I haven’t read this new biography of Rand yet, but the Amazon critics seem to think it’s worth while. I’ll wait until it’s in the library. Which is not very capitalistic of me, but I’m not pure about it like she was. Like most kids I rebelled against my parents’ politics, which was conservative. But I wavered.
Then, in college, I discovered Rand’s idea of Objectivism and went so far as to bet my Speech grade on an oration about it. The professor disliked her celebration of "reality" so much that he tried to undercut me at the top of the program he printed for our class speeches with a quote from Carl Jung: "People cannot stand too much reality."
Nowadays I agree with Jung. Which is probably why I read so much science fiction. I never read Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s most popular (and lately resurgent) novel. I remember some reviewer (just who I forget) paraphrased Shakespeare in calling it "As long as life and twice as tedious." I may never read it. But I still find her interesting and, of course, the idea that capitalism and the mighty corporations it sometimes creates can be heroic. I’ve been too much of a businessman myself over the years to find the type very threatening. Indeed, to demean the Willy Lomans of the world is to demean the very thing that keeps us free.
MORE: Via Instapundit, the movie made of her book We The Living is now on DVD.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 