Ep. 7: AYN RAND as a Writer (Roderick Long)

Was Ayn Rand a good writer or a bad one? Find out now using this one weird trick!

Credit and CC-BY-2.0 license for daveynin’s photo of Ouray, Colorado:

Here are some links to items mentioned in the discussion:

Richard Wagner’s “Liebestod”:

Matvei Blanter’s “John Gray”:

Other versions of “John Gray”:

Chopin’s Nocturne opus 9 (NOT 10!) no. 2:

Roderick Long’s 2004 blog post on standards of criticism:

Ayn Rand’s WE THE LIVING:

Ayn Rand’s THE FOUNTAINHEAD:

Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED:

Bonus: Roderick Long on ATLAS SHRUGGED:

Ayn Rand’s ANTHEM:

Bonus: Roderick Long on ANTHEM:

Ayn Rand’s THE EARLY AYN RAND:

Ayn Rand’s THE ROMANTIC MANIFESTO A PHILOSOPHY OF LITERATURE:

Ayn Rand’s THE ART OF FICTION: A GUIDE FOR WRITERS AND READERS:

Robert Mayhew’s anthology ESSAYS ON AYN RAND’S WE THE LIVING:

Adam Weiner’s HOW BAD WRITING DESTROYED THE WORLD: AYN RAND AND THE LITERARY ORIGINS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

ATLAS SHRUGGED movie:
– Part 1:
– Part 2:
– Part 3:

Fëdor Dostoyevsky’s THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV:

Thomas Mann’s DOCTOR FAUSTUS: THE LIFE OF THE GERMAN COMPOSER ADRIAN LEVERKÜHN AS TOLD BY A FRIEND:

Thomas Mann’s THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN:

D. H. Lawrence’s WOMEN IN LOVE:

André Gide’s THE IMMORALIST:

Friedrich Nietzsche’s THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA:

Plato’s COMPLETE WORKS:

Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE LOST WORLD:

Jules Verne’s JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH:

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Other Roderick Long links:

[BackalleyEsoAndHeretic]

I'd love to see an episode on Frege, and Wittgenstein in relation to Austrian methodology.

[Yanolala]

Great content! I have been a fan for years and I'm thrilled that you're doing a more regular show!

If it strikes your fancy at all, I've heard you talk well of Wittgenstein, and I'd love to hear you elaborate on his thought sometime.

[BackalleyEsoAndHeretic]

Also, what are your thoughts about Rand's philosophy specifically?

I see her on the issue of action, and conceptual discussion to be a discount Aristotle, or Orwell, her views on social organization and ethics are less sophisticated than even the so called "Paleolibs"; yet you seem to express positive positions on her views in various works of yours I've read, and lectures you've given.

I'm curious.

[albionicamerican]

Rand's literary ability deteriorated between _The Fountainhead_ and _Atlas Shrugged_ . Ellsworth Toohey is a much more interesting and articulate villain than the cartoonish ones in Rand's last novel.

[Freddy-Da-Freeloadah]

Understanding that: THE DEFLATIONARY ECONOMY IS A CRITICAL FREE MARKET IDEA, Rand make a parody of a deflationary economy in Gaults Gulch. Gault's Gulch is a joke to all the socialists, and inflationist who read it.. She writes HEROIC FICTION, instead of NATURALISTIC FICTION, but Gaults Gulch, makes a joke out of what should be VALORIZED!
IMHO

[brycepardoe]

I find it interesting that you have an emancipatory reading of Rand instead of the usual capitalist crap.

[alexisdumas]

The expression of this video is somewhat terrible, but the expressed content is great!