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152-439: Goodkind was a proponent of Ayn Rand 's philosophical approach of Objectivism , and made references to Rand's ideas and novels in his works. Goodkind was born in 1948, and his home town was Omaha, Nebraska . Because he had dyslexia , he found little interest in school; therefore, he had no formal education beyond high school. Goodkind's dyslexia initially dissuaded him from any interest in writing. Before starting his career as

304-580: A Radical SR8 SM-500 race car for his own Rahl Racing team. Goodkind died on September 17, 2020, at his home in Boulder City, Nevada . The cause of death was not released. On July 24, 2006, it was announced that the Sword of Truth book series would be adapted as a television mini-series produced by Sam Raimi and Joshua Donen. The series was ultimately dubbed Legend of the Seeker , in order to differentiate it from

456-402: A dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists, and artists respond to a welfare state government by going on strike and retreating to a hidden valley where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt , describes it as stopping "the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of individuals contributing most to

608-402: A "Head of State" instead of a President . The United States appears to be approaching an economic collapse , with widespread shortages, business failures, and decreased productivity. Writer Edward Younkins said, "The story may be simultaneously described as anachronistic and timeless. The pattern of industrial organization appears to be that of the late 1800s—the mood seems to be close to that of

760-460: A "depressing read" due to the series' overarching cynicism, with a weakness being that the heroic characters are only likable in comparison with utterly murderous villains. In June 2008, Goodkind signed a contract to publish three mainstream novels with G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Books . The first of these novels, titled The Law of Nines , was released August 18, 2009. In April 2010, Goodkind signed

912-555: A "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee that the 1944 film Song of Russia grossly misrepresented conditions in the Soviet Union , portraying life there as much better and happier than it was. She also wanted to criticize the lauded 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives for what she interpreted as its negative presentation of the business world but

1064-453: A "romantic suspense novel" that is "at least a borderline case" of science fiction, specifically American libertarian science fiction based on its political themes. The novel's focus on philosophical issues, including ethics and metaphysics , marks it as a philosophical novel . Atlas Shrugged debuted at number 13 on The New York Times Best Seller list three days after its publication. It peaked at number 3 on December 8, 1957, and

1216-752: A 1959 interview with Mike Wallace , when asked where her philosophy came from, she responded: "Out of my own mind, with the sole acknowledgement of a debt to Aristotle, the only philosopher who ever influenced me." In an article for the Claremont Review of Books , political scientist Charles Murray criticized Rand's claim that her only "philosophical debt" was to Aristotle. He asserted her ideas were derivative of previous thinkers such as John Locke and Friedrich Nietzsche . Rand took early inspiration from Nietzsche, and scholars have found indications of this in Rand's private journals. In 1928, she alluded to his idea of

1368-741: A 6-foot (1.8 m) floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign. In her will, Rand named Peikoff as her heir. Rand described her approach to literature as " romantic realism ". She wanted her fiction to present the world "as it could be and should be", rather than as it was. This approach led her to create highly stylized situations and characters. Her fiction typically has protagonists who are heroic individualists, depicted as fit and attractive. Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals. Rand often describes them as unattractive, and some have names that suggest negative traits, such as Wesley Mouch in Atlas Shrugged . Rand considered plot

1520-455: A broad establishing shot description of a scene followed by close-up details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a " male gaze " perspective. The first reviews Rand received were for Night of January 16th . Reviews of the Broadway production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by

1672-410: A coincidence of names and common literary devices. Due to the success of Rand's 1943 novel The Fountainhead , she had no trouble attracting a publisher for Atlas Shrugged . This was a contrast to her previous novels, which she had struggled to place. Even before she began writing it, she had been approached by publishers interested in her next novel. However, her contract for The Fountainhead gave

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1824-551: A comparison with the antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin , saying that a "skillful polemicist" did not need a refined literary style to have a political impact. Journalist and book reviewer John Chamberlain , writing in the New York Herald Tribune , found Atlas Shrugged satisfying on many levels: as science fiction, as a "philosophical detective story", and as a "profound political parable". Atlas Shrugged has attracted an energetic and committed fan base. Each year,

1976-508: A contest to devise the cleverest put-downs"; one called it "execrable claptrap", while another said it showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity". In the Saturday Review , Helen Beal Woodward said that the novel was written with "dazzling virtuosity" but was "shot through with hatred". In The New York Times Book Review , Granville Hicks similarly said the book was "written out of hate". The reviewer for Time magazine asked: "Is it

2128-498: A contract to publish three more novels with Tor Books , the first of which revisited the world and characters of the Sword of Truth series. Tor Books published the first new novel, The Omen Machine , on August 16, 2011. Goodkind self-published the second new novel, The First Confessor: the Legend of Magda Searus , on July 2, 2012; the book was ranked #28 on the Kindle bestseller list by

2280-469: A conversation in which Francisco d'Anconia asks Rearden what advice he would give Atlas if "the greater [the Titan's] effort, the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders". With Rearden unable to answer, d'Anconia gives his own advice: "To shrug". The novel is divided into three parts consisting of ten chapters each. Each part is named in honor of one of Aristotle 's laws of logic : "Non-Contradiction" after

2432-494: A critical element of literature, and her stories typically have what biographer Anne Heller described as "tight, elaborate, fast-paced plotting". Romantic triangles are a common plot element in Rand's fiction; in most of her novels and plays, the main female character is romantically involved with at least two men. In school, Rand read works by Fyodor Dostoevsky , Victor Hugo , Edmond Rostand , and Friedrich Schiller , who became her favorites. She considered them to be among

2584-405: A dictatorship similar to Nazism or Stalinist communism , and said that within the novel "a voice can be heard ... commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go! ' ". There were some positive reviews. Richard McLaughlin, reviewing the novel for The American Mercury , described it as a "long overdue" polemic against the welfare state with an "exciting, suspenseful plot", although unnecessarily long. He drew

2736-587: A few months with her relatives learning English before moving to Hollywood , California. In Hollywood a chance meeting with director Cecil B. DeMille led to work as an extra in his film The King of Kings and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter. While working on The King of Kings , she met the aspiring actor Frank O'Connor ; they married on April 15, 1929. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931. She tried to bring her parents and sisters to

