/lit/ - Literature

>>19220460
No

>>19220460
No, Ayn Rand is trash.

>>19220460
>>19220474
I've always felt this from what I've heard about her, but without having read any of her work.

Is it worth reading for the sake of having an informed opinion, rather than trusting others and shilling their opinions?

I beg you, don't read this "book".

>>19220478
Just read the wikipedia page on her philosophy and you'll get the gist, you don't need to go beyond that, it's really not worth it. She's just another bogus right-wing "intellectual", whose individualism is a paper thin disguise for just dumb and anti-social selfishness.
>>19220481
Objectivism was all fun and games until Rand got cucked, which will happen to you too if you keep reading trash books.

>>19220460
>woman philosopher.

It's a fun YA novel in the socialist realist style (though I've no recollection of it being 700 pages...). It's not by any means "literature" and if you've already read more than a dozen books you'll find little there to stimulate you.

>>19220460
No, just watch a Youtube overview.

>be /lit/ and /v/
>wants to read Atlas Shrugged because of Bioshock
>1,170 fucking pages
>mfw

>>19220460
>is this worth reading?
Yes, but only to quote it unironically at commies and ironically at pedophiles. Otherwise it's trash.

>>19220478
>Is it worth reading for the sake of having an informed opinion, rather than trusting others and shilling their opinions?
That's what I did, and now I use it for shitposting in an informed way. I did not enjoy reading it, but I do enjoy shitposting about it.

It's a great book. (No one in this thread read it)

>>19220586
I did.

>>19220521
> virgin

I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to take a break from the dense stuff and have a great and motivational story

>>19220460
considering that your time is basically worthless, yes

>>19220460
It's good. The 700 pages go pretty fast because there's a lot of dialogue. The characters are interesting even if some of the allegory is overwrought. 90% of the vehement Rand-haters I've met haven't read any Rand and just knee-jerk as a reaction to the existence of the Rand fanatics.

>>19220460
I read it. It has its moments but on the whole not terrific. It claims to be a mystery novel by you can basically figure out all of it less than halfway through. Read the big speech towards the end first and it'll give you a pretty good overview.
Also the fact it was written by a woman clearly shows at times.

They're all right, you probably shouldn't read it. I mean, get a load of this shit writing:

>The leaves streamed down, trembling in the sun. They were not green; only a few, scattered through the torrent, stood out in single drops of a green so bright and pure that it hurt the eyes; the rest were not a color, but a light, the substance of fire on metal, living sparks without edges. And it looked as if the forest were a spread of light boiling slowly to produce this color, this green rising in small bubbles, the condensed essence of spring. The trees met, bending over the road, and the spots of sun on the ground moved with the shifting of the branches, like a conscious caress. The young man hoped he would not have to die.
>Not if the earth could look like this, he thought. Not if he could hear the hope and promise like a voice, with leaves, tree trunks and rocks instead of words. But he knew that the earth looked like this only because he had seen no sign of men for hours; he was alone, riding his bicycle down a forgotten trail through the hills of Pennsylvania where he had never been before, where he could feel the fresh wonder of an untouched world.
>He had not liked the things taught to him in college. He had been taught a great deal about social responsibility, about a life of service and self-sacrifice. Everybody had said it was beautiful and inspiring. Only he had not felt inspired. He had felt nothing at all.

>>19220854
Who likes this nonsense?

>He could not name the thing he wanted of life. He felt it here, in this wild loneliness. But he did not face nature with the joy of a healthy animal — as a proper and final setting; he faced it with the joy of a healthy man — as a challenge; as tools, means and material. So he felt anger that he should find exultation only in the wilderness, that this great sense of hope had to be lost when he would return to men and men's work. He thought that this was not right; that man's work should be a higher step, an improvement on nature, not a degradation. He did not want to despise men; he wanted to love and admire them. But he dreaded the sight of the first house, poolroom and movie poster he would encounter on his way.
>He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto — or the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don't help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don't work for my happiness, my brothers — show me yours — show me that it is possible — show me your achievement — and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.

