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If you want an awesome American author who has a political theme to his novels, check out Sinclair Lewis.
Not only is he one of my favorite novelists, but there's a guy who turned down the Pulitzer prize because he considered it a piece of sh*t award.
He also is the first American to win the Nobel prize in literature.
If wer'e in the game of recomending American writers than I recomend Wiliam Falkner (especially "Abshalom Abshalom" and "Light in august"). I'm not sure if he got the Nobel prize before or after Mr. Lewis but he sure deserved it.
mmm....euphoria...also makes me want a mint julep!
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Israel
Status: Offline
Points: 1250
Posted: October 01 2009 at 08:02
Epignosis wrote:
If you want an awesome American author who has a political theme to his novels, check out Sinclair Lewis.
Not only is he one of my favorite novelists, but there's a guy who turned down the Pulitzer prize because he considered it a piece of sh*t award.
He also is the first American to win the Nobel prize in literature.
If wer'e in the game of recomending American writers than I recomend Wiliam Falkner (especially "Abshalom Abshalom" and "Light in august"). I'm not sure if he got the Nobel prize before or after Mr. Lewis but he sure deserved it.
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Israel
Status: Offline
Points: 1250
Posted: October 01 2009 at 07:58
GoldenSpiral wrote:
omri wrote:
The idea that if you don't agree with something it must be worthlless is not very wise !
I advise all of us to read other thoughts than their owns and check these ideas.
It's easy to say something like "She's facist, therefore all she made is crap" but this makes you like any other fanat that is willing to kill everyone not belonging to his group.
If you areconfident with what you are than being exposed to different thoughts and ideas can only enrich your mind.
Ayn Rand is one of the most aggressive supporters in capitalism with no balances. The more I grow up the more I believe in balances and regulations and I hope never to live in a place based exactly on her ideas. Still she rases some very interesting points to think about.
And this (as Snow dog knows) comes from a person who was raised in the most communistic culture ever existed.
It's not that I dislike her work because I disagree with her politics, it's that she thinks I'm a bad person because I disagree with her politics. I have not read Anthem, but I have read Atlas Shrugged and it turned me off from everything else... but in that story everything is very black and white. There are main characters who are the paragons of Objectivism, and every other character is written one-dimensionally as a whiny, bitter object of our heroine's disdain.
Not to give too much away, but there is a point where she spends a very long few pages describing the deaths of a bunch of innocent people, and details why they deserve to die for their "socialist" crimes.
Also, historically, for someone who seemed so anti-government, she was very cooperative with the HUAC during the 1950s.
If you check my first post on this thread you will see that I said that she describes everything as black and white and I find it childish. However, I think it should be read at least as "food for thought". What I'm trying to say is that we should check everything and then decide what suites us and not rejecting anything without being exposed to it.
I am quite far from pure capitalism but that's partialy because I read and thought about Ayn Rand's books (among others).
Joined: May 27 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3839
Posted: September 30 2009 at 11:53
omri wrote:
The idea that if you don't agree with something it must be worthlless is not very wise !
I advise all of us to read other thoughts than their owns and check these ideas.
It's easy to say something like "She's facist, therefore all she made is crap" but this makes you like any other fanat that is willing to kill everyone not belonging to his group.
If you areconfident with what you are than being exposed to different thoughts and ideas can only enrich your mind.
Ayn Rand is one of the most aggressive supporters in capitalism with no balances. The more I grow up the more I believe in balances and regulations and I hope never to live in a place based exactly on her ideas. Still she rases some very interesting points to think about.
And this (as Snow dog knows) comes from a person who was raised in the most communistic culture ever existed.
It's not that I dislike her work because I disagree with her politics, it's that she thinks I'm a bad person because I disagree with her politics. I have not read Anthem, but I have read Atlas Shrugged and it turned me off from everything else... but in that story everything is very black and white. There are main characters who are the paragons of Objectivism, and every other character is written one-dimensionally as a whiny, bitter object of our heroine's disdain.
Not to give too much away, but there is a point where she spends a very long few pages describing the deaths of a bunch of innocent people, and details why they deserve to die for their "socialist" crimes.
