Ayn Rand ---- Is She Really A Great Writer???

[Red Terror]

Prominent literary critic Harold Bloom, Ph.D. (Yale) castigates Ayn Rand whose "moral" philosophy is that of a 5-year old child.

I e-mailed Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities and English at Yale University. Professor Bloom did not mince words: “Ayn Rand was a writer of no value whatsoever, whether aesthetic or intellectual. The Tea Party deserves her, but the rest of us do not. It is not less than obscene that any educational institution that relies even in part on public funds should ask students to consider her work. We are threatened these days by vicious mindlessness and this is one of its manifestations.”

This quote is from the website counterpunch. I would like to provide the link but since I'm a new member to this forum I am not allowed/authorized to post the link yet.

[stlukesguild]

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/05/the-trouble-with-ayn-rand

In other words: no.

[YesNo]

I did see the movies as a way to get an idea of what was in Rand's books. The movies stunk.

However, just because I didn't like them, doesn't mean I like Pablo Neruda (or Che Guevara).

I was in an alternative bookstore in Pittsburgh recently primarily to get a cup of coffee and to see what kind of books alternative-type people like to read today. I saw Rand's books displayed under the label: "Know thy enemy". I felt like I had been time-transported back to the 1960s. If you don't like Rand's books stop reading them. Talk about something current that you think is worth reading.

[Emil Miller]

I haven't seen 'Atlas Shrugged' but I did see 'The Fountainhead', whose protagonist was based on a real life architect: possibly Frank Lloyd Wright. I don't remember much about it except for the architecture that, in my view, was pretty awful.
I also couldn't finish her 'We the Living' which I found dreary and tedious.

[OrphanPip]

Harold Bloom has a generally histrionic tone whenever he's asked to comment on anything he dislikes, everything he hates is the worst thing ever to see the light of day. That being said, Rand is at no risk of ever being considered great literature in any significant sense. She's valued for her political stance by certain sections of American society but even they have to admit her writing is some of the worst 1960s pulp had to offer.

[ennison]

Harold Robbins and herself are about the same. I prefer Robbins.

[Eiseabhal]

Prefer Robbins. Tongue very deep in cheek there Ennison!

[heartwing]

I read the Romantic Manifesto in college. I have not read her works of fiction nor do I care to. They don't seem like engaging reads. But Ayn Rand was something perhaps many college students were into back in the day, or so I've heard, though her ideas are still batted about. Back then, a college friend's parents were raising the money to put a documentary together about Rand. Many of us had drunk the koolaid. I do think Rand is someone who can at least get one to make decisions about things, one way or another, in case there is reticence. She is not a "neutral" entity and sometimes at least the essays can be worth going into to at least get a grasp of the mentality and the arguments made for such.

[Eiseabhal]

Hmm. Like scabies- experience it and thus know it.

[heartwing]

Hmm. Like scabies- experience it and thus know it.


Ha. Hardly. If a student's idealism is scabies then maybe. But I tend to think of it as a phase.

[ennison]

She seems to get under some folks skin though!