2888-439: A form of agent causation and rejected determinism . Rand also related her aesthetics to metaphysics by defining art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments". According to her, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be grasped easily, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness. As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely

3040-538: A gas chamber—go! ' ". Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the New Intellectual , was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged . Philosopher Sidney Hook likened her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union", and author Gore Vidal called her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality". These reviews set

3192-481: A government agency. Wyatt and other important business leaders quit and disappear, leaving their industries to failure. Dagny and Hank realize that Francisco is hurting his copper company intentionally, although they do not understand why. When the government imposes a directive that forbids employees from leaving their jobs and nationalizes all patents, Dagny violates the law by resigning in protest. To gain Hank's compliance,

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3344-513: A heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute". She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics , epistemology , ethics , aesthetics , and political philosophy . In metaphysics, Rand supported philosophical realism and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion. Rand believed in free will as

3496-454: A mysterious figure called John Galt is persuading other business leaders to abandon their companies and disappear as a strike of productive individuals against the looters. The novel ends with the strikers planning to build a new capitalist society based on Galt's philosophy. Atlas Shrugged received largely negative reviews, but achieved enduring popularity and ongoing sales in the following decades. The novel has been cited as an influence on

3648-461: A novel? Is it a nightmare? Is it Superman – in the comic strip or the Nietzschean version?" Whittaker Chambers wrote what was later called the novel's most "notorious" review for the conservative magazine National Review , where he called it "remarkably silly" and said it "can be called a novel only by devaluing the term". He predicted that practicing Rand's godless ideology would lead to

3800-437: A novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher. Rand biographer Anne Heller traces some ideas that would go into Atlas Shrugged back to a never-written novel that Rand outlined when she was a student at Petrograd State University . The futuristic story featured an American heiress luring the most talented men away from a mostly communist Europe. The heiress would have had an assistant called Eddie Willers ,

3952-551: A number of critical pieces: Russell Kirk called Objectivism an "inverted religion"; Frank Meyer accused Rand of "calculated cruelties" and called her message an "arid subhuman image of man"; and Garry Wills regarded Rand as a "fanatic". In the 21st century, the novel was referred to more positively by some conservatives. In 2005, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan said that Rand was "the reason I got into public service", and he required his staff members to read Atlas Shrugged , although in 2012 he said his supposed devotion to Rand

4104-800: A philosopher or given any serious response. During Rand's lifetime, her work received little attention from academic scholars. In 1967, John Hospers discussed Rand's ethical ideas in the second edition of his textbook, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis . That same year, Hazel Barnes included a chapter critiquing Objectivism in her book An Existentialist Ethics . When the first full-length academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously. A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist . One of these

4256-538: A polemical approach and that her work lacks methodological rigor. Her writings have politically influenced some right-libertarians and conservatives . The Objectivist movement circulates her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings. Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, into a Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg in what was then the Russian Empire . She

4408-459: A response to Atlas Shrugged . The story depicts a society that has collapsed due to Objectivism, and significant characters in the game owe their naming to Rand's work, which the game's creator Ken Levine found "really fascinating". In 2013, it was announced that Galt's Gulch, a settlement for libertarian devotees named for John Galt's safe haven, would be established near Santiago in Chile; however,

4560-454: A screenplay could focus on the love story, Rand agreed and reportedly said, "That's all it ever was." Technological progress and intellectual breakthroughs in scientific theory appear in Atlas Shrugged , leading some observers to classify it in the genre of science fiction. Fictional inventions such as Galt's motor, Rearden Metal, and Project X (a sonic weapon) are important to the plot. Science fiction historian John J. Pierce describes it as

4712-507: A screenplay, intent on filming in June 2010. Stephen Polk was set to direct; however, Polk was fired and principal photography began on June 13, 2010, under the direction of Paul Johansson and produced by Harmon Kaslow and Aglialoro. This resulted in Aglialoro's retention of his rights to the property, which were set to expire on June 15, 2010. Filming was completed on July 20, 2010, and the movie

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4864-442: A time when society has reached the stage of dictatorship." Rand also depicts public choice theory , such that the language of altruism is used to pass legislation nominally in the public interest (the "Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog Rule" and "The Equalization of Opportunity Bill") but more to the short-term benefit of special interests and government agencies. Rand's heroes continually oppose "parasites", "looters", and "moochers" who demand

5016-460: A vacation, Hank and Dagny discover an abandoned factory with an incomplete but revolutionary motor that runs on atmospheric static electricity . They begin searching for the inventor, and Dagny hires scientist Quentin Daniels to reconstruct the motor; however, a series of economically harmful directives are issued by Wesley Mouch , a former Rearden lobbyist who betrayed Hank in return for a job leading

5168-425: A variety of libertarian and conservative thinkers and politicians. After several unsuccessful attempts to adapt the novel for film or television, a film trilogy was released from 2011 to 2014 to negative reviews, and two theatrical adaptations have been staged. Atlas Shrugged is set in a dystopian United States at an unspecified time, in which the country has a "National Legislature" instead of Congress and

5320-574: A week. After the success of her later novels, Rand released a revised version in 1959 that has sold over three million copies. Rand started her next major novel, The Fountainhead , in December 1935, but took a break from it in 1937 to write her novella Anthem . The novella presents a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that the word I has been forgotten and replaced with we . Protagonists Equality 7-2521 and Liberty 5-3000 eventually escape

5472-574: A wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair. Some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers. Some former NBI students believed the extent of these behaviors was exaggerated, and the problem was concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through nonfiction and speeches, including annual lectures at

5624-864: A writer, Goodkind built cabinets and violins, and was a marine and wildlife artist, selling his paintings in galleries. Goodkind's started working on his first book, Wizard's First Rule , in 1993. It was auctioned to a group of three publishers in 1994 and sold for a record price of $ 275,000. He subsequently published 16 other novels and one novella . All of his books, with the exceptions of Stone of Tears and Wizard's First Rule , have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list . His books, Chainfire debuted at #3, in January 2005; Phantom at #1, in August 2006; and Confessor at #2, in November, 2007. Some of Goodkind's political views have provoked controversy, notably

