Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
How so? Care to explain what I'm missing? Obviously I'm overgeneralizing but I'd like to hear what you have to say.

[/ QUOTE ]

1. The books are not about how the world works. We all realize this isn't how the world works. The books are about how the world should work.

2. The Fountainhead is not about getting out of anybody's way and letting them run things. And a major point, if not the major point, is that these people should look out for their own self interest. Everyone should. This is not a problem that is ignored by the philosophy. It is the cornerstone of it.

I'm not arguing the validity of the philosophy, just your take on the books seemed a little off. Maybe it was just the way you communicated it, or maybe I misunderstood what you were saying.

[SmileyEH]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Fountainhead is much better IMO.



[/ QUOTE ]
Ayn Rand's philosophies sound great when you're a teenager who thinks he's smarter than everyone else and that people should respect you for it. As you get older, you realize this isn't how the world works. The Fountainhead is much better because it is more about how you should personally strive to be a great, talented person. Atlas Shrugged is kind of about how society should get out of the way of these great people and let them run things, which is ridiculous in reality because even smart people are motivated by self-interest.

[/ QUOTE ]

The other thing is that when Rand wrote The Fountainhead she was still flesching out her personal philosophy. I agree that the Fountainhead is much more about personal growth, self esteem etc. and less about the grand implications of how she thinks people should behave and her subsequent hero worship of the top 2% or whatever. I found Fountainhead uplifting but Atlas Shrugged made me much more jaded.

-SmileyEH

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
It's a good book. I didn't love it or hate it - The Fountainhead is much better IMO.

-SmileyEH

[/ QUOTE ]

I've noticed a few giving this opinion so I'm wondering if I do read one of Rands books, if maybe I should read Fountainhead instead.

I've also heard that she didn't use an editor which can make it tough to read. Is one book better in this regard than the other?

b

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I've noticed a few giving this opinion so I'm wondering if I do read one of Rands books, if maybe I should read Fountainhead instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Fountainhead is a much better read.

[AngryCola]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've noticed a few giving this opinion so I'm wondering if I do read one of Rands books, if maybe I should read Fountainhead instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Fountainhead is a much better read.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a better read, but I think Atlas Shrugged is probably the better book.

That probably doesn't make much sense, but at least I know what I'm trying to say. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[SmileyEH]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I've noticed a few giving this opinion so I'm wondering if I do read one of Rands books, if maybe I should read Fountainhead instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Fountainhead is a much better read.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a better read, but I think Atlas Shrugged is probably the better book.

[/ QUOTE ]

Disagree, but to each his own. To those wanting to read Rand, read Fountainhead first then give her other stuff a shot. The fountainhead is one of my favorite books.

-SmileyEH

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
It is a better read, but I think Atlas Shrugged is probably the better book.

[/ QUOTE ]

One is a better story, but the other doesn't suffer as much from lack of an editor?

b

[4_2_it]

Who is John Galt?

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Who is John Galt?

[/ QUOTE ]

the guy banging Dagny Taggart.

[hobbsmann]

[ QUOTE ]
Who is John Galt?

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh and the John Galt diatribe towards the end of the book is wayyyy too long.