>>19220879
Behold, a woman "writer"

>He saw a blue hole ahead, where the road ended on the crest of a ridge. The blue looked cool and clean like a film of water stretched in the frame of green branches. It would be funny, he thought, if I came to the edge and found nothing but that blue beyond; nothing but the sky ahead, above and below. He closed his eyes and went on, suspending the possible for a moment, granting himself a dream, a few instants of believing that he would reach the crest, open his eyes and see the blue radiance of sky below.
>His foot touched the ground, breaking his motion; he stopped and opened his eyes. He stood still.
>In the broad valley, far below him, in the first sunlight of early morning, he saw a town. Only it was not a town. Towns did not look like that. He had to suspend the possible for a while longer, to seek no questions or explanations, only to look.
>There were small houses on the ledges of the hill before him, flowing down to the bottom. He knew that the ledges had not been touched, that no artifice had altered the unplanned beauty of the graded steps. Yet some power had known how to build on these ledges in such a way that the houses became inevitable, and one could no longer imagine the hills as beautiful without them — as if the centuries and the series of chances that produced these ledges in the struggle of great blind forces had waited for their final expression, had been only a road to a goal — and the goal was these buildings, part of the hills, shaped by the hills, yet ruling them by giving them meaning.
>The houses were plain field stone — like the rocks jutting from the green hillsides — and of glass, great sheets of glass used as if the sun were invited to complete the structures, sunlight becoming part of the masonry. There were many houses, they were small, they were cut off from one another, and no two of them were alike. But they were like the variations on a single theme, like a symphony played by an inexhaustible imagination, and one could still hear the laughter of the force that had been let loose on them, as if that force had run, unrestrained, challenging itself to be spent, but had never reached its end. Music, he thought, the promise of the music he had invoked, the sense of it made real — there it was before his eyes — he did not see it — he heard it in chords — he thought that there was a common language of thought, sight and sound — was it mathematics? — the discipline of reason — music was mathematics — and architecture was music in stone — he knew he was dizzy because this place below him could not be real

>>19220512
>right-wing
Rand is Rand-wing and nothing more.
Amerilards should stop being stupid.
>until Rand got cucked
The funniest shit is, he wasn't even her husband.
Literally "how dare your husband cheat on me?", women are a meme.

>>19220938
She should have stayed in Russia, saved us all the trouble of ever hearing about her.

>He saw trees, lawns, walks twisting up the hillsides, steps cut in stone, he saw fountains, swimming pools, tennis courts — and not a sign of life. The place was uninhabited.
>It did not shock him, not as the sight of it had shocked him. In a way, it seemed proper; this was not part of known existence. For the moment he had no desire to know what it was.
>After a long time he glanced about him — and then he saw that he was not alone. Some steps away from him a man sat on a boulder, looking down at the valley. The man seemed absorbed in the sight and had not heard his approach. The man was tall and gaunt and had orange hair.
>He walked straight to the man, who turned his eyes to him; the eyes were gray and calm; the boy knew suddenly that they felt the same thing, and he could speak as he would not speak to a stranger anywhere else.
>"That isn't real, is it?" the boy asked, pointing down.
>"Why, yes, it is, now," the man answered.
>"It's not a movie set or a trick of some kind?"
>"No. It's a summer resort. It's just been completed. It will be opened in a few weeks."
>"Who built it?"
>"I did."
>"What's your name?"
>"Howard Roark."
>"Thank you," said the boy. He knew that the steady eyes looking at him understood everything these two words had to cover. Howard Roark inclined his head, in acknowledgement.
>Wheeling his bicycle by his side, the boy took the narrow path down the slope of the hill to the valley and the houses below. Roark looked after him. He had never seen that boy before and he would never see him again. He did not know that he had given someone the courage to face a lifetime.

>>19220460
is it ok to read Ayn Rand in german? I've resolved to start reading more in my native language again because I sound way smarter in english conversation than in german which is silly.

OP, I'm reading this book right now (about 2/3 through it) and I'm quite surprised by how much I've enjoyed it so far. And don't get me wrong, I hate women as much as the next guy. As the other anon coyly posting quotes suggests, Rand's prose is quite powerful at times and her characters can be inspiring.
What's more surprising is how many people are ready to make judgements about this book without even attempting to understand it first. You can see it all over this thread, people saying Rand is trash when they've obviously never even read her. Anecdotally, several people in my life, people who I thought shared with me a love of literature, have unironically accused be of being a sociopath or a bad person just because I said I thought The Fountainhead was pretty good, actually. It's been very perplexing and not a little bit upsetting

>>19220943
Funny you say that because Rand is only read in burgerland.

>>19220481
Is that a chud?

>>19220970
Sure, why not? Depends on the translator.

>>19220460
nope

>>19220460
Yes. You are about to read the work of a genius. Not a great writer, but that isn’t the point.

Most people can’t handle it.