5776-452: Is Rand's longest published book. Random House published the novel on October 10, 1957. The initial print run was 100,000 copies. The first paperback edition was published by New American Library in July 1959, with an initial run of 150,000. A 35th-anniversary edition was published by E. P. Dutton in 1992, with an introduction by Rand's heir, Leonard Peikoff . The novel has been translated into more than 30 languages. The working title of

5928-579: Is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand . It is her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing. She described the theme of Atlas Shrugged as "the role of man's mind in existence" and it includes elements of science fiction , mystery and romance . The book explores a number of philosophical themes from which Rand would subsequently develop Objectivism , including reason , property rights , individualism , libertarianism , and capitalism , and depicts what Rand saw as

6080-893: Is about an idealized industrialist named Henry Galt, who is a transcontinental railway owner trying to improve the world and fighting against government and socialism. Raimondo believed the earlier novel influenced Rand's writing in ways she failed to acknowledge, although there was no "word-for-word plagiarism" and The Driver was published four years before Rand emigrated to the United States. Journalist Jeff Walker echoed Raimondo's comparisons in his book The Ayn Rand Cult and listed The Driver as one of several unacknowledged precursors to Atlas Shrugged . In contrast, Chris Matthew Sciabarra said he "could not find any evidence to link Rand to Garrett", and considered Raimondo's claims to be "unsupported". Liberty magazine editor R. W. Bradford said Raimondo made an unconvincing comparison based on

6232-694: Is also disappointed to discover that the Argentine billionaire Francisco d'Anconia , her childhood friend and first love, is risking his family's copper company by constructing the San Sebastián copper mines , even though Mexico will probably nationalize them. Despite the risk, Jim and Boyle invest heavily in a railway for the region while ignoring the Rio Norte Line in Colorado , where entrepreneur Ellis Wyatt has discovered large oil reserves . Mexico nationalizes

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6384-584: Is disputed. Rand's views also may have been influenced by the promotion of egoism among the Russian nihilists , including Chernyshevsky and Dmitry Pisarev , although there is no direct evidence that she read them. Rand considered Immanuel Kant her philosophical opposite and "the most evil man in mankind's history"; she believed his epistemology undermined reason and his ethics opposed self-interest. Philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon have argued she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences. She

6536-450: Is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or the looters who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce." The novel includes elements of mystery , romance , and science fiction . Rand referred to Atlas Shrugged as a mystery novel, "not about the murder of man's body, but about the murder—and rebirth—of man's spirit". Nonetheless, when asked by film producer Albert S. Ruddy if

6688-432: Is taken from John Galt, the hero of Atlas Shrugged , who argues that "a free mind and a free market are corollaries". In a tribute written on the 20th anniversary of the novel's publication, libertarian philosopher John Hospers praised it as "a supreme achievement, guaranteed of immortality". In 1997, the libertarian Cato Institute held a joint conference with The Atlas Society , an Objectivist organization, to celebrate

6840-597: Is the inspiration for the common saying. When she chases after Daniels in a private plane, she crashes and discovers the secret behind the disappearances of business leaders: Galt is leading a strike of "the men of the mind". She has crashed in their hiding place, an isolated valley known as Galt's Gulch. As she recovers from her injuries, the strikers explain their motives, and she learns that the strikers include Francisco and many prominent people, such as her favorite composer, Richard Halley, and infamous pirate Ragnar Danneskjöld . Dagny falls in love with Galt, who asks her to join

6992-653: The Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises . Despite philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men, and they expressed admiration for her. Mises once called her "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman". Rand became friends with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson . Rand questioned her about American history and politics during their many meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her only non-fiction book, The God of

7144-592: The Ford Hall Forum . In answers to audience questions, she took controversial stances on political and social issues. These included supporting abortion rights, opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning many draft dodgers as "bums"), supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against a coalition of Arab nations as "civilized men fighting savages", claiming European colonists had

7296-520: The Russian Civil War . After graduating high school there in June 1921, she returned with her family to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then named), where they faced desperate conditions, occasionally nearly starving. When Russian universities were opened to women after the revolution, Rand was among the first to enroll at Petrograd State University . At 16, she began her studies in the department of social pedagogy , majoring in history. She

7448-444: The law of noncontradiction ; "Either-Or", which is a reference to the law of excluded middle ; and "A Is A" in reference to the law of identity . Each chapter also has a title; Atlas Shrugged is the only one of Rand's novels to use chapter titles. The story of Atlas Shrugged dramatically expresses Rand's ethical egoism , her advocacy of " rational selfishness ", whereby all of the principal virtues and vices are applications of

7600-497: The " superman " in notes for an unwritten novel whose protagonist was inspired by the murderer William Edward Hickman . There are other indications of Nietzsche's influence in passages from the first edition of We the Living (which Rand later revised), and in her overall writing style. By the time she wrote The Fountainhead , Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas, and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years

7752-439: The "top rank" of Romantic writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots. Hugo was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel Ninety-Three , Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature". Although Rand disliked most Russian literature, her depictions of her heroes show

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7904-402: The ' sin ' of creating value". Accordingly, throughout Atlas Shrugged , numerous characters are frustrated by this sanction, as when Hank Rearden appears duty-bound to support his family, despite their hostility toward him; later, the principle is stated by Dan Conway : "I suppose somebody's got to be sacrificed. If it turned out to be me, I have no right to complain." John Galt further explains

8056-580: The 100 best novels of the 20th century found Atlas rated No. 1, although it was not included on the list chosen by the Modern Library board of authors and scholars. The 2018 PBS Great American Read television series found Atlas Shrugged rated number 20 out of 100 novels, based on a YouGov survey "asking Americans to name their most-loved novel". Rand's impact on contemporary American libertarian thought has been considerable. The title of one libertarian magazine, Reason : Free Minds, Free Markets ,

8208-743: The 1990s. Several academic book series about important authors cover Rand and her works, as do popular study guides like CliffsNotes and SparkNotes . In The Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John David Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation." In 2019, Lisa Duggan described Rand's fiction as popular and influential on many readers, despite being easy to criticize for "her cartoonish characters and melodramatic plots, her rigid moralizing, her middle- to lowbrow aesthetic preferences ... and philosophical strivings". Ayn Rand Institute Other Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as

