I just read Ayn Rand's ANTHEM in less than an hour.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

Short little random burst of ego. I like the basis of the sentiments well enough, but my gosh, Rand is a pretty shitty writer. Ever heard of "show, don't tell," Ayn? That's why Orwell pwns you. :P

:crazy:

[Tyler Durden]

1. Unabridged??? That's over 250 pages.

You read faster than ME and that's saying something.

And yes, Swine Rand is a self centered, elitist pig.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

2. This one was only about 105 pages. Another 100 or so pages were devoted to

an early British manuscript of ANTHEM, showing how Rand cut out whole friggin' pages to make the book "more beautifully concise" (:eyes:) for the American release. So no, this I guess was "abridged." Very random novella.

[Dr. Strange]

3. In her defense, it was one of the first things she wrote (IIRC)

On the other hand, for her later tomes (The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged) she had much more time and experience under her belt. Consequence: even shittier writing with mounds of verbosity just in case there's one or two readers who didn't figure out what Rand's philosophy was from the first five sermons in the previous 900 pages.

[mitchum]

4. I would call Alice Rosenbaum a hack, but hackdom requires...

a breezy facility with writing. She was an incredibly clunky writer.

[liontamer]

5. i think that's actually one of her better books

although I read it when I was 14 so maybe that's why I don't think it's so bad. In Anthem, she's just stating her philosophy. Some might not agree with it, but she has a right to her beliefs.


It's later when she had followers, that she really became crazy and took her beliefs out to ridiculous conclusions. And wrote ridiculously self indulgent tomes (although given her philosophy I guess that makes sense :) )

but orwell never pawned anybody as far as I can tell. :P