Altas Shrugged is "absolutely worthless from an æsthetic standpoint"?


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http://www.nolanchar...rticle7814.html

I don't agree with him. Also, in previous online discussions with him, I've been unable to get him to present any satisfactory "æsthetic standpoint" aside from modernist cliches.

Well, I finally read it. A few shallow unsupported assertions. I do question the existence of the modern corporation, which seems to be merely an expression of state capitalism and therefore essentially fascistic. The corporation is a legal entity of limited liability and as such a creature of the state. Rand never went that far with her radical economic-political analyses, but that would have been asking a lot of her considering her times and primary focus.

--Brant

what other forum?

Edited by Brant Gaede
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Some schlub with a website doesn’t like Atlas Shrugged. He doesn’t offer anything intelligent or unique by way of explanation. So what? Did I miss something in what he wrote? He has a list of his favourite (ahem, Essential) “Libertarian Science Fiction and Fantasy” novels, and makes a point of the fact he doesn’t include Atlas Shrugged. The original article is almost two years old. He includes Burroughs in his list, and I think his stuff is unreadable garbage, and that’s all I have to say about it. Will WSB fans fret? Try to debate about and glean insights from my argument? I doubt it.

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Some schlub with a website doesn't like Atlas Shrugged. He doesn't offer anything intelligent or unique by way of explanation. So what? Did I miss something in what he wrote? He has a list of his favourite (ahem, Essential) "Libertarian Science Fiction and Fantasy" novels, and makes a point of the fact he doesn't include Atlas Shrugged. The original article is almost two years old. He includes Burroughs in his list, and I think his stuff is unreadable garbage, and that's all I have to say about it. Will WSB fans fret? Try to debate about and glean insights from my argument? I doubt it.

Regarding WSB, I actually enjoyed his Cities of the Red Night trilogy when I read it back in college.

I found it strange, too, that he mentions We, Brave New World, and Nineteen Eighty-Four but not Anthem.

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Regarding WSB, I actually enjoyed his Cities of the Red Night trilogy when I read it back in college.

Full disclosure, I read less than half of Naked Lunch, and that was it for WSB. I thought it was garbage, and I’ve never given him another chance.

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Regarding WSB, I actually enjoyed his Cities of the Red Night trilogy when I read it back in college.

Full disclosure, I read less than half of Naked Lunch, and that was it for WSB. I thought it was garbage, and I've never given him another chance.

I haven't read that one. Why did you think it was garbage?

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I haven't read that one. Why did you think it was garbage?

My experience: page after page saying to myself what the hell is this? Just detached drug induced ramblings, with nothing enjoyable or enlightening mixed in, and no plot to speak of. There’s supposed to be a good dose of humor, but I wasn’t getting it. Sudden, seemingly random jumps. It’s kind of like Tropic of Cancer meets Finnegan’s Wake, but not as evocative or erudite as the comparison would suggest. Gravity’s Rainbow bears some comparison to it also, but with Pynchon there’s a payoff for the effort, and the process is usually enjoyable.

It didn’t help that the person telling me I must try this book later chided me that I was just too rational for it. Anyway, I gave up, so I don’t want to suggest I have more knowledge of WSB than I do.

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I haven't read that one. Why did you think it was garbage?

My experience: page after page saying to myself what the hell is this? Just detached drug induced ramblings, with nothing enjoyable or enlightening mixed in, and no plot to speak of. There's supposed to be a good dose of humor, but I wasn't getting it. Sudden, seemingly random jumps. It's kind of like Tropic of Cancer meets Finnegan's Wake, but not as evocative or erudite as the comparison would suggest. Gravity's Rainbow bears some comparison to it also, but with Pynchon there's a payoff for the effort, and the process is usually enjoyable.

It didn't help that the person telling me I must try this book later chided me that I was just too rational for it. Anyway, I gave up, so I don't want to suggest I have more knowledge of WSB than I do.

Thanks. I'd have to read that novel to see if I have the same reaction. And, I recall liking the Cities of the Red Night novels. I think I devoured all three in less than a month.

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Regarding WSB, I actually enjoyed his Cities of the Red Night trilogy when I read it back in college.

Full disclosure, I read less than half of Naked Lunch, and that was it for WSB. I thought it was garbage, and I've never given him another chance.

I understand he was completely wacked out on drugs when he wrote it. He also put a bullet into his wife's head in the 1950s playing William Tell drunk.

--Brant

Edited by Brant Gaede
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Thanks. I'd have to read that novel to see if I have the same reaction.

Far be it from me to tell someone not to read a book, but you’ve been warned. I suggest you check it out from a library first rather than buying it. It does appear on various critical top 100 lists (where you’ll never find Rand), so someone must like it. 106.gif

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