>>19220962
That's the opening to the 4th and final act of the book, and it's a great scene, you're just a pleb.

>>19220460
Despite Rand's non-ornamented writing style, it's a decent story, and probably the most interesting novel written about architecture and architects. If I remember correctly, the book was a best seller when it came out.

>>19220478
I'm not a Randian, but the people who get assblasted about Rand are usually losers, which makes sense because her stories and ideology constantly insult such people.

Just pick up a copy of the book at the library and read a few pages. If you don't like it, stop. If you like it, continue on. But don't waste time your time sitting here listening to a handful of fat retards telling you to dislike an author without reading them first.

>>19221051
>have unironically accused be of being a sociopath or a bad person just because I said I thought The Fountainhead

Next time this happens, explain why you think the book is interesting. (It's notable simply for its subject matter—who else has written a novel about architecture?) Then ask them what it is specifically that they don't like about Rand. Ask for examples. This will stop most people.

>>19220802
>Rand fanatics
How many still exist? It seems like everywhere I go on the internet, I see Rand bashed so hard that even people who agree with her are trying to distance themselves from her.

>>19221062
That's what I meant, Burgers should stop treating her as a political figure.

>>19220962
I nearly vomited.
This is the only book I can remember starting and not being able to finish. It seemed well written with definite skill but Rand forces her world view down your throat so hard I just could not be bothered.
Glad I stopped before reaching this junk.

>>19220460
I read all 3 of her books because retards are hysterical against her, so I knew they have to be good if they filter the generic brainlet this much.
We the living is pretty generic love story.
Fountainhead is OK at best. You'll like it if you're into architecture, for me there was way too much of that in there. Not a lot of ideas, just a pretty bland story with too much architecture.
Atlas Shrugged is great, but you have to be able to put it into timeframe it was written in and that it's not really entirely applicable to modern world. It's not for retards though, you have to have an IQ at least 100 to read it, that is to say you need to be at least average.

>>19221316
Your are actually subhuman.
>>19221325
>Not a lot of ideas, just a pretty bland story with too much architecture.
>Not a lot of ideas
>In the Fountainhead
Jesus fucking Christ

>>19221345
>Your are actually subhuman

>>19220460
No

>>19221345
There are a couple of ideas explained over and over again with examples of why it is so over and over again. Atlas Shrugged suffers from the same problem, but it's much better regardless.

>>19220521
>(((woman))) "philosopher"

>>19220460
I read Atlas Shrugged. It was good. The 50 page speech at the end is a little ridiculous, though.

>>19220962
This is great, definitely picking up some Rand :)

>>19220460
It's an absolute slog to read and not at all what I expected

>female eastern european jewish capitalist

>>19220478
>is it worth wasting at least 12 hours of your life to find out whether people on the internet were right about the quality of this random book

>>19220557
Atlas Shrugged is worth reading, do it

>>19220460
Can't comment on its aesthetic merit, but academic philosophers have a very very low view of her. Many of them have read her works due to its cultural relevance though. Take from that what you will.

>>19220460
I've read it and it's pretty good, pretty inspiring, Ayn Rand is overhated, most people that hate her are complete bugmen I've noticed. The story is pretty fun and enjoyable, the sex scenes are mindbreak kino

>>19221965
Probably because she shits on spineless academics like no other. Massive chunks of Atlas Shrugged are about how gay professors are. And she's right.

>>19221850
No, it is terrible.

>>19223368
This but unironically. Professors are manchildren who never leave the nest.

>>19220460
Yes.

>>19220557
>read 100 pages a day
>book only takes 12 days to finish
Stop being lazy.

>>19220586
I read it. Mediocre.

>>19220478
She has a few actually good passages talking about freedom and idealism, but for the most part she is an agendaposter to the most annoying degree with strawman opponents she ceremoniously tips over everywhere in her work. Most of the sheer anal torture people experience is just belittling her on the fact that she oversimplifies everything and has a pretty heavily flawed ideology her books implicitly push mega hard. If you want a full sample of Rand's entire bone to pick with lefty shit and don't mind spoiling you can read her Galt speech from Atlas Shrugged, not 700 or 1000 pages of posturing.

>>19220460

Yes. It was the first book I read that gave me permission to be great, instead of just obsessively trying to be "well adjusted" like everyone else.

I thank Ayn Rand for inspiring me to shake off mediocrity.

>>19220481
Okay Mossad, you can take off for the night

>>19220460
dry lengthy trill about disguised egoism. no wonder libertarians jerk off to her. go read stirner instead.

