Ayn Rand

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Her influence is also seen in later albums such as Permanent Waves, Signals, and Moving Pictures (I hear Tom Sawyer and think of nothing but Atlas Shrugged).
I don't know that she would like Hemispheres (she would probably agree with Circumstances), but I don't think she'd like Cygnus Book II that much.
Interestingly, Dream Theater's latest album has hints of Ayn Rand influence in As I Am, Honor Thy Father, and In the Name of God
BTW, sweet avatar doodad.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
StarvingArtyst Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: November 10 2004 Status: Offline Points: 71	Posted: December 09 2004 at 01:17
	Her influence is also seen in later albums such as Permanent Waves, Signals, and Moving Pictures (I hear Tom Sawyer and think of nothing but Atlas Shrugged). I don't know that she would like Hemispheres (she would probably agree with Circumstances), but I don't think she'd like Cygnus Book II that much. Interestingly, Dream Theater's latest album has hints of Ayn Rand influence in As I Am, Honor Thy Father, and In the Name of God BTW, sweet avatar doodad.
	Get on your feet and do the Funky Alphonso

Sweetnighter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 24 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1298	Posted: December 08 2004 at 23:58
	Good point StarvingArtyst Now since this is the prog board... where has Rand made her biggest influence among prog rockers? NEIL PEART! obvious answer! I think most in the Fly By Night to 2112 material he writes his most Rand influenced pieces, including Anthem, Fountains of Lamneth, 2112, and Something for Nothing, although other Rand influenced do appear in later albums, songs such as Cinderella Man, The Trees, Freewill, and arguably Tom Sawyer. Although I have not yet explored the band, I've seen that Echolyn's first album's opening track is entitled "The Fountainhead," and I'm really excited to explore this band and see if it is a theme that runs through more of their music. If anybody can think of any other examples, please do share. And here's an interesting question: what would Rand have thought about Rush's music?
	I bleed coffee. When I don't drink coffee, my veins run dry, and I shrivel up and die. "Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso? Is that like the bank of Italian soccer death or something?" -my girlfriend

StarvingArtyst Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: November 10 2004 Status: Offline Points: 71	Posted: December 08 2004 at 23:48
	I agree. And as for emotion, that may have been done intentionally too. She might not have wanted people reading her books to get the idea that she was contradicting herself. She might have been using them as an example of how people can not let raw, unrestrained emotion interfere with important decisions.
	Get on your feet and do the Funky Alphonso

Sweetnighter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 24 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1298	Posted: December 08 2004 at 23:34
	Sure, her characters are narrow, but I think she made them so intentionally. A character like Howard Roark in The Fountainhead is an ideal of what man should in essence be. Rand is realistic, she can't possibly blame people for being irrational on occasion, we all make errors in reasoning and common sense. Although she isn't very good at having her characters express emotion, the overall feeling created in the reader after having read one of her novels makes up for the character's one-dimensionality. As to the "simple joys" point, I think that she feels that simplicity is inherently evil, which I personally don't think is true. Take a jam band for instance. Is it really creative? No, not really. Is it relatively simple? Excluding extravagent solos, yeah, generally... but neither of those things make it bad. It's just simple, enjoyable, and interesting music. Meditation is another example of this. If one practices meditation for personal growth and not for some religious reason, than it too can be very productive to the self, all by seeking the simple elements of life in quiet solitude. Surely an objectivist could take a time out to just treasure existence, right? Is that not what Howard Roark is doing when we first see him in The Fountainhead?
	I bleed coffee. When I don't drink coffee, my veins run dry, and I shrivel up and die. "Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso? Is that like the bank of Italian soccer death or something?" -my girlfriend

StarvingArtyst Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: November 10 2004 Status: Offline Points: 71	Posted: December 08 2004 at 22:44
	I love her stuff. I agree more with her philosophy than anything else. I agree that her heroes are narrow, but I see that as a positive thing, as I myself am the same way. Howard Roark's quest for self realization was so he could enjoy the joys of life. Architecture was the joy of life for him, just like music is the joy of life for so many of the bands featured in this site. Think about artists that enjoy "the joys of life", consider rappers and poser rockers, or punk rockers that enjoy the simple joys. Most of their work is trash. Not to say that rockers dont enjoy those pleasures (think about the phrase 'sex, drurs, rocknroll'). Anyone else read her stuff? I often find myself the only person in a group that knows about her (with the exception of my friend who suggested her to me).
	Get on your feet and do the Funky Alphonso

James Lee Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: June 05 2004 Status: Offline Points: 3525	Posted: December 08 2004 at 22:36
	Great topic! I always felt that Ayn Rand's heroes were somewhat narrow, and too willing to sacrifice the joys of life to attain their self-realization. In other hands the stories would have ended as tragedies (just imagine if Ibsen or Tennesee Williams had written "The Fountainhead" or "Atlas Shrugged" instead ). However, Rand was a fascinating person, and her works are definitely worth reading by anyone (anyone who reads for more than simple pleasure, that is).


Sweetnighter Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 24 2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1298	Posted: December 08 2004 at 22:04
	I'll try to spur a little intellectual conversation here in the "not related" category for all you proggers. Ayn Rand is, hands-down, my all-time favorite author. I've read Anthem, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and The Virtue of Selfishness. I love her novels not simply for the stories contained in them, which are truly great tales of heroism against all odds, but for the philosophical content held within. With few exceptions, I would consider myself an objectivist and I really do share most of Rand's views on ethics, politics, and the nature of life here on earth. Don't get this mistaken though, I'm not making this thread to espouse my personal beliefs, I just want to stimulate some conversation of her ideas. For those of you who aren't familiar with her ideas, her philosophy can best be sumed up as such: Metaphysics: Reality Epistemology: Reason Ethics: Rational Self-Interst, or Egoism Politics: Minimalism/Anarchism Economics: Free-Market Capitalism Asthetics: Romanticism If anybody wants any clarification on that, I'll be happy to do my best to explain it to you. Also, for any high school or college students on the board who might be interested, the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, CA holds a national essay contest on Rand's novels for big cash prizes. If you're interested, check out the link below: http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_ contests_index
	I bleed coffee. When I don't drink coffee, my veins run dry, and I shrivel up and die. "Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso? Is that like the bank of Italian soccer death or something?" -my girlfriend