Sen Yama

The part that I didn't like about Anthem was Liberty 5-3000/The Golden One/Gaia. She was too submissive and a blind follower.

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Writing is the dance of the fingers across keys.
Writing is the fluid motion of pen on paper.
Writing is the soul dancing before another's eyes.
Writing is something that must be loved to be done well.

RomanticRose

Most of Rand's heroines were -- even the ones who were strong in other aspects of their lives melted before the "perfect" men who matched their internal vision. Dagny, Kira, Dominique.

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lin

Rand's personal life is an interesting contrast to that.

The psychodrama following the revelation of her affair and the impact on her circle of disciples (people walking around hurling quotes from her book at each other, etc) is just incredibly weird, makes Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe look like a college skit.

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SevenWritez

That's cause she was an Aquarius. Them Aquarian bitches be crazy.

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As long as some suffer, the river flows forever
As long as there is pain, the river flows forever
As strong as a smile can be, the river will flow forever
As long as you are with me, we'll ride the river together

-Tupac Shakur

lin

Try Scorpios, then decide

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Markovich

The Fountainhead was written in such a passive voice that it annoyed me. Her use of "had been" in almost every sentence would be scoffed at today. In chapter 12 she writes: He hurried on to his office where he was being late for an appointment with Mrs. Moorehead. It's pretty obvious that English wasn't her first language. It actually sounds like there was a lot of heavy editing. She'd have been better off writing in Russian or Yiddish or whatever she spoke and having one of the great translators like H.T. Lowe-Porter, the Muirs, or Nabokov, translate it. Nabokov, now there's a Russian-English writer who puts her to shame.

In a way her crappy mutiliation of the English language is an appropriate parallel to her rejection of classical (beautiful) architecture for the modern (ugly) architecture. I'm not sure if she did that on purpose, but seeing how contemporary English wans when compared to the language of our 19th century predecesors, she would have been ahead of her time.

Also, the crap she tries to sell you about her "philosophy", Objectivism, in the form of insert cards that you can send away with for more information is annoying. I mean, what the fuck, every writer has some kind of philosophy, take Kafka, or Dostoyevsky for instance, neither of them ever uttered the word "Existentialism", nor did they ever use the terms "Kafkaesque" or "Dostoyevskian". They never had to convince us that they were philosophers.

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Маркович

BOURBON

the subtle irony of the unsaid

Vee

Heard a lot about her, only ever read Anthem of Guttenberg. She makes a decent point here and there but who doesn't? Not a fan.

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Heart, Faith, Steel

Latest Work: Torture Porn, Oz II, Oz

weak sauce

Just finished reading The Fountainhead today, and I have to say it lived up to the hype. I thought it was a well thought out and a very well written story. Her grammar might not be up to par with her contemporaries (although I have to admit that I was not really bothered by it or the repetitious use of phrases....come to think of it I barely noticed) but the characters and story make up for it, in my opinion.

"Objectivism" came across very nicely in the context of the story. However I think this philosophy only works for the truly gifted and talented, and may be dangerous if brought down to the level of simply "being yourself". Hopefully no one takes the message the wrong way, but I'm certain many people have.

Objectivism, as it was portrayed in the novel "Fountainhead", is a great example to follow for anyone who seeks a worthy goal. I do not believe being purely selfish when dealing with anything other than seeking a real purpose is a good thing. In short: Selfishness should be used as a tool, not a lifestyle.

Malone

That's funny and true. But I think that's her point.

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There Is A Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed


Malone's Mind
Everyday Madness Kindle Edition

Markovich

One of the crappiest books I've ever read. It just gets stupider the longer you read it. I mean, "Oh Howard, your buildings are so beautiful and cutting-edge that no one can appreciate them so it would be better if they never existed so now I have to destroy you because I love you so much." Gimmie a break!

This book is nothing more than a grocery store novel.

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Маркович