8360-403: The 40th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged . At this event, Howard Dickman of Reader's Digest stated that the novel had "turned millions of readers on to the ideas of liberty" and said that the book had the important message of the readers' "profound right to be happy". Rand's former business partner and lover Nathaniel Branden expressed differing views of Atlas Shrugged . He

8512-755: The Ayn Rand Institute donates 400,000 copies of works by Rand, including Atlas Shrugged , to high school students. According to a 1991 survey done for the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club , Atlas Shrugged was ranked second among the books that made the most difference in the lives of 17 out of 2,032 Book-of-the-Month club members who responded, between the Bible and M. Scott Peck 's The Road Less Traveled . Modern Library 's 1998 nonscientific online poll of

8664-521: The Broadway production. Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living , was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia , it focuses on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print, although European editions continued to sell. She adapted the story as a stage play , but the Broadway production closed in less than

8816-489: The Living , and reviewers' opinions were mixed. Lorine Pruette 's positive review in The New York Times , which called the author "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", was one that Rand greatly appreciated. There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them for either misunderstanding her message or for being in unimportant publications. Some negative reviews said

8968-536: The Machine . Rand's first major success as a writer came in 1943 with The Fountainhead , a novel about an uncompromising architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" who attempt to live through others, placing others above themselves. Twelve publishers rejected it before Bobbs-Merrill Company accepted it at the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it. While completing

9120-570: The Polish actress Pola Negri ; it became her first published work. She decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand , and she adopted the first name Ayn (pronounced / aɪ n / ). In late 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago. She arrived in New York City on February 19, 1926. Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for

9272-529: The Rio Norte Line, becoming the first major customer for the product. After Hank refuses to sell the metal to the State Science Institute, a government research foundation run by Dr. Robert Stadler , the Institute publishes a report condemning the metal without identifying problems with it. As a result, many significant organizations boycott the line. Although Stadler agrees with Dagny's complaints about

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9424-620: The United States, but they could not obtain permission to emigrate. Rand's first literary success was the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced. Her courtroom drama Night of January 16th , first staged in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on Broadway in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience; based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed. Rand and O'Connor moved to New York City in December 1934 so she could handle revisions for

9576-526: The United States, the novel has been cited as an influence by right-wing politicians such Siv Jensen in Norway, as well as Ayelet Shaked in Israel. References to Atlas Shrugged have appeared in a variety of other popular entertainments. In the first season of the drama series Mad Men , Bert Cooper urges Don Draper to read the book, and Don's sales pitch tactic to a client indicates he has been influenced by

9728-582: The advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy. Commentators, including Hazel Barnes , Nathaniel Branden, and Albert Ellis , have criticized Rand's focus on the importance of reason. Barnes and Ellis said Rand was too dismissive of emotion and failed to recognize its importance in human life. Branden said Rand's emphasis on reason led her to denigrate emotions and create unrealistic expectations of how consistently rational human beings should be. In ethics, Rand argued for rational and ethical egoism (rational self-interest), as

9880-891: The affair hidden from Rand. As her relationship with Nathaniel Branden deteriorated, Rand had her husband be present for difficult conversations between her and Branden. In 1968, Rand learned about Branden's relationship with Scott. Though her romantic involvement with Nathaniel Branden was already over, Rand ended her relationship with both Brandens, and the NBI closed. She published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and "irrational behavior in his private life". In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company. Rand had surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking. In 1976, she retired from her newsletter and, despite her lifelong objections to any government run program,

10032-580: The beginning of her role as a popular philosopher. In 1958, Nathaniel Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy through public lectures. He and Rand co-founded The Objectivist Newsletter (later renamed The Objectivist ) in 1962 to circulate articles about her ideas; she later republished some of these articles in book form. Rand

10184-460: The benefits of the heroes' labor. Edward Younkins describes Atlas Shrugged as "an apocalyptic vision of the last stages of conflict between two classes of humanity—the looters and the non-looters. The looters are proponents of high taxation, big labor, government ownership, government spending, government planning, regulation, and redistribution." "Looters" are Rand's depiction of bureaucrats and government officials, who confiscate others' earnings by

10336-467: The book on their respective radio and television programs. In January 2009, conservative writer Stephen Moore wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal titled " Atlas Shrugged From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years", and two months later Republican Congressman John Campbell said, "People are starting to feel like we're living through the scenario that happened in Atlas Shrugged ." Outside of

10488-679: The collectivistic society and rediscover the word I . It was published in England in 1938, but Rand could not find an American publisher at that time. As with We the Living , Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, and this sold over 3.5 million copies. During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. She and her husband were full-time volunteers for Republican Wendell Willkie 's 1940 presidential campaign. This work put her in contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt , who introduced her to

10640-464: The creative minds of the world went on strike? ... That would make a good novel". After the conversation ended, Rand's husband Frank O'Connor , who had overheard, affirmed to Rand, "That would make a good novel." Rand then began Atlas Shrugged to depict the morality of rational self-interest, by exploring the consequences of a strike by intellectuals refusing to supply their inventions, art, business leadership, scientific research, or new ideas to

10792-583: The dedication to his novel The Pillars of Creation (2001): To the people in the United States Intelligence Community , who, for decades, have valiantly fought to preserve life and liberty, while being ridiculed, condemned, demonized, and shackled by the jackals of evil. Don D'Ammassa described Goodkind as part of a "host of brand new writers [with] no previous experience writing fiction but who could turn out one large epic adventure after another". Robert Eaglestone described his books as

10944-504: The depression-era 1930s. Both the social customs and the level of technology remind one of the 1950s". Many early 20th-century technologies are available, but later technologies such as jet planes and computers are largely absent. There is very little mention of historical people or events, not even major events such as World War II . Aside from the United States, most countries are referred to as "People's States" that are implied to be either socialist or communist . Dagny Taggart ,

11096-425: The development of the atomic bomb , including her interviews of J. Robert Oppenheimer , which influenced the character Robert Stadler and the novel's depiction of the development of "Project X". Rand's descriptions of Galt's Gulch were based on the town of Ouray, Colorado , which Rand and her husband visited in 1951 when they were relocating from Los Angeles to New York. Other details of the novel were affected by

