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Ayn Rand’s Rebirth: New Bio Shows Why Glenn Beck’s Set Adores Her /  Ayn Rand's Rebirth: New Shows trình bày tại sao Glenn Beck's đặt niềm tin ở cô

When Anne C. Heller set out five years ago to write a biography of Ayn Rand, she was intrigued by the fact that though Rand’s novels like “The Fountainhead” continued to sell well, the libertarian writer was barely spoken about. / Khi Anne C.Heller trình bày về năm 5 trước khi bắt đầu viết hồi ký của Ayn Rand. Cô đã bị hấp dẫn bởi việc tiểu thuyết của Rand như "Suối Nguồn" liên tục được bán chạy, Các nhà văn chủ nghĩa tự do là chỉ nói về. One near-Depression later, however, Rand’s anti-socialist beliefs championing individualism over collectivism are suddenly striking a chord with critics of the government’s recent nationalization of banking and other industries. / Một khủng hoảng trước đây, tuy, niềm tin của Rand không như chủ nghĩa xã hội đấu tranh chống chủ nghĩa cá nhân vượt qua chủ nghĩa tập thể dẫn đến một bất ngờ gây cảm tình với nhiều nhà phê bình của chính quyền trong nước gần đây về nghiệp vụ ngân hàng và công nghiệp.

Heller spent five years working on “Ayn Rand and the World She Made,” and the result is a thoroughly researched, immensely readable portrait of a sui generis thinker who was fiercely committed to her ideals yet whose life contained fascinating contradictions. Speakeasy talked with Heller about Rand’s worldview and the fact that she’s suddenly back in vogue.

The Wall Street Journal: Ayn Rand has been invoked at town hall meetings across the country. Why are Rand’s fiercely libertarian ideas — and novels — back in the news?

Her sales and reputation bubble along under the radar quite consistently. But certain opinion makers like Glenn Beck rediscovered her because there’s a strange parallelism between her visions in “Atlas Shrugged” and the Obama administration — namely, government taking over private industries. In periods of economic downtown “Atlas Shrugged” strikes a chord in people who are afraid of economic collapse.

When was the last time Rand was this much in the popular consciousness?

I’d say in the ‘80s. Reagan and some of the officials in his administration, like Alan Greenspan, were influenced by her. They believed in her idea that people should be able to keep the rewards of what they create. She was popular in the ‘60s. She called Kennedy a fascist. She disappeared a little in the ‘70s. She’s probably having her second coming now.

Did Rand ever have the ear of the political elite?

She was not connected to people in power, and she wasn’t interested. She was always considered fringe. The mainstream conservatives like William F. Buckley did their best to keep her fringe. They disliked her atheism and her style. She was an old-right person. She wasn’t as enthusiastic about fighting communism in the world, as Buckley was.

Can you think of someone who is the modern-day Ayn Rand? What about Rush Limbaugh?

She was darned smart. I don’t get the impression he’s very smart or believes what he’s saying. Whatever else you think about her, Rand did.

The main character of “The Fountainhead,” Howard Roark, is an ego-centric architect who lives purely for his own creative vision. What would a world full of Howard Roarks look like?

Rand was once asked, what about the poor people? She said, “too bad. If other people want to take care of them privately, fine, but don’t ask me to do it.” She was charitable to a very few people who she thought were deserving. On the whole, however, she didn’t feel it was any of her business to aid people who couldn’t or wouldn’t help themselves.

But she financially supported her husband. How do you explain her marriage?

Once on the Mike Wallace show, Rand was asked that and she said she supported him because he was valuable to her. I think she needed someone who was entirely devoted to her. She didn’t need intellectual support. She certainly didn’t need someone who might agree or disagree with her. She needed nurturing. He gave it to her.

How do her novels hold up as literature?

Her books are what I would call melodramas of ideas. I don’t think anyone would consider them great novels. But in spite of her plots being rather implausible and her characters wooden, she does carry reader along on a rollicking mystery tour and delivers her ideas at just the right intervals.