Also, historically, for someone who seemed so anti-government, she was very cooperative with the HUAC during the 1950s.
Joined: April 21 2005
Location: Israel
Status: Offline
Points: 1250
Posted: September 30 2009 at 03:59
The idea that if you don't agree with something it must be worthlless is not very wise !
I advise all of us to read other thoughts than their owns and check these ideas.
It's easy to say something like "She's facist, therefore all she made is crap" but this makes you like any other fanat that is willing to kill everyone not belonging to his group.
If you areconfident with what you are than being exposed to different thoughts and ideas can only enrich your mind.
Ayn Rand is one of the most aggressive supporters in capitalism with no balances. The more I grow up the more I believe in balances and regulations and I hope never to live in a place based exactly on her ideas. Still she rases some very interesting points to think about.
And this (as Snow dog knows) comes from a person who was raised in the most communistic culture ever existed.
Joined: April 09 2008
Location: Florida
Status: Offline
Points: 4006
Posted: September 29 2009 at 21:55
"Who is John Galt?"
Personally I think everyone should read "Atlas Shrugged," but maybe not as a teenager, experience politics a bit first.. Take it out during college while on summer break..
Joined: April 02 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1155
Posted: September 29 2009 at 21:51
Yeah, I would try Anthem first to see if you like her style. As far as her shorter works go, I enjoyed We the Living a bit more than Anthem. While she was equally wrapped up in her philosophies in both books I just feel like We the Living also had a better story.
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15784
Posted: September 29 2009 at 21:23
Read Anthem seriously. Why waste your time with a book 12x longer than Anthem before you know if you'll like her style which can be a little long-winded and preachy.
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
Joined: January 16 2008
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 15745
Posted: September 29 2009 at 20:29
LinusW wrote:
Ayn Rand is a repetitive, extremely biased and bitter writer. She's not particularly interesting on any level. Fear/misunderstanding/lies of/about socialism and so silly I couldn't accept any of her points as valid.
A caricature of politics and penmanship. So blind, so prejudiced.
But an "educational" read.
That's my view.
That's your grown-up view, how about your teenage view
I mean, now I started to get most of the criticism she had in this thread, not that you're wrong or that isn't what I asked for, but I should have probably just asked which book to start with and that's it.
This author's appeal to the rest seems to depend on the age and personal views about politics/philosophy/what-not, something I was not looking for.
Joined: January 16 2008
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 15745
Posted: September 29 2009 at 20:26
splyu wrote:
That's fine, I just mean I've seen her accused of being "right wing" countless times, and from the three books I read, I just don't see it at all and don't understand where this opinion comes from.
I don't know, my father just told me that, that she were more in the side of Reagan(spelling?) and other of the like. Again just repeating like a parrot.
However, take in mind my father didn't read any books from her as far as I'm concerned, this is probably a general conseus which most seem to repeat like parrots
Joined: September 27 2007
Location: Sweden
Status: Offline
Points: 10665
Posted: September 29 2009 at 20:25
Ayn Rand is a repetitive, extremely biased and bitter writer. She's not particularly interesting on any level. Fear/misunderstanding/lies of/about socialism and so silly I couldn't accept any of her points as valid.
A caricature of politics and penmanship. So blind, so prejudiced.
Joined: September 06 2008
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 316
Posted: September 29 2009 at 20:20
That's fine, I just mean I've seen her accused of being "right wing" countless times, and from the three books I read, I just don't see it at all and don't understand where this opinion comes from.
Joined: January 16 2008
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 15745
Posted: September 29 2009 at 20:17
splyu wrote:
The Quiet One wrote:
I mean, long books have to be really good, and with a brief conversation with my dad he said that Atlas Shrugged is considered to be the 'bible' of the liberal/right-wing, or something like that if I'm not mistaken. (not that it affects much of it, though, just a comment)
Since when is that the same thing though. Liberal yes, right wing, I don't see it.
I don't know, I'm 15 and barely know something about politics, just repeating as a parrot.
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