NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/alt/peeves/19755

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-28 | 3.3 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Well Paid in Name Only)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Literary peeves
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 28 Jan 93 13:23:09 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (No parking EXCEPT FOR BOB) writes:

>
>Whether or not you agree with a philosophy, isn't it better to know
>what it is, than, say, read the first hundred pages and give up?
>

I suppose.  The first Rand book I read was Anthem.  I got so pissed off
at it, that about half way through it, I ripped it in half and hurled it
across the room.  I suppose I have to respect a woman who can get that
strong a reaction from me.  I finally read the Fountainhead, because
I felt that I should know something before I classified the woman as a
wrong-headed asshole.  Sure enough, The Fountainhead was chock full
of stuff that confirmed my suspicions.  I did hold myself in check
and read it all the way through, hoping to find *something* that
justified this woman's reputation as a "writer."

Actually, The Fountainhead affected me profoundly throughout my
high school years.  Although I was never a full-blooded Libertarian,
I was a very strong-headed capitalist (a result of being raised by
armchair liberal hippy parents).  Rand turned me into a collectivist,
damned near socialist, simply because I figured any philiosophy that
she opposed so strongly couldn't be all bad.

>What I got from Rand's writings is the idea that *I set* the only standards
>*I* have to measure up to.  Just as you don't have to measure up to
>mine.
>

Well, it seems to me that the standards that Rand espouses all have to
do with individualism & personal achievement.  Now, yes, you can decide
what it is that you want to personally achieve, but personal achievement
is still a fairly narrow category of goals.  It completely overlooks
any type of interpersonal goals - the most intimate relations that
are apparent in The Fountainhead, all seem to be based on power struggles.
From what I've heard of Atlas Shrugged, and what I've read of Anthem,
this is the case in these books as well.

The thing that REALLY peeves me about Rand, however, is that the woman
is a damned lousy writer.  I got no problem with people whose politics
I don't agree with - as long as they can write.  I've got a shitload
of Heinlein, and a copy of Machiavelli's _The_Prince, as well as
a lot of Neitzsche, etc. and I actually prefer reading posts in this
group that support positions I oppose, as long as the arguments are
good & the writing is clear.  I wish someone intelligent would take
up the Libertarian side of the argument that JZ is in, so there'd
be some decent fodder for a real argument....

Spoiling for a fight,

Jenny G
--
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[e-mail] is Jenny Gutbezahl @ Univ. of Mass, Amherst
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"I'm not cheap, love.  Loud, but not cheap."  - Dil in The Crying Game