>>19220962
This was starting to sound based until she started idolizing a dude who builds summer resorts. Lmao

>>19220478
Just read Anthem. You can finish it in a day and get a general idea what Rand's about.

>>19223795
>the fact that she oversimplifies everything
Nah, its about *what* she allegedly strawmans. Had she instead of attacking pomo and general leftism, belittled conservatism, with no increase in her charitability, no mainstream butthurt would exist.

>>19224375
>instead of reading a novel read a young hegelian philosopher
Those aren't equivalent

>>19220460
every work of rand is simply a thing about coping with traumatized rape

>>19224642
>american """conservative""" thinks Rand is on his side
Protip: "fuck the nation, fuck family, fuck society, I do what I want" is not a conservative message.

>>19221272
>who else has written a novel about architecture?
Victor Hugo.

>>19224768
American conservatives believe that fucking the society over for personal gain is what a prosperous society is all about - after all, they've been doing exactly that as far as they can remember, and they live in a prosperous society. Or at least, it was until the niggerman ruined it all.

>>19220586
>>19220460
Read it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both time. Rand writes tales of heroes, not of normal men and women, and this puts off brainlets because "muh realism". Ran'd novels are less like modern novels and more like epic poems set in modern times. She's great (even if you find her philosophy crude and flawed).

>>19221316
You're a mongoloid indoctrinated leftist child. Otherwise you'd have dropped a lot more books (any book written in the past 50 years or so). The fact that you could tolerate that garbage should give you pause.

>>19223437
Worse: they tend to be talentless, midwit little shits that desperately want to be considered talented geniuses.

Talented people invent, discover and create. Academics regurgitate stuff done by other people into each other's mouth like birds feeding hatchlings.

>>19223834
>gave me permission to be great, instead of just obsessively trying to be "well adjusted" like everyone else
That's a great lesson to take home from the book and it should be its description on the back cover.

>>19225097
>regurgitate stuff done by other people into each other's mouth
That's just every sort of creative labor ever.

>>19220460
It's not literature, it's just the sort of mongo pamphlet rant that people pick up when they're looking for a philosophical licence to be a shitty, greedy person.
The author died on welfare, after alienating all her enablers.

>>19224914
>cleverly steals the sweat from worker's foreheads
>blames nigs for the effects of said theft.
US history.

>>19221614
The part that makes it a slog is the prose is bad and her writing style is to bash you over the head with the theme constantly with every page to the point where if you don't get her ideology by page 30 you might be retarded. She is hamfisted.

>>19221345
there are a lot of ideas... they are just all fucking rand-tarded

>>19220478
/lit/ hates rand because /lit/ is a reddit colony. That's the only real reason, these are the same people that think it's a good idea to study literature at university.

>>19220460
Hell yes. Regardless of what you think of her ideas she wrote great novels. The 1100 pages of Shrugged is well worth it too

>>19221850
>>19223762
I'm not gonna read a meme book with over 1000 pages. I have better tings to do with my time, anon.

>>19220460
I thought it was probably the most interesting book about architecture I've ever read. It's worth a read.

>>19220962
>"You built this all alone?" asked the boy.
>"Humm, no actually I paid people to work for me, but it's mine, I payed for it."
>"So you didn't build it yourself?"
>"Yes, I built it, I pay the builders and for the materials, and..."
"If I buy eggs, milk, flour and butter and pay a baker to make a cake for me, the cake is mine, that's clear. But can I say that I baked the cake myself?"
>"Well... no..."
>"So, you didn't build ."
>"Shut you little communist. Go away..."

Lmao /lit/ putting retards on blast

>>19223762
>>read 100 pages a day
>tfw need to read at least 5 hours to read 100 pages a day because of brainfog and general retardation
I can't do it man

>>19225603
The baker is presumably following his recipe, thus the resulting cake is the result of his *knowledge*; but the construction workers contribute only raw muscle.

>>19226267
Sounds like you need to lift weights, do cardio, sauna, and stop eating processed foods.

>>19224428
The whole book is about architects, and the character in question represents someone who never compromises their integrity under any circumstances.

>>19220879
>He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto — or the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don't help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don't work for my happiness, my brothers — show me yours — show me that it is possible — show me your achievement — and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.
This is actually great

>>19220534
I have a first edition Fountainhead. It's over 750 pages long.

>>19220557
The overall length isn't the problem. It's that you have hundreds of pages devoted to single speeches or conversations.