Re: Top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century

Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Mon, 20 Jul 1998 23:47:58 -0700

Cheryl Cline wrote:

> JDHadden@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > I'm tempted to agree with you, as she was often painful (trans. BORING) to
> > read, but she did present some important ideas.  Just (try to) read Atlas
> > Shrugged or The Fountainhead.  It's worth it.
>
> I've only read Fountainhead, but I didn't find it boring at all.  And
> she got her point across pretty damn loud and clear.

I tack up:And Atlas Shrugged is sheer brilliance just to see her take The
Fountainhead and blow it up on a much larger canvas. Howard Roark becoming John
Galt. Dominique and Dagny. I read it in Hawaii the summer after I graduated from
high school. That's how good it is. Still, I've never felt inclined to genuflect
at her, like some do.

Boring? I'd never thought of the concepts of love and work and money and worth
that intensely before. Maybe 25 or 50 pages on each of those teeny tiny concepts
is kind of self indulgent, but, again, the canvas is so large that she's dealing
with. And you must always remember that she was born in the worst years of the
Soviet era, so if you think she's strident, damn straight, that's how she was
able to leave and then overcompensate in the good old U. S. of A.

Malcs  (still enjoying his newly shaved head. It was Jay Buhner Buzzcut Night at
the Dome last Thursday and over 4000 Mariner fans got their heads shaved in
exchange to see Randy Johnson pitch for free. A no-brainer, right? Well, I
needed a haircut anyway. And if I hadn't done it you just know we would have
lost the game. :) )