Posted on 02/14/2009 11:27:03 AM PST by Publius
I thought the same thing! First Madoff, now this guy. Now all we need is Ragnar to show up...
Well, maybe he is. Just not as we might have expected...
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/532038/-/71y5q6/-/
Miss Rand was an idealist. Her characters represent ideals and their antitheses. Her craft tends more toward the cerebral than the aesthetic. Too bad, really. You probably want to read her fiction for the theme and plot rather than characterization.
Ping to Chapter 5.
Just a couple of thoughts re. previous posts, and a suggestion to Publius:
There have been several posts concerning the lack of children in the story, at least so far. It must be remembered that a novel, even one as long as this one, is only an abstraction. Many things must be left out, or left to the imagination and conjecture of the reader, if they do not have significance to the story the author is telling.
Yet, in a way, children are present, or at least parent/child relationships are alluded to; specifically, Dagney, Frisco, Jim and Eddie appear as children and young adults. Additionally, Dagney’s bewilderment at her mother’s wishes for her, and the expectations of Frisco’s ancestors for him are described in this chapter. Interesting that Dagney’s true parent is not her father or mother but the founder of TT, Nat Taggart.
In the first chapter’s questions and responses, the point was made that the “good guys” named their enterprises after themselves, in Hank’s case going so far as to declaim “Rearden Life”, while the collectivists eschewed personal identification with what they did, preferring anonymous titles for their companies. Rand doesn’t specifically state, but the only one of the companies of the protagonists that appears certainly to be a corporation is Taggart Transcontinental. Is that fact significant? It allows Hank, Wyatt and others to act according to their own decisions, of course, but Dagney gets around her hampering Board by recognizing that though they have the authority to thwart her, their interests are better served by letting her act and not exposing themselves to blame.
Finally, there will be seen one more company named for its founder, and its actions are decidedly not in line with the principles of Dagney and the others. When that company appears, and those who have read ahead will know which one I mean, would you, Publius give thought to asking for enlargement on the effects of its owners’ actions beyond the immediate, and their parallels with current economics.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Kirk
BTW, I look forward to and LIKE the soliloquies, specially Francisco’s disquisition on money.
Excellent idea. Thanks.
I liked the one on money too. And the final one was excellent, and worth the effort to get through.
The money speech in itself is worth the price of the book.
I myself am looking toward the chapter that deals with the antithesis of TT
Hunsacker!
Oh, what a perfect name for a looter!
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