The first Ayn Rand book I read was “The Virture of Selfishness”.
THis question has been asked in other places before.
I thought I’d ask it here, because the “polling” feature is well-suited for it.
Mine was The Fountainhead. Apparently I’m a traditionalist. I started with the fiction, devoured it, and then worked my way through the non-fiction. (Although I still haven’t read We the Living for some reason.)
I was the same… finally got around to reading We The Living four or five years after the rest of her books.
My first Ayn Rand book was “The Fountainhead”, but i read OPAR before that. I would have continued with the non-fiction first, but there were so many references to the fiction, i switched gears and read Fountainhead and Atlas before returning to the non-fiction.
Atlas Shrugged, followed immediately by The Fountainhead, which was followed immediately by ITOE (I had to read that one twice to make sure I was understanding everything).
I went most of my life without ever hearing Ayn Rand’s name, until her books recommended to me by 5 or 6 separate people, on the grounds that my own ethics were so similar to those she wrote about.
Her work has changed me to the core, and I’m eternally grateful for every bit of it. One of these days, I’ll have to get a framed picture of her to hang on my wall a la Wynand’s picture of Roark. :yarr:
One of these days, I’ll have to get a framed picture of her to hang on my wall a la Wynand’s picture of Roark. :yarr:
Fred Weiss, a long-time Objectivist, has a publishing company which also distributes two very nice images of Ayn Rand.
One is the Ilona portrait which, according to Charles Sures (now departed husband of Mary Ann Sures, and dear friend), was Ayn Rand’s favorite likeness of herself. The other is a poster of the Ayn Rand stamp from 1999. Both are quite beautiful.
My girlfriend bought me “The Virtue of Selfishness” for my birthday last year because I was explaining to her how I thought Selfishness was a virtue (this was before I knew who Ayn Rand was) and I was kind of shocked and thought it was really cool. I started into it a bit but never got to finish it because I was busy and just wasn’t able to fight my way through how dense and technical it was. A bit later I was told to read Atlas Shrugged by my girlfriend and did so and I was amazed (I had read all Terry Goodkind books before this and thought it was cool to find an author with the same sort of values and philosophy- then I learned she was his biggest influence). So after Atlas I picked up Anthem which was very good, quick read. I’m now somewhere in the midst of The Fountainhead. Next up is We The Living and after that I’m not sure.
In February of 1962 I read The Fountainhead about a year after seeing the film on TV. Boy did that grab me! I told a neighbor and she lent me her copy of Atlas. I was hooked.
I found that a couple I babysat for were also Ayn Rand fans and, after their kids were asleep I read their copy of the newly reprinted Anthem and some of the recently-published For the New Intellectual.
To learn more about Objectivism, I subscribed the new Objectivist Newsletter, from the first issue, and signed up for the NBI lectures. About six months later, I read We the Living and, at that point, I had real all of the existing Objectivist literature.
It was a long time between books after that.
An equally interesting poll question would be what book do you go back and re-read most often for clarification on various philosophical points. For me it’s a toss-up between OPAR (especially Chapter 4) and ITOE, with Galt’s speech a distant third – a reflection of the fact that my primary philosophical interest has for years been in epistemology rather than ethics or politics.
I was in a highschool trip when my friend showed me a book he was reading: The Rational Existence, a Hebrew book by Dr. Moshe Kroy (Kroy’s story is an interesting one. You can read about it here).
Though Kroy was definitely no Objectivist, this book is, more or less, an introduction to Objectivism. My friend was reading it as a curiosity - but when I read it I was facinated. I agreed with most of the essentials immediately (objective reality, egoism, Capitalism).
I have never heard of Ayn Rand before. Later, I found out that practically ALL my highschool teachers knew and read Ayn Rand, but never told me about it - even when I argued in class for rational egoism and individualism.
After finishing Kroy’s book I went and searched Ayn Rand on the web. I found the Ayn Rand institute, and there was a list of her books. I went straight to the library and took Anthem, We the Living, and the Fountainhead - and read them in that order.
Then I found that my highschool library had Atlas Shrugged - and I read it also within a very short time.
I then had a big order from Amazon for most of her non-fiction. By the time I was 19 - I think I read 90% of the works she published in her lifetime.