11248-439: The earliest academic critiques of her ideas, said she failed in her attempt to solve the is–ought problem. Critics have called her definitions of egoism and altruism biased and inconsistent with normal usage. Critics from religious traditions oppose her atheism and her rejection of altruism. Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights , including property rights . She considered laissez-faire capitalism

11400-448: The early 1960s he wrote a satirical one-act play titled Mozart Was a Red that spoofed Rand (as the character Carson Sand) and the novel (as Sand's book The Brow of Zeus ). In the years immediately following the novel's publication, many American conservatives , such as William F. Buckley Jr. , strongly disapproved of Rand and her Objectivist message. In addition to the strongly critical review by Whittaker Chambers , Buckley published

11552-409: The efforts of men who are better than you." Murray Rothbard , another Austrian School economist, wrote a letter to Rand in 1958 in which he praised the book as "an infinite treasure house" and "not merely the greatest novel ever written, [but] one of the very greatest books ever written, fiction or nonfiction". Rothbard soon distanced himself from Rand due to various disagreements in philosophy, and in

11704-415: The estimated $ 20 million invested by Aglialoro and others. The poor box office and critical reception made Aglialoro reconsider his plans for the rest of the trilogy, but other investors convinced him to continue. On February 2, 2012, Kaslow and Aglialoro announced they had raised $ 16 million to fund Atlas Shrugged: Part II . Principal photography began on April 2, 2012; the producers hoped to release

11856-516: The experiences and comments of her friends. For example, her portrayal of leftist intellectuals (such as the characters Balph Eubank and Simon Pritchett) was influenced by the college experiences of Nathaniel and Barbara Branden, and Alan Greenspan provided information on the economics of the steel industry. American libertarian writer Justin Raimondo described similarities between Atlas Shrugged and Garet Garrett 's 1922 novel The Driver , which

12008-439: The failures of governmental coercion. Of Rand's works of fiction, it contains her most extensive statement of her philosophical system. The book depicts a dystopian United States in which publicly traded companies suffer under increasingly burdensome laws and regulations. Railroad executive Dagny Taggart and her lover, steel magnate Hank Rearden, struggle against "looters" who want to exploit their productivity. They discover that

12160-436: The fantasy genre allowed him to better tell his stories and better convey the human themes and emotions he desired to share with readers. On real world inspiration behind the characters of Richard and Kahlan, Goodkind had this to say: "There were no such people. I created them both. I wanted them to be the kind of people I look up to." Goodkind was influenced by the work of Ayn Rand and Objectivist philosophy. Writing about

12312-428: The film before the 2012 United States presidential election . Because the cast for the first film had not been contracted for the entire trilogy, different actors were cast for all the roles. Samantha Mathis played Dagny, with Jason Beghe as Hank and Esai Morales as Francisco d'Anconia. The film was released on October 12, 2012, without a special screening for critics. It earned $ 1.7 million on 1012 screens for

12464-548: The film rights to Warner Bros. and returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Producer Hal B. Wallis then hired her as a screenwriter and script-doctor for screenplays including Love Letters and You Came Along . Rand became involved with the anti-Communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and American Writers Association . In 1947, during the Second Red Scare , she testified as

12616-673: The final script. When Fred Silverman became president of NBC in 1979, the project was scrapped. Rand, a former Hollywood screenwriter herself, began writing her own screenplay, but died in 1982 with only one-third of it finished. Her heir, Leonard Peikoff , sold an option to Michael Jaffe and Ed Snider . Peikoff would not approve the script they wrote, and the deal fell through. In 1992, investor John Aglialoro paid Peikoff over $ 1 million for an option with full creative control. Two new scripts – one by screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald and another by Peikoff's wife, Cynthia Peikoff – were deemed inadequate, and Aglialoro refunded early investors in

12768-472: The first option to its publisher, Bobbs-Merrill Company . After reviewing a partial manuscript, they asked her to discuss cuts and other changes. She refused, and Bobbs-Merrill rejected the book. Hiram Hayden, an editor she liked who had left Bobbs-Merrill, asked her to consider his new employer, Random House . In an early discussion about the difficulties of publishing a controversial novel, Random House president Bennett Cerf proposed that Rand should submit

12920-459: The government blackmails him with threats to publicize his affair with Dagny. After a major disaster in one of Taggart Transcontinental's tunnels, Dagny returns to work. On her return, she receives notice that Quentin Daniels is also quitting in protest, and she rushes across the country to convince him to stay. On her way to Daniels, Dagny meets a hobo with a story that reveals the motor was invented and abandoned by an engineer named John Galt, who

13072-423: The guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself". Rand referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title . In it, she presented her solution to the is–ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man", which requires

13224-419: The hard-earned wealth of the productive, and Rand contends that the outcome of any individual's life is purely a function of their ability, and that any individual could overcome adverse circumstances, given ability and intelligence. The concept "sanction of the victim" is defined by Leonard Peikoff as "the willingness of the good to suffer at the hands of the evil , to accept the role of sacrificial victim for

13376-512: The implicit threat of force ("at the point of a gun"). Some officials execute government policy, such as those who confiscate one state's seed grain to feed the starving citizens of another; others exploit those policies, such as the railroad regulator who illegally sells the railroad's supplies for his own profit. Both use force to take property from the people who produced or earned it. "Moochers" are Rand's depiction of those unable to produce value themselves, who demand others' earnings on behalf of

13528-589: The influence of the Russian Symbolists and other nineteenth-century Russian writing, most notably the 1863 novel What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky . Scholars of Russian literature see in Chernyshevsky's character Rakhmetov, an "ascetic revolutionist", the template for Rand's literary heroes and heroines. Rand's experience of the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia influenced

13680-431: The initiation of force should lead to support of anarchism, rather than limited government. Except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals , Rand was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her. Acknowledging Aristotle as her greatest influence, Rand remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand. In

13832-492: The kinds of people we meet in everyday life, uttering everyday dialogue and pursuing everyday values. But she also rejected the notion that characters should be symbolic rather than realistic." Rand herself stated, "My characters are never symbols, they are merely men in sharper focus than the audience can see with unaided sight. ... My characters are persons in whom certain human attributes are focused more sharply and consistently than in average human beings." In addition to

