Ayn Rand

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:06am

I've been inspired to read some Ayn Rand after watching the first season of Mad Men. I'm currently attempting to read Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, but it's so difficult to me. I don't really feel that compelled to finish it. Would you consider Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" an easier read? Easier meaning, easier to follow, more compelling, etc. Or would you recommend one of her other novels first? I've read Anthem in high school, and I loved it.

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:10am

Ayn Rand is one of the greatest writers ever! she understands how capitalism IS the the great manmade intellectual construct ever. it weeds out the useless and elevates the hardworking. read her. study her. live her.

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:12am

instead of dick and jane, children should be given Rands' The Virtue of Selfishness. it would make our country a lot better!

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:24am

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7ukJiBZ8_4k

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:27am

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FzGFytGBDN8&feature=related

[DG]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:00am

*shrug*

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 2:04am

abowlerhat2 = HDthoreau (remember?)

[DG]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 2:13am

"abowlerhat2 = HDthoreau (remember?)"

Yes, that's pretty much accepted knowledge now.

But the more people that point it out, the better.

Actually, the more people that IGNORE it, the better.

[kelzama]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 9:58am

Back to the topic:
The Fountainhead (being shorter, yet espousing similar principles) might be more digestible than Atlas Shrugged.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 10:02am

The movie of THE FOUNTAINHEAD (screenplay by Rand with all her totally absurd situations and laugh-out-loud dialogue intact) is a camp classic. Don't miss it.

Posted: 7/29/08 at 10:19am

Read the Fountainhead. Ignore the politics. It's a potboiler soap opera. I love the scene where Dominique falls in love with the statue of the naked man, buys it from the museum and then destroys it so no one can ever see it.

OR! The lunch where Dominique offers to sleep with Gail if he'll hire her husband! It goes something like this:

Gail: You must love your husband very much.
Dominique: I despise him.
Gail: Then you must think he's a great architect.
Dominique: He's a third rate hack.
Gail: Then you must want to sleep with me.
Dominique: The thought of sleeping with you repulses me.
Gail: You'd sleep with a man who repulses you to get a commission for a man you despise? Why?
Dominique: It amuses me.

Ayn Rand was, in fact, a loon. Completely bonkers. She had VERY unusual ideas about love & sex and in fact compelled a young fan of hers to sexually service her because they were the two "pure minds" in the group. They were both married at the time and she called both couples together to announce the new arrangements, which involved two or three times a week that would be set aside for the two to "Do it." She, incidentally, was notoriously unattractive and old enough to be the gentleman's mother. When he finally confessed he did not find her attractive, but loved her very much as a friend and mentor, she denounced him and, in classic Soviet Style, fired him and erased all traces of his existence.

He wrote a book about it. Then his ex-wife wrote a book about it. Fascinating stuff. You know the saying: No loon like a right-wing loon!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 10:23am

Oh, GOD! And don't forget the scene that tops Tennessee Williams for OTT symbolism: Dominique..ahem...riding a powerful horse, whips Roarke for looking at her impertinently while...ahem...using a pneumatic drill in the quarry.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 10:24am

Yeah, that scene in the film where Cooper and Neal see each other from afar is really something. As bad as the rest of the film is, they sure as hell had a chemistry together.

Posted: 7/29/08 at 10:28am

It tells you a LOT about Ayn! How about the descriptions of the "frigid" Dominique suddenly repulsed by all other men because she's finally been "taken" by a REAL man

[Becky2]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 11:02am

I found "Atlas Shrugged" to be a very easy read. She's a very passionate writer, and even if you disagree with some of her views, she argues for them well and with reason. Actually, I found reading that book to be a mild religious expirience. :)

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:01pm

Don't get me wrong- I love her books. Atlas Shrugged is a wonderful book, too. But when John Galt makes his 30-some page statement, I just skip over it with no great loss.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:07pm

Oh! There's a gay porn star named Jon Galt! He's daddyish and versatile.

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:08pm

Hmmmm. That sounds more like Hank Reardon to me.

If you like 'em butch and brutish you really can't do better that Ayn's men.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 4:18pm

Brighton Rock should be an extremely easy read.

and DON'T skip John Galt's speech.

[Becky2]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 9:39pm

Ditto, don't skip the speech, it's a very passionate one. I at least found it exciting.