03 Aug 09
Originally posted by utherpendragonThe movie, the Pulitzer Prize, and the reason it still finds its way into the high school English curriculum is all about the racial content. I'll be happy to concede that the book's merits, such as they are, may lie elsewhere.
I enjoyed the characters as well and her writing style. The racial element has nothing to do w/it as far as I am concerned in enjoying the book.
I did not read this book in school. Perhaps I might have liked it when I was sixteen. But, I read a fair chunk of it aloud to help a struggling reader when I was in my early 40s, and I found it overrated at best. The kid had other resources and I had no inclination to continue the parts I had not read aloud.
04 Aug 09
Originally posted by StarrmanYep; well, not personally, but I've read Zen. I've also traveled some of the same roads, and eaten in one or two of the restaurants named. In Grangeville, Idaho, I put a new roof on the restaurant where Pirsig observed the angry waitress (or maybe I put a roof on the bank across the street--my memory is fuzzy on that point).
I thought by your previous post that you knew Pirsig?
Although it reads a great deal like a novel, it is marketed as nonfiction. Then, that troublesome afterward in the paperback edition makes truth claims for the whole of the book.
I have no problem listing it among favorites, but inasmuch as growing numbers of our youth think every book is a novel, I thought it best to bring this question up.
04 Aug 09
Originally posted by WulebgrAhh, I see. Yes, in as much as it is an explication of his philosophy and an approach to the analytic/synthetic boundary it does warrant a mention as a more academic book. However there is a very real and at times touching relationship with his son which lends itself to storytelling. I can enjoy it on both levels, much the same as the Fountainhead.
Yep; well, not personally, but I've read Zen. I've also traveled some of the same roads, and eaten in one or two of the restaurants named. In Grangeville, Idaho, I put a new roof on the restaurant where Pirsig observed the angry waitress (or maybe I put a roof on the bank across the street--my memory is fuzzy on that point).
Although it reads a gre ...[text shortened]... numbers of our youth think every book is a novel, I thought it best to bring this question up.
04 Aug 09
Originally posted by StarrmanI waded through Atlas Shrugged, which is far better writing than The Anthem, which has as its only virtue its brevity--my son and I both read his copy on the flight from Spokane to Denver when his teacher assigned the text in a senior literature class. I won't go into the absurdity of spending three weeks on this brief tract.
I forgot to add Hermann Hesse's 'Demian' and Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead', both of which I adore.
Ayn Rand's books are all political tracts, and her politics make Reagan's appear humane in comparison. Atlas Shrugged is supposedly her masterpiece. But, the first sentence of Atlas Shrugged shows up frequently: http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/search.php?authorname=MacSwain
So, I ask, if I find her writing predictable, the characters shallow, and her politics reprehensible, what reason do I have for diving into The Fountainhead?
04 Aug 09
Originally posted by WulebgrI cannot tell you. I have not read Atlas Shrugged and Anthem is a children's book, I cannot fathom why it would be studied for 3 weeks. I find Rand's notion of objectivism as a philosophical view most interesting. I think that her characters stem from this and if you dislike her ethics it is unlikely you will find her characters or stories welcoming. I'm not sure what else I can say to endear Fountainhead to you, I suspect any enjoyment would be precluded by your opinion of previous readings.
I waded through Atlas Shrugged, which is far better writing than The Anthem, which has as its only virtue its brevity--my son and I both read his copy on the flight from Spokane to Denver when his teacher assigned the text in a senior literature class. I won't go into the absurdity of spending three weeks on this brief tract.
Ayn Rand's book ...[text shortened]... nd her politics reprehensible, what reason do I have for diving into The Fountainhead?
04 Aug 09
1 edit
Originally posted by StarrmanSuch is the state of American schools, sadly.
I cannot tell you. I have not read Atlas Shrugged and Anthem is a children's book, I cannot fathom why it would be studied for 3 weeks.
I'll grant that Objectivism is interesting, but only theoretically. Lots of fiction writers advance political or philosophical agendas in their novels; they often fail to construct believable characters. Ayn Rand is better than CS Lewis in this respect, but still far from a great novelist. James Baldwin never strayed far from politics in his novels, despite his efforts to do so, and his characters are rich and full.