13984-457: The manuscript drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged . In 1954, her close relationship with Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair. They informed both their spouses, who briefly objected, until Rand "sp[u]n out a deductive chain from which you just couldn't escape", in Barbara Branden's words, resulting in her and O'Connor's assent. Historian Jennifer Burns concludes that O'Connor

14136-429: The manuscript to multiple publishers simultaneously and ask how they would respond to its ideas, so she could evaluate who might best promote her work. Rand was impressed by the bold suggestion and by her overall conversations with them. After speaking with a few other publishers from about a dozen who were interested, Rand decided multiple submissions were not needed; she offered the manuscript to Random House. Upon reading

14288-411: The material provided by man's senses". Rand rejected all claims of non-perceptual knowledge, including " 'instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing ' ". In her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology , Rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the analytic–synthetic dichotomy . She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered

14440-545: The mines and railroad line, but the mines are discovered to be worthless. To recoup the railroad's losses, Jim influences the National Alliance of Railroads to prohibit competition in prosperous areas such as Colorado. Wyatt demands that Dagny supply adequate rails to his wells before the ruling takes effect. In Philadelphia , self-made steel magnate Hank Rearden develops Rearden Metal, an alloy lighter and stronger than conventional steel. Dagny opts to use Rearden Metal in

14592-662: The name of Dagny's assistant in Atlas Shrugged . To depict the industrial setting of Atlas Shrugged , Rand conducted research on the American railroad and steel industries. She toured and inspected a number of industrial facilities, such as the Kaiser Steel plant, visited facilities of the New York Central Railroad , and briefly operated a locomotive on the Twentieth Century Limited . Rand also used her previous research for an uncompleted screenplay about

14744-402: The nation's wealth and achievements. The novel contains an exposition of Objectivism in a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt. Despite many negative reviews, Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller, but the reaction of intellectuals to the novel discouraged and depressed Rand. Atlas Shrugged was her last completed work of fiction, marking the end of her career as a novelist and

14896-465: The needy, but resent the talented upon whom they depend, and appeal to "moral right" while enabling the "lawful" seizure by governments. The character Francisco d'Anconia indicates the role of "looters" and "moochers" in relation to money: "So you think that money is the root of all evil? ... Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. ... Money

15048-627: The next morning. Tor Books released the sequel to the Omen Machine , The Third Kingdom , on August 20, 2013, and the third novel, Severed Souls , which continues where The Third Kingdom ended, on August 5, 2014. In 2017, a new novel in Sword of Truth Series was released, titled "Death's Mistress". In 2019, Goodkind's continuation of the Sword of Truth series was announced, titled "The Scribbly Man". Goodkind perceived his novels to be more than just traditional fantasy because of their focus on philosophical and human themes. Goodkind believed that using

15200-473: The novel Atlas Shrugged . Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays. Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism and hedonism . In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and supported laissez-faire capitalism , which she defined as

15352-447: The novel slowed considerably in 1953, when Rand began working on Galt's lengthy radio address. She spent more than two years completing the speech, finishing it on October 13, 1955. The remaining chapters proceeded more quickly, and by November 1956 Rand was ready to submit the almost-completed manuscript to publishers. Atlas Shrugged was Rand's last completed work of fiction. It marked a turning point in her life—the end of her career as

15504-555: The novel that she tentatively titled The Strike . By the summer of 1950, she had written 18 chapters; by September 1951, she had written 21 chapters and was working on the last of the novel's three sections. As Rand completed new chapters, she read them to a circle of young admirers who had begun gathering at her home to discuss philosophy. This group included Nathaniel Branden , his wife Barbara Branden , Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff , and economist Alan Greenspan . Progress on

15656-478: The novel was The Strike , but Rand thought this title would reveal the mystery element of the novel prematurely. She was pleased when her husband suggested Atlas Shrugged , previously the title of a single chapter, for the book. The title is a reference to Atlas , a Titan in Greek mythology, who is described in the novel as "the giant who holds the world on his shoulders". The significance of this reference appears in

15808-458: The novel was too long; others called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian". Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative. Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs", with reviews including comments that it

15960-467: The novel's publication, he said it offered "a cogent analysis of the evils that plague our society, a substantiated rejection of the ideology of our self-styled 'intellectuals' and a pitiless unmasking of the insincerity of the policies adopted by governments and political parties ... You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to

16112-401: The novel's theme and Rand's Objectivism . The authorities capture Galt and unsuccessfully attempt to persuade him to lead the restoration of the country's economy. Jim then decides to torture Galt, but becomes delirious after witnessing how the authorities are too incompetent to even fix the torture device. Dagny rescues Galt, the government collapses, and the novel closes as Galt announces that

16264-489: The novel, Rand was prescribed Benzedrine , an amphetamine , to fight fatigue. The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the novel, but afterwards she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest. Her use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to mood swings and outbursts described by some of her later associates. The success of The Fountainhead brought Rand fame and financial security. In 1943, she sold

16416-608: The novels and allow an episodic format of self-contained stories that moved beyond the first book. Raimi, Robert Tapert , Ken Biller, and Ned Nalle served as executive producers for the series, distributed by ABC Studios . The first episode aired in syndication on November 1, 2008, and the show lasted for two seasons until its cancellation in May 2010. Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum ; February 2 [ O.S. January 20], 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand ( / aɪ n / ),

16568-524: The only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on protecting those rights. Rand opposed collectivism and statism , which she considered to include many specific forms of government, such as communism , fascism , socialism , theocracy , and the welfare state . Her preferred form of government was a constitutional republic that is limited to the protection of individual rights. Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian , Rand preferred

16720-422: The opening weekend, which at that time ranked as the 109th worst opening for a film in wide release . Critical response was highly negative; Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 4% rating based on 23 reviews, with an average score of 3.2 out of 10. The film's final box office total was $ 3.3 million. The third part in the series, Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? , was released on September 12, 2014. Dagny

16872-489: The operating vice-president of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad, keeps the company going amid a sustained economic depression . As economic conditions worsen and government enforces statist controls on successful businesses, people repeat the cryptic phrase "Who is John Galt ?" which means: "Don't ask questions nobody can answer." Her brother Jim , the railroad's president, seems to make irrational decisions, such as buying from Orren Boyle's unreliable Associated Steel. Dagny

