- A Russian-American writer who died 30 years ago is still selling hundreds of thousands of books a year, and this week one of her former devotees, Paul Ryan, became Mitt Romney's running mate in the US presidential election. So why is Ayn Rand and her most famous work, Atlas Shrugged, so popular?
She tells assholes that it okay to be an asshole.
One answer I got from the article (or should I say, from Paul Ryan):She massages the egos of juveniles.
It's true. It is an effective motivational book for teenagers. But it is ridiculously simplistic, and it creates a false dichotomy between living for yourself and living for others. Rand rejects the notion that caring for others can be part of living for yourself. Objectivism is an absurdly cynical way to view the world. I think it's popular because it claims to have the answer, and it is so accessible. IMO Atlas Shrugged is a terrible book. Fountainhead is much better. Oddly I heard Ryan saying that Atlas Shrugged is required reading for his staff. I guess he's not that disenchanted.
We the Living is actually a really good book. She wrote it before she became a cult leader.
She has author slide in the worst way 1st novel good second ok third horrible. It actually happens to quite a few writer. The cult of personality overwhelms the writer they have a hard time editing. their publishers lower their standards because they know they can sell it. Johnathan Foer Safan is a good example but there are hundreds.
Who is an author that had one good book but the rest were bad? I guarantee it exists, but I can't ant think of one off the top of my head.
John Kennedy Toole may have had more than one good book in him, but we'll never know for sure. That one that he did have is a real gem, though ("A Confederacy of Dunces").
Margaret Mitchell, "Gone With The Wind" Ralph Ellison, "Invisible Man" Harper Lee, "To Kill a Mockingbird" F. Scott Fitzgerald "The great Gatsby" closer absent than bad. Then there is J.D. Salinger who I argue has no good books but since popular culture escapes me at every turn (catcher in the rye.)
Oh, come now, I'm a fan of Franny and Zooey. IMO Catcher in the Rye is a good book that suffers from its popularity. If it was obscure, I think it would read much better. Catch-22 was likely Heller's pinnacle, but I haven't read all of his works.Then there is J.D. Salinger who I argue has no good books but since popular culture escapes me at every turn (catcher in the rye.)
I just finished "Catcher in the Rye". I was reminded of it because it was mentioned in "11/22/63" in the context of school library censorship. It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but definitely the worst in a good long time. I don't mind an asshole protagonist, but only if he's got something interesting to say. Yeah sure, youth alienation, absent parenting, and disillusionment with the American Dream are important themes, but it just wasn't well done IMO.
It seems to me that the only reason this book is famous is because at the time it came out, the juvenile delinquency and the use of the word "fuck" made it controversial and gave it a lot of free press.
some one gave me a copy of Salingers unpublished novel bound and everything I think I might have gotten through the first chapter I can't find it now. Franny an Zooey is better than Catcher in the Rye.
Fitzgerald only had one good book? I disagree. This Side of Paradise is his best IMHO. I remember The Beautiful and Damned being solid as well.
I think there's a lot of truth to this. The first novel is written with an uncertain audience, or maybe not for a particular audience at all. However, after an author achieves some fame, he/she probably cannot escape the notion that an audience is waiting to read (and judge) the book they are currently writing.
Thank the lord I will never be burdened with that problem.
On another note, I am absolutely stunned how much this book has touched our culture recently. I first heard about it and read it when I learned that Paul Ryan ( last May, way before he was Mitt's VP) supposedly gave it as a gift to people who worked in his congressional office. I thought if this book has affected such prominent people I want to know what is the underlying philosophy so I can better understand them. After reading it I can see why this is such a controversial book. People in Ryan's camp are basically on the exact opposite philosophical camp as people on the Occupy side. I have had at least 3 personal experiences with friends or family telling me they are reading or want to read this book without them knowing that I was also in the process of reading it. I also ran into this Quora Post today on my feed. There must be some sort of demographic filtering effect going on here because the kind of opinions that I see online about Rand and Atlas Shrugged are not the kinds of opinions I get when I talk to people about her and the book in person. Give it a chance, I guarantee that you'll learn something even if you don't agree.
It seems to me that most people who have read Atlas Shrugged can see the logic behind objectivism and won't outright refute it as blatant absurdity. They may even accept parts of her philosophy (I certainly do after reading it very recently). If you don't want to or have the time to read it then watch this interview with Mike Wallace or this interview with Tom Snyder. It will give you a very basic idea of her philosophy. Listen to her in the Tom Snyder interview (part 3 I believe) when she explains that we must all have a philosophy to live by and that Religion provides one but asks us to accept it on faith while her philosophy we can accept by reason. IMO she is not a cruel person looking to step on others or advocating for assholes to be assholes. She is advocating for people to trust their own reason and their own mind because she believes that your mind is reality and to accept anything but your reality is immoral. She is advocating for self esteem and trusting one's own reason. When you (JakobVirgil) say "asshole" you are implying a selfishness that is illogical. Her "rational self interest" does not imply this. Listen to her talk about love in the Mike Wallace interview when he asks if she is married. She loves her husband Frank O'Connor in a selfish way that is for his virtues. She touches on this again in the Tom Snyder interview when she is talking about giving gifts.