.

[Acid King]

I've never read Ayn Rand. Whenever I hear her name, I always remember the "Chicken F'er" episode of South Park where the sherrif learns to read, and his first book he read was an Ayn Rand book... either "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged." "Because of this book, I'll never read another book again!"

Heh, that quote is actually in Reason's article about her.

[captain ahar]

i have never read Ayn Rand, but whenever i hear (or read) her name, i think of Evan Dorkin and Fun!. i'll scan it in someday so you can know what the hell i am talking about!

[Stormwatch]

And here's another little homage to Ayn Rand... the philosopher with the REAL ULTIMATE POWER!!!!!

[U K Narayan]

Hmm. . . .

Right now I'm reading The Fountainhead, it's a pretty damn good book.