17024-563: The pattern for reaction to her ideas among liberal critics. Her subsequent books got progressively less review attention. Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was limited. Mimi Reisel Gladstein could not find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s. Since her death, scholars of English and American literature have continued largely to ignore her work, although attention to her literary work has increased since

17176-451: The plot's more obvious statements about the significance of industrialists to society, and the sharp contrast to Marxism and the labor theory of value , this explicit conflict is used by Rand to draw wider philosophical conclusions, both implicit in the plot and via the characters' own statements. Atlas Shrugged caricatures fascism , socialism , communism , and any state intervention in society as allowing unproductive people to "leech"

17328-534: The plots of Rand's books The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). In 1983, Goodkind moved with his wife to a house he built in Maine. In 1993 they built a house on the forested Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine where he wrote his first book, Wizard's First Rule . Later, they made their home on the coast of Lake Las Vegas , Nevada, their primary residence. Goodkind competed in various forms of amateur and semi-professional auto racing, and drove

17480-413: The portion Rand submitted, Cerf declared it a "great book" and offered Rand a contract. It was the first time Rand had worked with a publisher whose executives seemed enthusiastic about one of her books. When the completed manuscript exceeded 600,000 words, Cerf asked Rand to make cuts, but backed off when she compared the idea to cutting the Bible . With 1168 pages in the first edition, Atlas Shrugged

17632-593: The portrayal of her villains. Beyond We the Living , which is set in Russia, this influence can be seen in the ideas and rhetoric of Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead , and in the destruction of the economy in Atlas Shrugged . Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having

17784-403: The potential psychological impact of the novel, stating that Galt's recommendation to respond to wrongdoing with "contempt and moral condemnation" clashes with the view of psychologists who say this only causes the wrongdoing to repeat itself. The Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises admired the unapologetic elitism he saw in Rand's work. In a letter to Rand written a few months after

17936-475: The principle, such as "Evil is impotent and has no power but that which we let it extort from us" and "I saw that evil was impotent ... and the only weapon of its triumph was the willingness of the good to serve it". Rand's view of the ideal government is expressed by John Galt: "The political system we will build is contained in a single moral premise: no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force", whereas "no rights can exist without

18088-429: The producer. Although Rand believed that We the Living was not widely reviewed, over 200 publications published approximately 125 different reviews. Overall, they were more positive than those she received for her later work. Anthem received little review attention, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues. Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead , received far fewer reviews than We

18240-566: The project collapsed amid accusations of fraud. In the United States, Atlas Shrugged was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1958 but lost to The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever . In 1983, it was one of the first two books given the Prometheus Awards ' Hall of Fame Award for libertarian science fiction , alongside The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein . A film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged

18392-547: The project. In 1999, under Aglialoro's sponsorship, Ruddy negotiated a deal with Turner Network Television (TNT) for a four-hour miniseries; however, the project was killed after TNT merged with AOL Time Warner . After the TNT deal fell through, Howard and Karen Baldwin obtained the rights while running Philip Anschutz 's Crusader Entertainment . The Baldwins left Crusader to form Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2004 and took

18544-623: The publication of The Fountainhead , Rand received many letters from readers, some of whom the book had influenced profoundly. In 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers who met at Rand's apartment on weekends to discuss philosophy. The group included future chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan , a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden ) and his wife Barbara , and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff . Later, Rand began allowing them to read

18696-447: The rest of the world. Rand began the first draft of the novel on September 2, 1946. She initially thought it would be easy to write and completed quickly, but as she considered the complexity of the philosophical issues she wanted to address, she realized it would take longer. After ending a contract to write screenplays for Hal Wallis and finishing her obligations for the film adaptation of The Fountainhead , Rand worked full-time on

18848-450: The right to invade and take land inhabited by American Indians , and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", despite advocating the repeal of all laws concerning it. She endorsed several Republican candidates for president of the United States, most strongly Barry Goldwater in 1964 . In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott , whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept

19000-482: The right to translate one's rights into reality—to think, to work and to keep the results—which means: the right of property". Galt himself lives a life of laissez-faire capitalism. In the world of Atlas Shrugged, society stagnates when independent productive agencies are socially demonized for their accomplishments. This is in agreement with an excerpt from a 1964 interview with Playboy magazine, in which Rand states: "The action in Atlas Shrugged takes place at

19152-501: The rights to Atlas Shrugged with them. Michael Burns of Lions Gate Entertainment approached the Baldwins to fund and distribute Atlas Shrugged . Although it was ultimately never produced, a draft screenplay was written by James V. Hart , and then rewritten by Randall Wallace . Atlas Shrugged was made into a film trilogy, released between 2011 and 2014 to negative reviews. In May 2010, Brian Patrick O'Toole and Aglialoro wrote

19304-442: The role of reason as man's basic tool of survival (or a failure to apply it): rationality, honesty, justice, independence, integrity, productiveness, and pride. Rand's characters often personify her view of the archetypes of various schools of philosophy for living and working in the world. Robert James Bidinotto wrote, "Rand rejected the literary convention that depth and plausibility demand characters who are naturalistic replicas of

19456-640: The series in The Atlas Society newsletter, Willam Perry states that Goodkind's "characters, plots, and themes...are clearly and directly influenced by Rand's work, and the book's heroes occasionally invoke Objectivist principles". Perry notes the Objectivist themes become most obvious in Faith of the Fallen , which made the novel controversial among Goodkind's fan base; moreover, the novel contains several scenes that echo

19608-411: The strike plot. Less positive mentions of the novel occur in episodes of the animated comedies Futurama , where it appears among the library of books flushed down to the sewers to be read only by grotesque mutants, and South Park , where a newly literate character gives up on reading after experiencing Atlas Shrugged . The critically acclaimed 2007 video game BioShock is widely considered to be

19760-412: The strike. Reluctant to abandon her railroad, Dagny leaves Galt's Gulch, but finds the government has devolved into dictatorship. Francisco finishes sabotaging his mines and quits. After he helps stop an armed takeover of Hank's steel mill, Francisco convinces Hank to join the strike. Galt follows Dagny to New York, where he hacks into a national radio broadcast to deliver a three-hour speech that explains

