2 ms·
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engende
by gnosis 17y ago
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, is The Lord of the Rings."
- maxharris 17y agoI was 19 when I first read Rand. I'm 29 now, and I still love her philosophy and her novels. I'm willing to be that you haven't read her very closely. At any rate, your quote is a mere ad-hominem attack, and I don't think that anyone here will mistake it for an actual argument.
- camccann 17y agoNo, an ad-hominem would imply an attack on the character or worth of Rand personally. gnosis's comment was merely a bald assertion about the novel, though indeed not an argument as such. Of course, your Rand quote was also pretty much just a bald assertion without any supporting argument, so I guess it works out.
- maxharris 17y agoHis comment is an ad-hominem attack on Objectivists (e.g., people like me.)