RoR: Forum

Started with 'For the New Intellectual' - probably not a good first book. It covers a lot of areas, but gave me a bad taste initially because of Rand's tendency to quote Roark, Galt, etc. as if they were real people. I'd definitely recommend Fountainhead first for people into fiction, and CtUI or VoS for those into nonfiction.

Post 1

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 3:05pm

Started with The Fountainhead (appropriate, due to the title, I think). Only one so far, but I plan on moving onto Atlas Shrugged shortly.

Post 2

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 3:26pm

The first Rand book(s) I owned were copies of FH and AS, given to me by a co-worker as a Christmas gift one year. She encouraged me to read them, but I didn't until a several years later when I bought, and read through the Lexicon when it first came out (it's totally falling apart now.) Then I bought and read Anthem, and loved it so much I dug into FH, then AS, which took me a couple of years to get through. Don't ask, it just did.

Post 3

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 5:01pm

... AS, which took me a couple of years to get through

A couple of years? I read it in three days and could hardly put it down.

Sam

Post 4

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 12:22am

After having been called selfish and arrogant for years (my nickname in a public middle school was "God," which seemed a strange choice of insult) and having responded to those who accused me of being selfish; "So letting you do what you want wouldn't make you selfish?" I could not resist that tiny blue & white book - The Virtue of Selfisheness. But I had read all Rand's available non-fiction within two weeks of discovering her.

Ted

Post 5

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 10:25am

A couple of years? I read it in three days and could hardly put it down.

It took me two months, but I was only thirteen.
*hijack!*
Welcome Bauer...How do you like Columbia? I'm a former Gamecock, that's why I ask.

Post 6

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 1:14pm

Yep, a couple of years. I'd read it, and put it down, then read it some more...
Sort of like a movie trilogy.
Three little kids and working two jobs kept getting in the way, and I just didn't want to rush through it, so I took my time, and read it when I had some rare quiet time.

I never even heard of Ayn Rand until I was 26 years old. I finished read AS when I was 35, I think.

(Edited by Teresa Summerlee Isanhart on 9/16, 8:14pm)

Post 7

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 7:38pm

The first book that I had read, which was written (primarily) by Rand, was the Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (ITOE).

What can I say? I'm a "just-the-facts-Ma'am" kinda' guy (Dragnet?). Instead of dipping my feet first, I dove right in -- and I have no regrets there. I actually started with the Lexicon, and ITOE was my next logical step from there. I'm a guy who has trouble with fiction (haven't read fiction for decades). My main squeeze flipped her lid when she heard that I hadn't read the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged -- but I was able to minimize the damage by agreeing to do so in the near future (thank Galt!).

I consider myself a "Level 7 Objectivist" (on a scale where Rand was a 9; and Galt was a 10) -- despite my "failure" to familiarize myself with Randian fiction. On this note, D. Kelley and L. Peikoff might be 8's (on my admittedly arbitrary scale) -- but I still consider myself an exceptionally competent vanguard for Objectivism. In contrast to Aaron, I really think FTNI is a good intro -- even though I personally chose to tackle the hardest book first.

Ed

Post 8

Saturday, September 16, 2006 - 8:15pm

Oh yeah?

Well I'm a Level-12 Paladin Half-Elf with +6 plate-mail, a vorpal sword, and an invisibility ring, so there!

Sorry, just couldn't resist the opening, sorry :D

=======

Why does the list of "books read" on the user profile page only include Rand's older works? Her posthumous journals and letters are quite excellent, as are the two volumes on fiction and nonfiction writing.

A more important question to those of us who wish to spread Rand's influence might be which book do people think is the best one to introduce to others.

Ted

P.S. FTNI is not inherently bad, but it was published before Rand had put out her strictly philosophical arguments. The introductory essay is up to usual snuff, but the idea of reading snippets of fiction works as a stand-in for philosophy has two drawbacks. First, it spoils the fiction to read the excerpts. Second, a philosopher who quotes fictional characters rather than speaking directly could be seen as a bit queer to those who think they are buying a book off the philosophy shelf. Given the existence and availability of her later and posthumous corpus, one might wish that FTNI would be allowed to go out of print, and the introductory essay could be incorporated into another collection of her essays. The obvious option would be "Philosophy, Who Needs It?"

(Edited by Ted Keer
on 9/16, 8:26pm)

Post 9

Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 8:14pm

I think that 'Philosophy: Who Needs It?' is the best starter book. It's written for the layman -- and it hammers the main points home.

I just loved that book.

Ed

Post 10

Monday, September 18, 2006 - 5:28am

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the welcome (been around a little while, just not very vocal). At the risk of being off topic (which I hope is interpreted as different than hijacking) Columbia is nice (not great, but nice). I hope to strike out one day and see the rest of the world, though. And, since those not "in the know" usually give me a strange look when I say this (which I find highly amusing) I will sign off with the University of South Carolina war cry, "Go Cocks!"

Bauer

Post 11

Monday, September 18, 2006 - 1:45pm

I actually started with the Audio Tape of Fountainhead, read Atlas, read Fountainhead, interspersed with the non-fiction books, of which I have read considerable parts but not cover to cover except for Romantic Manifesto. Also listened to audio of Atlas (abridged) and unabridged audio of Anthem. My favorite is Fountainhead. I bought a high quality hard copy to re-read.

Post 12

Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - 9:33am

My first was Atlas Shrugged, when I was 18. I was on a trip, in a hotel. I read the first two chapters and actually needed to stop, lay down, and let it soak for a while. It was so much more rich than anything I had ever read, that I couldn't keep reading.

Maybe an analogy would help. It was as though I had eaten Hershey's milk chocolate my entire life, and then suddenly ate two Lindor extra dark truffles.

Perhaps I had read rich books before that, but they either weren't as rich, or they weren't engaging enough for me to absorb the richness. Atlas Shrugged is absolutely engaging, to me. After reading the first two chapters, I felt saturated in a very good way.

I didn't have the same experience with The Fountainhead (which I read about 7 months later); I finished that one in a relatively short period of time. It was just as engaging, but not as rich. It did, however, affect my life much more immediately and deeply from the first reading.

Post 13

Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - 11:36am

I wondered about whether or not to include collections or articles, but there was only room for so many options. I also definitely wanted to include things published in her lifetime. Observe that one of my choices was The New Left, and not the re-edited and re-titled version of that book.

Post 14

Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 8:45pm

> I consider myself a "Level 7 Objectivist" (on a scale where Rand was a 9; and Galt was a 10)...
>Well I'm a Level-12 Paladin Half-Elf with +6 plate-mail, a vorpal sword, and an invisibility ring...

And I'm a Level.....

Oh, never mind.

Post 15

Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 9:22pm