19912-490: The strikers can rejoin the world. Rand's stated goal for writing the novel was "to show how desperately the world needs prime movers and how viciously it treats them" and to portray "what happens to the world without them". The core idea for the book came to her during a 1943 telephone conversation with her friend Isabel Paterson , who asserted that Rand owed it to her readers to write fiction about her philosophy. Rand disagreed and replied, "What if I went on strike? What if all

20064-729: The system based on recognizing individual rights , including private property rights. Although she opposed libertarianism , which she viewed as anarchism , Rand is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States . In art, she promoted romantic realism . She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, with a few exceptions. Rand's books have sold over 37 million copies. Her fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics, with reviews becoming more negative for her later work. Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death, academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected Rand's philosophy, arguing that she has

20216-688: The term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics. Rand rejected anarchism as a naive theory based in subjectivism that would lead to collectivism in practice, and denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism. Several critics, including Nozick, have said her attempt to justify individual rights based on egoism fails. Others, like libertarian philosopher Michael Huemer , have gone further, saying that her support of egoism and her support of individual rights are inconsistent positions. Some critics, like Roy Childs , have said that her opposition to

20368-473: The unscientific tone of the report, he refuses to override it. To protect Taggart Transcontinental from the boycott, Dagny decides to build the Rio Norte Line as an independent company named the John Galt Line. Hank is unhappy with his manipulative wife Lillian, but feels obliged to stay with her. He is attracted to Dagny, and when he joins her for the inauguration of the John Galt Line, they become lovers. On

20520-409: The use of a rational mind. She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness, and held the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in Atlas Shrugged that "Force and mind are opposites". Rand's ethics and politics are the most criticized areas of her philosophy. Several authors, including Robert Nozick and William F. O'Neill in two of

20672-474: Was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who criticized her meta-ethical arguments. In the same journal, other philosophers argued that Nozick misstated Rand's case. In an article responding to Nozick, Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen defended her positions, but described her style as "literary, hyperbolic and emotional". Atlas Shrugged Atlas Shrugged

20824-491: Was "an urban legend". In 2006, Clarence Thomas , an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , cited Atlas Shrugged as among his favorite novels. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008 , conservative commentators suggested the book as a warning against a socialistic reaction to the crisis. Several conservative commentators, such as Neal Boortz , Glenn Beck , and Rush Limbaugh , offered praise of

20976-449: Was "written out of hate" and showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity". Whittaker Chambers wrote what was later called the novel's most "notorious" review for the conservative magazine National Review . He accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets ), claiming, "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged , a voice can be heard ... commanding: 'To

21128-406: Was a Russian-born American author and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism . Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, Rand achieved fame with her 1943 novel The Fountainhead . In 1957, she published her best-selling work,

21280-567: Was also critical of Plato and viewed his differences with Aristotle on questions of metaphysics and epistemology as the primary conflict in the history of philosophy. Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse. She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis. Academic philosophers in turn viewed her negatively and dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered

21432-418: Was enrolled in and subsequently claimed Social Security and Medicare with the aid of a social worker. Her activities in the Objectivist movement declined, especially after her husband died on November 9, 1979. One of her final projects was a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged . On March 6, 1982, Rand died of heart failure at her home in New York City. Her funeral included

21584-446: Was in " development hell " for nearly 40 years. In 1972, Albert S. Ruddy approached Rand to produce a cinematic adaptation. Rand insisted on having final script approval, which Ruddy refused to give her, thus preventing a deal. In 1978, Henry and Michael Jaffe negotiated a deal for an eight-hour Atlas Shrugged television miniseries on NBC . Screenwriter Stirling Silliphant wrote the adaptation and obtained approval from Rand on

21736-413: Was initially quite favorable to it, and even after he and Rand ended their relationship, he still referred to it in an interview as "the greatest novel that has ever been written", although he found "a few things one can quarrel with in the book". In 1984, he argued that Atlas Shrugged "encourages emotional repression and self-disowning" and that Rand's works contained contradictory messages. He criticized

21888-451: Was likely "the hardest hit" emotionally by the affair. Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged is considered Rand's magnum opus . She described the novel's theme as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest". It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves

22040-441: Was literature. In works such as The Romantic Manifesto and The Art of Fiction , she described Romanticism as the approach that most accurately reflects the existence of human free will. In epistemology, Rand considered all knowledge to be based on forming higher levels of understanding from sense perception, the validity of which she considered axiomatic . She described reason as "the faculty that identifies and integrates

22192-427: Was not allowed to do so. When asked after the hearings about her feelings on the investigations' effectiveness, Rand described the process as "futile". After several delays, the film version of The Fountainhead was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end" and complained about its editing, the acting and other elements. Following

22344-471: Was on the list for 22 consecutive weeks. By 1984, its sales had exceeded five million copies. Sales of Atlas Shrugged increased following the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . The novel's sales in 2009 exceeded 500,000 copies, and it sold 445,000 copies in 2011. As of 2022, the novel had sold 10 million copies. Atlas Shrugged was generally disliked by critics. Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "reviewers seemed to vie with each other in

22496-572: Was one of many bourgeois students purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many purged students, including Rand, were reinstated. She graduated from the renamed Leningrad State University in October 1924. She then studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about

22648-483: Was played by Laura Regan , with Rob Morrow as Hank, Kristoffer Polaha as John Galt, and Joaquim de Almeida as Francisco. The movie opened on 242 screens and grossed $ 461,179 on its opening weekend; the final box office total was $ 851,690. It was reviewed unfavorably by critics, holding a 0% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, with an average score of 1.8 out of 10. In 2015, The New York Times reported that Ruddy had come to an agreement with Aglialoro to make

22800-407: Was released on April 15, 2011. Taylor Schilling played Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler played Hank Rearden. The film was met with a generally negative reception from professional critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 12% based on 52 reviews, with an average score of 3.8 out of 10. The film had under $ 5 million in total box office receipts, considerably less than

22952-616: Was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a pharmacist, and Anna Borisovna ( née  Kaplan ). She was 12 when the October Revolution and the rule of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin disrupted her family's lives. Her father's pharmacy was nationalized, and the family fled to Yevpatoria in Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during

23104-473: Was unimpressed by many of the NBI students and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her. Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, later said the NBI culture was one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand. Some described the NBI or the Objectivist movement as a cult or religion. Rand expressed opinions on

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