4 ms·
You don't need to write a 600 page book to convince people to be selfish.
by mikedouglas 18y ago
You don't need to write a 600 page book to convince people to be selfish.
- thaumaturgy 18y agoAaaargh. According to her own words, Rand didn't set out to convince anybody of anything. In fact, if a particular reader needed to be convinced of any of Rand's ideals, then that reader probably wouldn't understand what Rand was writing about anyway -- and indeed I find that that describes the bulk of people commenting on her stories. From the introduction written in "The Fountainhead": "Was The Fountainhead written for the purpose of presenting my philosophy? ... This is the motive and purpose of my writing: the projection of an ideal man. The portrayal of a moral ideal, as my ultimate literary goal ... Let me stress this: my purpose is NOT the philosophical enlightenment of my readers..." ...and so forth. Emphasis was hers, BTW. Having read both "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead", I didn't need to read an author's introduction to know that they were both simply works of fiction intended to glorify ideas that she thought were important. What's most frustrating is the way people conflate those ideas; the notion of a society without any regulation at all was only a minor element in a work of fiction intended to describe this complete exaltation of creativity. I would have expected that reverence for the creative human spirit would be better received here.