Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C.Heller. I haven't read Ayn Rand in almost 15 years (because of this). Last time I read anything on her was in Alan Greenspan's biography when it came out few years ago.
This is such a well written book that for the past two weeks I felt like I was living with Ayn, Frank and their whole brigade. Heller is obviously not a Randian but for a polarizing figure like Ayn Rand, its hard to write an unbiased biography. I don't think it was biased but Objectivists might despise this book.
Following quote while writing Galt's speech (from page 268), sums up her dichotomous personality - "If a person tells you that he regards reason and emotions as antagonists, he is telling you that his emotions are irrational and that he wants to get away with something dishonest dishonest."
Therein lies the genius of Rand's intellect. She was an ardent follower of Aristotle but she had the insight to understand (what neuroscience tells us now) that reason and emotions go hand in hand. But yet she ignored emotions as part of her philosophy and protagonists; that's probably her cognitive dissonance at work. Anyone reading Rand for the first time should keep this in mind before getting carried away and becoming a polarized polemic.
"Don't ask me about my family, my childhood, my friends or my feelings. Ask me about the things I think." It's just a empty rhetoric since whatever she become was because of her past. Her ego never let her accept that fact.
No doubt, Ayn Rand is one of the gifted intellectuals ever but in search of her immortality, she failed to live her life and became a terrible human being. If I had a chance I would still love to sit in one of her weekly meetings but I would never trade anything to have her life. In any case, having read Fountain Head as a young man, I still feel indebted to her for making me think.
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