Ayn Rand
 

I played Bioshock on the XBox over the summer and read the Greenspan book. Ayn Rand throughout.

My dad got me The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged for Christmas. Said to read The Fountainhead first.

Seems like a lot of reading. Thoughts/opinions on Rand that haven't been posted on previous threads? Be nice to me, this is my first foray into "literature" (or atleast the way it seems this board views it).

I've owned Atlas Shrugged for many years, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I've read a couple of her other books, and she's a decent writer. She seems pretty overrated to me. Her philosophy is basically: Communism bad, capitalism good, life is worth living, and each individual should put his or her own welfare above that of the group. That last one has been parodied quite a bit, but "rational self-interest" doesn't seem a terrible idea the way she explains it.

Atlas shrugged is my favorite novel. I've read most of Ayn rand's books (even the nonfiction) and really enjoyed them. I especially liked "We the living" the fountainhead is also good but I would read Atlas shrugged first as that is her pinnacle novel.

Atlas Shrugged is my least favorite novel that I have ever read. To me it was overwrought, hyperbolic, paranoid and devoid of reason. But I have mad respect for MRD nonetheless.

Is this DD or IVV? Just so I know which one has good taste in novels.

i have only read "atlas shrugged." aside from the wild and almost violent sex (i am being serious) between two of the main characters in ths book, i found her book to be underwhelming and a bit over the top (just like the wild and almost violent sex scenes).

Atlas Shrugged is laborious and taxing to read.

My brother told me it's his favorite book ever and so I read it.

Felt like going through stereo instructions. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

I won't read it again.

It's like The Matrix. Something some people get passionate about at a certain age but if they mature they tend to get over by the time they turn, say, maybe 30 at the latest. I know MRD disagrees. I respect his opinion.

Read the book then give me a review. You might actually like it

I liked Atlas Shrugged but it should have been about 4,000,000 pages shorter. We the Living was better (because it was shorter, IMO). If you read Atlas Shrugged, don't bother with The Fountainhead; they're 82% the same story. I'm not passionate about Rand but I don't regret having read her novels.

Rand's philosophy "Objectivism" is clearly a product of the Soviet revolution in the early 20th century, and has some serious holes, IMO. But, it's an interesting historiographical source for seeing one intellectual response to communism. In the end, Rand's extremism is as tiring to me as communism's. Same bird, different ends of the spectrum (and yes, I mixed that metaphor on purpose).