Greetings, I’m introducing myself in the proper place, I hope…
My fiancee began reading Atlas Shrugged, recommended it to me, after which he couldn’t get his hands on it until recently… And such was my real introduction to Rand. I had heard her name before, primarily used by the sort of feminists one finds on university campuses that have forgotten all about equality and are bent on domination, and like to use quotes out of context… So I was blown away by Atlas Shrugged.
Emily Dickenson said something to the effect of… She knew she was reading good poetry when she felt like the top of her head was lifting off. I have to say, there were times when I had to put Atlas Sh. down because I was worried that my head would leave me permanantly.
I grew up in a looter family… Reading Rand is like reading direct quotes from my childhood. (As the most recent example… My cousin recently removed my grandfather’s computer from my grandfather’s house because my cousin’s girlfriend "needed it more… " This was without my Grumpus’s permission, of course.) I hear people going on about how the conversations in Rand’s fiction writing are so false and contrived, but I swear I have heard my dad recite directly from the looter / rotter / etc. speeches. It is uncanny.
So aside from my spouse-to-be, no one I know has anything good to say about Rand or her philosophy, and I have been a bit lonely. I have gone through some serious life changes since I moved away from home and met my fiancee, and Atlas Shrugged finalized some changes, and crystalized some half-formed thoughts… but I like to talk about things like that with other similarly-minded people. Who are few and far between on my campus. I have been looking for something like these forums for about a month now, and stumbled in here somewhat by accident (thank you Google sidebar ads).
So at any rate, here I am, and I look forward to many good conversations.
