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I was told that cheese and fish don't go together. I think the fact that McDonald's has sold a gazillion filet of fish sandwiches with cheese demonstrates that

I was told that cheese and fish don't go together. I think the fact that McDonald's has sold a gazillion filet of fish sandwiches with cheese demonstrates that this is questionable. I was told that Ayn Rand was a bad writer. I think the fact that people have bought around 29 million copies of her books demonstrates that this is questionable. But I'm perfectly willing to believe that you found her writing bad and boring. I find it engrossing and boring in different places, and skip the famously tedious monologue too.

manifestsilence 7y ago
Ayn rand herself actually had a pretty good explanation of why this may be. She differentiated between a writer's technical skill and their "sense of life", and said that one could appreciate a writer's skill but hate what their writing revealed about their unconscious attitudes about the universe, or conversely think a writer is trash but love what they have to say. I found the Fountainhead incredibly appealing when I first read it; you're right that it strikes a strong chord in people. But she breaks a lot of rules of what is by modern standards considered to be good writing. Her literary influences, though, were Victor Hugo and Ian Fleming (the James Bond author). So that's interesting company to keep. They both have that same vice, the love of the monologue. Fleming calls himself out on it in an essay that's been circling round lately.