After spending 1,168 pages with Atlas Shrugged, I figured I owe Ayn Rand at least a blog post!
I agreed with many of Rand's economic points. Atlas was even a good read, (albeit her philosophical arguments got repetitive). It's a novel of the Übermensch, which makes Rand's statement in the "About the Author" section even more intriguing:
"I trust that no one will tell me that men such as I write about don't exist. That this book has been written--and published--is my proof that they do."
The men she writes about are superheroes who achieve perfection not through self-sacrifice, but self-interest. In Rand's world, justice reigns over mercy and love must be earned. Yet somehow she manages to make this look appealing. Throughout the novel, I found myself asking why.
I think it's because she has so many things right. Take this passage for instance:
"There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle. . . . In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit" (1054).
Ayn Rand is no relativist. I think she's wrong in her conclusion that mankind can achieve its heroic potential apart from God. But she's consistent. And the picture she offers of humanity at its fullest--discovering, inventing, exploring, delighting in life and each other--isn't very far off from what God intended all along.
