On numerous occasions over the past few years I have picked up copies of novels by Ayn Rand. On each of these occasions I have started the books with the best of intentions, but for some reason, I have just never been able to get past the first few chapters. Now there may be more complicated novels than "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged," but I found myself going back in the text time after time. I was made aware of Rand and her work after reading of how Mark Cuban has become engrossed in her philosophy of objectivism. The books are very well written and extremely interesting. I only wish that there was a way for me to get over this "hump." This is the point in a book where I become intrigued enough to finish it as quickly as possible. Is there something more to Ayn Rand? Do I need to read deeper beneath the text? Any and all guidance is welcome to help me appreciate these literary masterpieces.
2 comments:
Hi
1) It is possible that Rand's novels do not fit neatly into your expectations for what you enjoy most about reading.
2) That could be compounded if you do not have any overwhelming interest in the particular setting she chose such as architecture for The Fountainhead, and business/industry for Atlas Shrugged.
3) Also, in the first few chapters you might not yet have detected that the underlying subject of her books is a whole new way to look at the task of life - one that is in the big picture, revolutionary.
4) There is of course the additional possibility that what you did grasp that soon of her worldview, you were uneasy with or explicitly disagreed with.
That said, regardless of any agreement or disagreement you might have with her ideas, it is not unimportant that you familiarize yourself with these ideas, and that you urge your children, when they are ready, to do the same.
Her philosophy, Objectivism, is rapidly becoming the only alternative to the one still dominant that we inherited from the 20th century. You should thoroughly acquaint yourself with it if for no other reason than to be able to deal with it intelligently. It involves radical revisions of the status quo in politics, art, psychology, and social relationships.
My advice now is to put the novels aside and come at it from another direction. Introduce yourself to the ideas first.
1) Read "The Virtue of Selfishness" first. Then perhaps "For the New Intellectual".
2) For an instant overview of her ideas on over 200 different topics, presented in quotes from her writings and those of her closest associates, to here: http://www.aynrandlexicon.com/
3) Along the way, read her very very short novella, "Anthem". Same ideas, very different presentation - halfway between a short novel and a long poem. If you search it in google, it is available to read online.
4) If by then you are still interested, you can proceed on two tracks: a) return to the novels with the shorter one. "The Fountainhead". Then you can tackle "Atlas Shrugged." Both of these books illustrate the application of her philosophy to real life. b) for the most comprehensive presentation of her philosophy, read "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" by Leonard Peikoff.
If you are curious about the pros and cons in the battle of ideas today, go to http://alerts.google.com and register for alerts to the appearance of the words "Ayn Rand", Objectivism, and Objectivist. You will get about 3-8 email alerts each day of the appearance of those words in blogs from around the world. It is a fabulous view of how Objectivists reply to the attacks of her many detractors.
Now two caveats: 1) Try to restrain yourself from leaping to conclusions about these ideas by judging them with assumptions imprisoned in current culture and traditions. When you find something you have a hard time accepting go find the complete explanation before rejecting it. And beware the dangers of hearsay. Ignore all aspects of personalities and focus on the content of the ideas. Ultimately that is the only source of value to your life. Do not accept anything said unless you can independently utilize the ideas and validate them yourself.
and 2) explore these ideas with your wife, not separately. Strive to "stay on the same page" to avoid letting it come between you in the event that it causes you to change ideas you previously had. It is that profound.
So, that is the advice you requested, once again proving you should be careful what you ask for!
I asked my friend Cheryl to reply here, but she is pretty busy. She also did the Master's program with me at UC, and she's more well-read than I am. And she's got attitude, which I love.
She wrote in an email to me:
I'm not sure what I can tell him. I finished Atlas Shrugged, but I hated it. In fact, I kind of wished Ayn Rand was still alive so I could have tracked her down and yelled "Your work is pretentious and self-indulgent, and your ideology is contradictory! YOU SUCK!" at her. That urge has subsided, but I still don't like the book. I finished it because I don't not finish books, if that makes sense. Seriously, she wrote a monologue that lasted 50 uninterrupted pages. Who does that?
Cheryl said she'd tell you why she didn't like it, too, but I think the above pretty much covers it. I am of the belief that anyone who would purposely spend much time with Rand and actually suggest others do so is either a graduate student, a loner in high school, a pretentious person, a person with way too much time, or someone who also attends Star Wars conventions. Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that--I just consider the folks who attend such things to automatically make it onto my "people I will not date" list. I'm that pretentious.
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