tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post2218839273780331316..comments2023-07-04T10:34:08.502+01:00Comments on The Tin Drummer: Atlas ShruggedBill Haydonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08357811679771159469noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-79435491087620506322007-01-15T21:37:00.000+00:002007-01-15T21:37:00.000+00:00I'm sure you're right, Matt, but it's the prose it...I'm sure you're right, Matt, but it's the prose itself I find unattractive, which is odd, because "Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics", for example, is really well written and much easier than a lot of criticism to read.Bill Haydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357811679771159469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-38736753532190272712007-01-15T21:34:00.000+00:002007-01-15T21:34:00.000+00:00Quite. I think Rand has a slightly romantic attac...Quite. I think Rand has a slightly romantic attachment to heredity. Not to mention beauty. Danneskjold, d'Anconia and Galt are all deeply handsome, apparently.<br /><br />Also - John Galt _is_ a self made man, who ran away from home at the age of 12, but the book is somewhat unclear as to who paid for his education, such that he could be able to devise a completely new kind of motor at the age of 26. In his 40 page speech he never addresses this point. Is it possible that he, John Galt, got his education..from the tax dollars...of other people?<br /><br />In a book of 1000+ pages this is a minor quibble for me: as I've now said 3 times, it is a particular part of its philosophy that makes me think, and with which I really do agree. The inconsistencies and the rubbish I can discard.Bill Haydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357811679771159469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-5809323119669909702007-01-15T21:29:00.000+00:002007-01-15T21:29:00.000+00:00Tolkein needed an editor who wasn't afraid of him....Tolkein needed an editor who wasn't afraid of him. A good third of the LoTR trilogy could be cut with no real loss.Matt Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08062352280843955046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-50670552554794211852007-01-15T20:43:00.000+00:002007-01-15T20:43:00.000+00:00Yes, it seems puzzling that those two should be th...Yes, it seems puzzling that those two should be the main protagonists because they represent the 'given to', rather than the 'created-by-self' type.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-2368150522826849712007-01-15T20:41:00.000+00:002007-01-15T20:41:00.000+00:00Ian, I love Tolkein's lit.crit
but I cannot bear ...Ian, I love Tolkein's lit.crit<br /><br />but I cannot bear his creative writing. I have tried 4 of his books and they're all like walking through thick, dull, lukewarm treacle.<br /><br />Can't explain that!<br /><br />I've also got 500 pages into The Brothers Karamazov 3 times but never any further!Bill Haydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357811679771159469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-35376804900989551642007-01-15T19:49:00.000+00:002007-01-15T19:49:00.000+00:00I've got shrugged on the shelf which I've had for ...I've got <em>shrugged</em> on the shelf which I've had for a couple of years and have yet to seriously start. I've read <em>Les Mis</em> about half way through and I read book one of the Ring Trilogy.<br /><br />One day I'll get a round tuit...Shadeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777836927500400430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-39676938842955708142007-01-15T17:31:00.000+00:002007-01-15T17:31:00.000+00:00Matt, you are deeply and profoundly welcome.
I'...Matt, you are deeply and profoundly welcome. <br /><br />I've just finished the book. It's not Shakespeare, or Tolstoy and yes, as you've mentioned, the Objectivist philosophy is full of holes (where does John Galt get the ability he so loves in himself from? He has not earned it! What _would_ he do in a society with disabled people, or children (there aren't any children in the book)?<br /><br />I just like the energy of it, the development of the villains' psychology from the self-deception to the open admission of evil and in some ways back again, and, as I said, that particular part of its ethics.<br /><br />Matt said: I think a small blog can be counted as an achievement if you use it the right way. I look at mine as a space for getting ideas in order, which hopefully means that when it comes to the real world I have a far better idea of what I want to do and how best to do it. <br /><br /><br />This is what I have only just started to do.Bill Haydonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08357811679771159469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362580.post-34510805382620438852007-01-15T17:18:00.000+00:002007-01-15T17:18:00.000+00:00You've still got at least one "leftist" reader. So...You've still got at least one "leftist" reader. Sorry. :-)<br /><br />I've never read any of Rand's stuff. Part of me is interested, but I've been put off by various articles written by Objectivists which I just found annoying. Perhaps when my bank balance is looking a little healthier, and I don't have such a stack of unread books already waiting, I'll give 'Atlas Shrugged' a go. <br /><br />I think a small blog can be counted as an achievement if you use it the right way. I look at mine as a space for getting ideas in order, which hopefully means that when it comes to the real world I have a far better idea of what I want to do and how best to do it.Matt Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08062352280843955046noreply@blogger.com