[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, it's certainly a classic and she did a public service by arguing against the liberalism of the 40s.

It's just not a very good novel. But that's entirely by the way.

I've started it a couple of times but get bogged down in the wooden characters and impossible dialogue. I prefer my political philosophy straight up, as in Hayek.

But it's available in comic book form: The Illustrated Road to Serfdom

[Hoffer Rand]

I prefer my political philosophy straight up...

Then why haven't you read Rand's philosophy books? She wrote a significant amount of non-fiction.

The Voice of Reason
The Virtue of Selfishness
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
Philosophy: Who Needs It?
For the New Intellectual
Introduction to Objectovist Epistomology
The Return of the Primitive

That's just a few to get you started.

[neocon1984]

Great web-site! Thanks.

We will have to agree to disagree on two points: (1) the people that Ayn Rand was working against in the 1940’s were the collectivist planners (not liberals) depicted in that wonderful comic book; and (2) Her characters may be over the top (which befits her narcissistic amd obsessive personality) but they are wonderful symbols of individualism and self-reliance. I really enjoy her work precisely because her characters are “different”.

[sleepwalker]

How do you criticize a book when you haven't completed it?

All of your arguments about it not measuring up to Victor Hugo or other classic novelists seem out of place for someone who never finished the book.