Reading Rand’s essays both made me appreciate her views more and made me cautious to accept her epistemology as a whole. I don’t consider myself an Objectivist, but I still consider her work to be a strong influence on my life.
Likewise. In addition, The Fountainhead was, IMO, better written... and it has the additional perk of being shorter than Atlas Shrugged. If anyone was thinking of sampling Rand, I'd almost always suggest starting with The Fountainhead.
Fair points. After about 75% you can stop reading Atlas Shrugged. I just found the whole idea of the railroad, and the battle between Mooch, Boyle, and Jim Taggart, versus Dagny, Reardon, and Eddy Willard to be fascinating.
Agreed, Fountainhead was the first book I read, thouroughly enjoyed it. Atlas Shrugged, I was looking forward to bury myself in it, but it was hard to finish.
Reading Rand’s essays both made me appreciate her views more and made me cautious to accept her epistemology as a whole. I don’t consider myself an Objectivist, but I still consider her work to be a strong influence on my life.