I was introduced to Ayn Rand's writing via Anthem, which is a good, science-fiction novella. When I told a friend that I liked it, he dropped Atlas Shrugged in my lap and I couldn't get through it. Then I saw a video of her last speech in New Orleans(?) and found her compelling and a bit repulsive all at once.
I figured that there had to be something about her and her works that I was missing or not understanding. Since people described her as "extremely selfish," I pulled down her book The Virtue of Selfishness. And that unlocked the mystery for me. To me, it is the best and most easily understood thing she ever wrote regarding her philosphy of Objectivism. Everything I'd ever read, heard, or seen about her began to make perfect sense. THIS is the book that I would give to someone before asking them to tackle Atlas Shrugged, no matter how old or keen a reader they are.
I think her best novel was the one set in Leninist Russia, We the Living. The Italians made a movie adaptation of the novel in 1942 called Noi Vivi, which was then banned from public viewing by Mussolini's government. I think the mvie stands as one of the best adaptations of a book ever made. It's faithful to the story, her philosophy, and is entertaining to boot.
Doesn't anyone find it bizarre that Rand spent so much time and energy excoriating ALL types of collectivism so that SHE personally caused tremendous problems for Mussolini, yet intellectual slobs like Chambers, who called her a fascist and obviously never got even the most fundamental of her points, are given so much credence by people who should know better?
As Leonard Peikoff has written so eloquently,
“To compare Miss Rand’s heroes to Nietzschean supermen and to identify her politically with Hitler is not stupidity on Chambers’ part. It is willful perversion. Were I in philosophic agreement with Mr. Chambers, I would say that his review is the proof of his doctrine that men are born with Original Sin and are inherently corrupt. But I am not in agreement with Mr. Chambers. He cannot blame Adam or God for that review. It is his responsibility.” [...] “Mr. Chambers is an ex-Communist. He has attacked Atlas Shrugged in the best tradition of the Communists—by lies, smears, and cowardly misrepresentations. Mr. Chambers may have changed a few of his political views; he has not changed the method of intellectual analysis and evaluation of the Party to which he belonged.also see: these comments on Chambers.
-- from http://tinyurl.com/59cwy
"The Italians made a movie adaptation of the novel in 1942 called Noi Vivi, which was then banned from public viewing by Mussolini's government. I think the mvie stands as one of the best adaptations of a book ever made. It's faithful to the story, her philosophy, and is entertaining to boot."
I have a copy of that film and without the full ending, it just ain't complete!