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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

Going Galt vs. Going God

Started by Elkhound, May 30, 2009, 12:01:18 AM

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Elkhound

One could hardly imagine two writers more different than Ayn Rand and Katherine Kurtz, but here is a point-by-point comparison of AR and the NT.

One is tempted to imagine how an Objectivist would analyse KK's writing.  It is even more amusing to imagine fanfic written from an Objectivist point of view.

Apart from her odious philosophy, Ayn Rand hadn't nearly as much talent in her whole body as KK has in the tip of her left little finger.

AceofSwrds

As someone who is both a fan of Rand and KK, let me give a bit of insight into how Rand might have seen KK's work.

On the one hand, Rand wouldn't have been thrilled with the religious overtones. If there was one element of Objectivist thought that I find hard to accept, it was the rejection of the human element. Logic can only take you so far, and after reading about Rand's personal life, it was stark contrast to what she espoused in her writing. Seeing KK's characters act, well, human wouldn't have sit well with Rand.

On the other hand, the heart of Objectivist thought revolves around the power of the individual against oppression from government or from government lackeys. And much of KK's work has the same undercurrent. Also, Rand and KK share another common feature: a larger-than-life hero archetype, someone who always knows just what to do and is unafraid to do it, even at great personal expense. Whether it was Camber willing to risk his life for the future of the Deryni, or Howard Roarke from The Fountainhead willing to risk his livelihood rather than compromise, the heroic John Galt or the equally heroic Adam Sinclair, Rand and KK tend to have the same idealized view of the hero.

Just my two cents' worth. ;D

Elkhound

#2
Somehow the link to the sermon referenced in my OP got left out:

http://stjohnswv.org/pages/sermon-inthename.htm

I reiterate--KK has more literary talent in her left little finger than Rand had in her entire body.  ATLAS SHRUGGED and THE FOUNTAINHEAD both committed the worst literary sin of all---they were BORING!  (ANTHEM was a little better.)

Milo

Quotecommitted the worst literary sin of all---they were BORING!

if being boring is the worst literary sin of all .... i think 99% of the authors fall into that pit frequently

Bauceant

Of the two books, I much prefered "Atlas Shrugged" to "Fountainhead"...and while I do recognize their literary merit, I must also confess that once was quite enough.  I would have to be marooned on a desert island without anything else to read before I would consider reading either of them again.

Elkhound

If you want to write a treatise on your social, political, and economic theories, do so.

If you want to write a novel telling the story of interesting characters doing interesting things, do so.

But one or the other!  JRRT in 'On Fairy Stories' talks of the reader being jerked out of the story and looking on an failed Secondary World like a cramped little stage on which the author's marionettes jiggle and sing.  That is exactly what Rand's characters are; you can see the strings.  Unlike KK's characters, who have a life of their own.