AynRand, 1905-1982: AmericansStillDebateHerBooksandIdeas

Hertwomostfamousbooksare"TheFountainhead" and"AtlasShrugged"

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I'mSteveEmber.

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AndI'mBarbaraKleinwithPeopleinAmericainVOASpecialEnglish. TodaywetellaboutthelifeandwritingsofAynRand.

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AynRand

Althoughshediedmorethantwenty-fiveyearsago, manyAmericansstillargueaboutAynRand. Morethantwentymillioncopiesofherbookshavebeensoldaroundtheworld. Manypeoplesayherbooksarepoorlywritten. Butpeoplestillbuyhundredsofthousandsofcopiesofthemeachyear. Peoplealsocontinuetotalkaboutherideasandherinterestinglife.

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Innineteen-oh-five, AlisaRosenbaumwasbornintheRussiancityofSaintPetersburg. Asayoungchild, Alisalovedbooks. Shebegantowriteherownstorieswhenshewasonlysevenyearsold.

WhentheRussianRevolutionbeganinnineteenseventeen, theRosenbaumfamilyfledtotheRussianstateofCrimea. ThisexperiencewasimportantinAlisa'slife. Itstartedherhatredofcollectivism. Collectivismisthesystemofownershipandcontrolofthemeansofproductionbythepeoplecollectively, usuallyunderthesupervisionofagovernment.

Aftertherevolution, AlisareturnedtoSaintPetersburg, nowcalledPetrograd, toattendcollege. Shetookclassesinpolitics, history, law, andwriting. Innineteentwenty-six, shetraveledtotheUnitedStatestovisitfamilymembers.

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SoonaftershearrivedintheUnitedStates, Alisadecidedshewouldneverleave. Shealsodecidedtochangehernameto"AynRand." Shesaid"Rand" wastakenfromtheRussianalphabetspellingof"Rosenbaum." Shesaidshechose"Ayn" afterthenameofawriterfromFinland.

Newlynamed, RandmovedtoHollywood, Californiatoworkinthemoviebusiness. ShemetandmarriedactorFrankO'Connorinnineteentwenty-nine. Throughoutthenineteenthirties, O'ConnoractedandRandwrote. Shepublishedtwobooksduringtheseyears, butdidnotearnmuchcriticalorpopularrecognition.

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Then, innineteenforty-three, Rand'sfamousbook"TheFountainhead" waspublished. Ittookhersevenyearstowritethenovel. Twelvepublishersrejectedthebook. However, amannamedArchibaldOgdenlovedthestoryandconvincedtheBobbs-Merrillcompanytopublishit. "TheFountainhead" becameahugesuccessaroundtheworld. Ithassoldmorethansixmillioncopies. Itcontinuestosellaboutonehundredthousandcopieseachyear.

"TheFountainhead" tellsthestoryofayoungbuildingdesignernamedHowardRoark. Roarkwantstobuildinteresting, modern-lookingbuildings. However, mostpeopleonlywanttoseetraditionaldesigns. Roarklovesdesigningandbuildingmorethananythingintheworld. Butherefusestocompromiseandmakebuildingshehates. SeveralpeopleworkagainstRoarkandhisgoals. Butintheend, Roarksucceeds.

"TheFountainhead" isanunusualnovelformanyreasons. Itismorethansevenhundredpageslong, farlongerthanmostbookspeoplereadforentertainment. Italsoincludesdiscussionsofphilosophy, whicharenotusuallyfoundinpopularbooks. Inaddition, thebookcriticizescollectivismandreligioninawaythatmanypeoplehavefoundinsulting.

Mostcriticsdidnotlike"TheFountainhead." Butreaderslovedit. Innineteenforty-nineitwasmadeintoapopularmovie. Randwrotethescreenplay. GaryCooperandPatriciaNealstarredinthemovie.

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Afterthemoviewasreleased, AynRandandFrankO'ConnormovedtoNewYorkCity. Theystartedhavingweeklymeetingsforfriendsintheirapartment. Soon, thegatheringsbecamemoreserious. Themembersdiscussedphilosophicalideasandbeganwritingaboutthem. Thegroupdecidedtocallitself"theCollective." Thenamewasmeanttobeajoke, becauseallofthemembershatedcollectivism. AlanGreenspan, whowouldlaterbecomechairmanoftheFederalReserve, waspartofthisgroup.

TheCollectiveworkedtogethertoformthedetailsofRand'sphilosophy, whichtheycalled"Objectivism." Objectivismisabouttheimportanceoftheindividualandreasonablethought. Randbelievedthatpeoplemustchoosetheirvaluesandactionsthroughreason. Shebelievedthattheindividualhasarighttoexistforhisorherownself. TheCollectivealsohelpedRandeditherbook"AtlasShrugged," whichwaspublishedinnineteenfifty-seven.

