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MadManLear

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About MadManLear

  • Birthday 10/03/1983

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  1. I haven't yet, but have heard similar good things from other Oists. On the side of comics/graphic novels, I'm trying to find more information on Steve Ditko's Mr. A comics, which features an explicity Objectivist hero. I do intent to further this project with the inclusion of music, but I have not yet decided the best method of doing so. This mostly stems from the fact that music's ties to our emotions and philosophy aren't yet understood, and so I would prefer a site dedicated only to music where discussing such matters would be paramount. I don't want to give too much away on a project that hasn't begun yet, but the short answer is yes.
  2. Gabo, excellent question, which is precisely why I need a forum on New Height Books, so such things can be discussed! I certainly realize that plenty of my choices will be questioned, and I'm sure anyone who undertook such a compilation would meet the same fate. I have reasons for including V for Vendetta specifically, but let me preface that by saying I don't think a book or movie must be flawless romantic realism to be included. For instance you might notice that I also included the works of Terry Goodkind, a fantasy writer. On one hand we have the fact that these books include magic, mythical beasts and even travels into the underworld, and on the other the fact that the author is an Objectivist, and his philosophy is explicit in his incredibly heroic and, I believe, well-written novels (not to mention that Goodkind doesn't use magic as a deus ex machina, but rather an extra variable in a world controlled by physical laws). In cases such as this I prefer to focus on the central theme and use that as the arbiter when there is a question as to whether or not a specific work falls within Romantic Realism. This applies to V for Vendetta, a movie which I think not only does a great job of exposing a very real political danger, but also of showing the joy-loving sense of life that could overcome such a state. And besides the physical enhancements that become the protagonist, everything within the story is possible. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is a dystopia as well. But the difference that excludes books like 1984 is not the realist side of romantic realism, but the romantic side. 1984 espouses no explicit values nor rational alternatives to the current society, but is more or less just anti the current state. It does a good job of pointing out what shouldn't be done, but provides no notion of what should be done other than the vagaries of "revolution." I hope that helps and that I haven't been too verbose! I look forward to your reply and the possibility of reposting this on NHB.
  3. Hello all! I am ecstatic to announce the complete rebuild of New Height Books, the reconstruction of which has been a consistent side project of mine for about 3 months now. For those of you who don't know, I created New Height Books in 2004 as a place to house my ever growing list of Romantic Realist literature and Rational Nonfiction. Through the help and suggestions of others the list continued to grow but the original site wasn't nearly good enough to contain it properly. So I tore it down and started from scratch. New Height Books now boasts a redesign and a total reconstruction of all its pages and functions. By signing up for an account you can review books (and read the the reviews of others) from a pro-reason, individualist perspective, and submit new works as well. I could go on about what has changed, but this is all spelled out on the site, so please pay a visit and let me know what you think! http://www.newheightbooks.com Enjoy!
  4. Does anyone know the name of the artist finally picked to do the cover art? That information would help explain Yaron Brook's comment that ARI kept the publisher from using someone even worse than the final outcome. In any case, maybe I can give some insight into the situation. Reprinting Ayn Rand's books with new cover art was the decision of the publisher, and although ARI did not have much say aesthetically, Leonard Peikoff- who, technically, has no public role with ARI- did. I was able to see samples of some of the sketches submitted. Before Bryan Larsen was enlisted, the other major candidate did nothing more than some multi-tonal blue haze with title and author for Fountainhead in block letters. Bryan Larsen took the route of creating scenes from the novel, Atlas Shrugged, and creating abstract scenes (Abstract thematically. For instance, Atlas turning away from the Earth). For some time, Bryan seemed to be the major player. My knowledge of events ends with Bryan Larsen's rejection, and at that time a new candidate entered the realm, an artist specializing in Christian literature illustration who was the sole recommendation of Peikoff. If, however, this was not the artist chosen (I cannot find or remember his name), then Yaron Brooks' statement about even worse art is understandable. Personally, I abhor the new cover art because no ideaological knowledge of Ayn Rand's works was neccessary to create it, and they relay no significant abstract values to the viewer, whereas Gaetano and the sketches submitted by Bryan Larsen do so quite well. AS is just a picture of the New York statue. No knowledge required there. Hell, all the artist needed was the title. FH? Oh, it's about architechture, better draw some beams. And the same with Anthem. A lightbulb in the story, a lightbulb on the cover. If Penguin Publishing wants proof that Bryan Larsen was the right choice, just visit Quent Cordair Fine Art. Every oil painting he's created based on Atlas Shrugged so far (more are to come) has sold immediately upon completion, and many of the red-pen and watercolor sketches as well.
  5. His works are indeed hard to find. I just checked Amazon, and they have one used copy available, asking price of $193.75 David, I actually discovered Berton Braley via your blog. For a while you posted poems of his pretty regularly. So thanks for that. Rumaging through the books at the gallery the other day, I found a copy of Virtues in Verse, and have kept it nearby ever since. Seeing as how the Atlantean Press is no longer in existence, I think it would be more than worth ARI's effort to obtain the rights and republish the book. More importantly, I believe Berton Braley should definitely be required reading for high school English classes. Both his sense of life and his discipline of form are of a standard almost unheard in most high school texts. Kitty Hawk: you can find Braley's best poetry in one place on the Quent Cordair website. We have them available for visitors to copy and paste into e-cards: click here.
  6. I've been playing the wallflower for some time now, sneaking around and reading other threads. So this post will serve as a discussion of my favorite poet, Berton Braley, and also to get me off the wall and in the habit of posting. Speaking broadly, I would like to discuss two aspects of Braley's work, theme and style. I have found myself extremely impressed and entranced by both. Recently, I discovered that he attributes most of his stylistic talent to Tom Hood, the author of "Rhymester." Here's a little excerpt from one of Braley's essays: Braley's sense of black-and-white is also reflected in his poetry, where the evil are vehemently damned and the good are given praise. He was pro-capitalism, pro-technology, pro-individual, and definitely pro-reson. Here's an example of his better work: "The Thinker" So my questions are, who here has heard of Berton Braley, and what do think of him? I have yet to find out anything negative about his work or his life. And if you haven't heard of Berton Braley, you can read a wide selection of his work here.
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