If I had met Ayn Rand a year later than I did - I would have served in the army and my life in the past 6 years would have been completely different.
1st Objectivist book: OPAR
1st Rand book: ITOE
I have the distinct pleasure of being able to say that I’m still reading my first Rand book, Atlas Shrugged. B)
VES
I read Anthem first, when I was probably 13 or 14, and The Fountainhead a little bit after that. I could read them both over and over…
I finally read We the Living last year. It’s a fascinating read, both as a Rand’s first novel and as a striking depiction of that era in Soviet history–it gave me the chills. But, it’s definitely a much less important part of the Objectivist “canon.” I’d recommend to anyone considering it that you read it only after her other fiction and most of the non-fiction, if your goal is to learn about Objectivism. I think if I had read it earlier, I would have been confused by it.
Do you know, I have no idea the first Rand book I read?
It happened thusly: A friend lent me a dumpster copy of Robert Ringer’s *Million Dollar Habits* when I was fourteen (a dumpster copy is a book with its covern torn off and thrown in the dumpster of a bookstore when they are unable to sell it). I read it and was blown away by Ringer’s defense of objective reality, a common sense approach to success. I devoured his other books, and learned about the value of rational selfishness, and laissez-faire capitalism.
And then there was nothing more of his to read. But I did notice that he often quoted an author named Ayn Rand. I went out and bought a copy of *Philosophy: Who Needs It* since it had “philosophy” in the title. I took it home, read two paragraphs, put it down, and there it sat.
As time went on, I kept buying her books and not reading them (which is very common for me, and explains why my room looks more like a library than anything else). In fact, as best I recall, my first real exposure to Objectivism came from reading about it online. I don’t think I really started reading Rand until I was fifteen or so, and I don’t think I read anything from cover to cover until I read OPAR. I’m reminded of a quote that I’m pretty sure didn’t come from Rand: “What a long strange trip it’s been.”
P.S. I still haven’t read *We The Living*. Yes, I know, my loss…but until someone can tell me how to pronounce the Russian last names, I simply cannot make it past page fifteen. Hint hint.
Go get the movie. You’ll learn to pronounce them, though you might do it with an Italian accent. 
I’m watching We the Living now, about 2/3rds through it. I may be clueless, need to read the book, or finish viewing it, but I’m not sure I understand why Kira is attracted to Andrei. He’s a man supporting ideals which are repugnant to her, and about which he has almost no passion. Perhaps the book or the end of the movie will reveal that.
VES
I’m watching We the Living now, about 2/3rds through it. I may be clueless, need to read the book, or finish viewing it, but I’m not sure I understand why Kira is attracted to Andrei.
You missed something important in the plot. I’ll send you a private e-mail.
Thanks Betsy. I’ll be able to get my email in the AM after work.
VES
I read Anthem first, read it in one night because I couldn’t put it down, and started We The Living the very next day. Then The Fountainhead, then Atlas Shrugged, finishing all of the fiction within about a month. Then I started buying and reading the nonfiction, though I don’t remember the order (I think I started with For The New Intellectual, then The Virtue of Selfishness, then perhaps Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, and after that I don’t know.)
I love We The Living. I’ve read it I think four times, and watched the movie as many. Sure, it’s not quite as philosophically enlightening as her later work, but it’s a great novel. I think it’s certainly understandable to a non-Objectivist, and enjoyable for anyone. It’s probably my least favorite of the novels, though. I just love them all so much!
P.S. I still haven’t read *We The Living*. Yes, I know, my loss…but until someone can tell me how to pronounce the Russian last names, I simply cannot make it past page fifteen. Hint hint.
Nevermind. I was going to provide you with a pronunciation guide, but I’d have to be able to do a schwa character (you know, the upside-down ‘e’) here on the message board and I can’t figure out how to do it.
I was 13 when I read my first book by Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, followed quickly by Anthem, Atlas Shrugged and the Virtue of Selfishness. I was stunned, amazed and enthralled by the beauty of both her ideas and her writing. But alas it had to end, I was caught in church (Mormon, and very strict) with the Virtue of Selfishness, and my Rand reading days were over.
Eleven years later I am enjoying Atlas Shrugged again, and remembering why I was so thrilled by her words in the first place.