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Liked It “Ayn Rand is a genuis, pure and simple. The inquisitive mind will thrill to read her works. The intellect will never tire of re-reading them. She is a giant in her genre, and she leaves the reader thinking.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Its just OKAY. nothing more.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“You could read this, if you dislike story form of writing. Or you could read Atlas Shrugged, where she gives the philosophy first in form of characters and events and then in a whammy of a speech - sixteen pages? - by John Galt, her ultimate hero.
Dr. J. G. wrote this review Wednesday, October 15 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In short the idea is do your best, do not ask others to sacrifice for you, do not sacrifice for others and then expect them to pay up, do what you think best for yourself.
Ayn Rand forgets that humans, especially young, especially male, are likely to lack a long vision, and social structure is evolved for and involved in inculcating them into activities that ensure future of humanity.
What she writes is usually read by adolescents and is likely to be taken literally with the short sighted perspective, and the consequences are there for all to see - one might not be able to blame it all personally on her, but the whole idea spread without the long vision or the depth of understanding it requires.
And so we have fathers refusing to pay child support, young men being irresponsible about personal lives and having "fun" with righteous spurning of commitment, while young women are being coerced into giving birth and taking responsibility all by themselves.
Adoptions are presented as the virtuous way against other options for young women who cannot really take such responsibilities - as if children were so much objects for free on a supermarket shelf with no cause for ancestry to matter when thinking of a family, and adoption a mere matter of who can afford to give a more affluent life to the child, rather than a necessity for orphans to be given a life and a home.
This is merely one part of how much misuse can be made of Ayn Rand's philosophy, which actually no one spouts to be fair, only people follow it half way as they would any other and make a complete hell of a mess of a society.
To be truly selfish one must think of all the possible repercussions and strands and issues about an action and an interest, with deep thought of what is self really.
A parent going without something in interest of a child of one's own for example is not sacrificing, but being ultimately selfish in the best interpretation of the word self. Children are after all one's own future, one's own immortality in another form for the time when one's own life is on the way out. ”“Ayn Rand is a genuis, pure and simple. The inquisitive mind will thrill to read her works. The intellect will never tire of re-reading them. She is a giant in her genre, and she leaves the reader thinking.”
Camie Joy wrote this review Sunday, October 5 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“for the die hard fans. while her fiction style is gripping and beautiful, it can be a bit of a slog to get through her nonfiction philosophy. and really, if you've given her fiction careful attention, you already know what you're going to find here.”
Anne H wrote this review Saturday, June 7 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A solid overview of Objectivism - see my post at http://bigben.blogs.com/0451163087”
bencasnocha wrote this review Monday, February 4 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“a nice read for any ayn rand fan.. a summarization of all his books and his thoughts.. nice if you are into the philosophy of Ayn Rand... ”
shivi05 wrote this review Friday, October 12 2007. ( reply | view 1 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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