The Book of Ayn - Week Three
Read With Me Series
If you’re keeping up with the reading schedule, by now, we’re three quarters of the way through the book. This week is all about Ayn Rand. In order to understand how Lexi Freiman is satirizing Rand in the novel, we have to know a bit about her life, her novels, and her philosophy. I’m repeating the reading schedule (as I will each week) and the first video, in case you missed it.
Reading Schedule:
By May 6th read to page 57.
By May 13th read to page 117 to the line break.
By May 20th read to page 174 to the line break.
By May 27th read to the end.
Video 3 - Ayn Rand
QUESTIONS: I have many questions about the tenets of Randian philosophy and we can discuss all of this during our culminating zoom meeting. (There will be a vote this week about when we should have it.) So for this week, let’s start here: In what ways does Anna try and pursue Randian philosophy and how is she helped or hindered by this approach? Can an individual truly be successful (whatever one’s definition of success is) without the help – (help can mean financial, mentorship, collaboration, etc.) of others? Rand didn’t believe in things she didn’t understand. Can you think of examples whereby this is a dangerous concept? What about ways in which Rand’s ideas have seeped into politics today? I’m open to any other questions about Rand and her philosophy. Again, feel free to pose any of your own questions below.
Below are the links to weeks 1 and 2, which include prior videos and pdfs.
This is a great video!
Anna's pursuit of Randian philosophy is so funny. I love the part where Jackie tells Anna that every girl goes through an Ayn Rand phase (it had that tingling truth to it like in Lost in Translation when Scarlett Johansson says that every girl goes through a photography phase and takes pictures of horses and her feet.)
I don't think an individual can truly be successful without the help of others. But in our society there is an emphasis on the individual... a capitalistic society is individual-based. And breeds Narcissists and BPD... (kidding but not kidding?)
I'm fascinated by the concept of not believing in things you don't understand. I would totally smoke if cigarettes didn't cause cancer, but then again I was born eighty years after Ayn, and my education was different than hers.
In a lot of ways the internet is "dangerous." Anyone can put up a video talking about things they don't understand... ie the earth being flat, when there are airplane flights every single day that fly from the US to Europe, Europe to Asia, and Asia back to the US.
Have you read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged? I grabbed a thrift store copy of Atlas Shrugged last summer but I haven't read it. Now I want to read both!