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"AtlasShrugged" issetinthenearfuture. TheAmericaneconomyandsocietyarestartingtocollapseundertheinfluenceofbiggovernment. TheUnitedStatesisanationoffailingbusinesses, closedfactoriesandangrycitizens.

Asmallgroupofthinkers, artists, scientistsandindustrialleadersdisappearsfromsociety. TheyfleetoahiddenvalleyinColorado. Heretheyestablishanewcommunitybasedoncapitalismwithoutgovernmentcontrol.

TheheroineofthebookisDagnyTaggartwhoownsalargerailroadcompany. Shestrugglestokeepherbusinessaliveandsavethecountrywhilesocietyiscollapsingaroundher. "AtlasShrugged" ismorethanonethousandpages, oneofthelongestnovelseverwritten.

AynRandsaidthat"AtlasShrugged" fullydefinedherphilosophyofObjectivism. Shewroteattheendofthebook: "Myphilosophy... istheconceptofmanasaheroicbeing, withhisownhappinessasthemoralpurposeofhislife, withproductiveachievementashisnoblestactivity, andreasonashisonlyabsolute."

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Randthought"AtlasShrugged" wasthemostimportantbookeverwritten. Thecriticsdidnotagree. Mostgavethebookbadreviews. IntheNationalReview, aconservativepoliticalmagazine, WhittakerChamberswrotealong, angryarticleabout"AtlasShrugged." Hesaiditwasastupidbookwithdangerousideas.

Aswith"TheFountainhead," thepublicdisagreedwiththecritics. "AtlasShrugged" wentontosellmillionsofcopiesaroundtheworld. AynRandandherideasquicklybecamewellknown, especiallyamongstudentsandotheryoungpeople. Later, shewrotebooksabouteconomics, politics, loveandothersubjects.

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OneyoungpersonbecameinterestedinAynRand'sideaslongbefore"AtlasShrugged" waspublished. HisnamewasNathanielBranden. Afterreading"TheFountainhead," hewrotealettertoRand. HewrotethathewantedtodiscusstherelationshipbetweenpsychologyandRand'sideas.

BrandenandhiswifeBarbarasoonbecamefriendswithRandandjoinedtheCollective. RandandBrandenbegantohaveasexualrelationshipeventhoughtheyweremarriedtootherpeople.

TheycalledthemselvestheexpertsonalloftheideasofObjectivism. TheywrotemanypapersandmadespeechesallovertheUnitedStates. However, somepeoplecriticizedtheObjectivistsandtheirfollowers.

TheysaidpeoplehonoredRandandBrandenasiftheywerereligiousleaderswithouteverquestioningtheirbeliefs. Randrejectedthiscriticism. Shewrotethat"ablindfolloweris...whatmyphilosophycondemnsandwhatIreject. Objectivismisnotamysticcult."

Thingschangedinnineteensixty-eightwhenRanddiscoveredBrandenhavingasexualrelationshipwithayoungerstudent. RandbecameveryangryandforcedBrandentoleavetheObjectivistsandneverspeaktoheragain.

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AftertheendofherrelationshipwithBranden, AynRand'slifesloweddown. ShelivedquietlyinNewYorkCityuntilshediedinnineteeneighty-two. Atherfuneral, oneofherfollowersleftagift. Itwasatwo-metertallflowerarrangementintheshapeofadollarsign. ThisgiftwasmeanttorepresentRand'sideasaboutcapitalismasthemostmoraleconomicsystem.

AynRand'sbookscontinuetobeextremelypopular. "AtlasShrugged" hasbeennamedinseveralopinionstudiesasoneofthebestandmostinfluentialbooksofthetwentiethcentury. ReportsfromHollywood, Californiasaythatseveralactors, writersandproducersareworkingonamovieversionof"AtlasShrugged."

However, manypeoplearestillopposedtoAynRand'sbooksandideas. Morethanonehundredyearsafterherbirth, AynRand'sbooks, thoughts, andactionscontinuetobeimportanttomanypeople. Sheisstilloneofthemostloved, andhated, Americanthinkers.

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VOICETWO:

ThisprogramwaswrittenbySarahRandleandproducedbyLawanDavis. I'mBarbaraKlein.

VOICEONE:

AndI'mSteveEmber. Youcanfindthetextofourprogramsanddownloadaudioatvoaspecialenglish.com. JoinusagainnextweekforPEOPLEINAMERICAinVOASpecialEnglish.