I Want to Know What Books Changed Your Life

@Jm31xxx Yes, I agree her writing style could be better, but no worse than Melville in my view. But other than Nietzsche, I do not know a writer who can article the cause of the right any better.

Well, I'm not on the right and I don't think any right wing writer could convert me. But when I read her stuff I was at least expecting something akin to 1984 in terms of at least making an impression. But I felt like I was reading a car crash in slow motion.

When I first heard of her, I hated her. However after reading her books, enduring her unsophisticated world view (she calls it 'romance') and trawling through hundreds of pages which are essentially a pantomime, I ended up feeling bad for her.

I'm not sure if most people would describe Nietzsche as on the right(could be very wrong about that though).

@Jm31xxx I adore Orwell (and BF Skinner) and in reading his books I learned a great deal about the Left and to appreciate some of its finer points. I lump Rand in with Nietzsche because of her ability to clearly outline the notion of self-reliance.

Okay I get your point. But my understanding of Nietzsche (and I could be way off), is that that there is also a strong vein of disinterest. For him, there is no winning, no populist notions of 'success' and he doesn't seem to celebrate the virtues of capitalism.

I could be way off though. I like Nietzsches writing because it seems so evocative in a poetic sense (at least in the English translations) and a big part of his message might be escaping me.

@Jm31xxx Definitely that is one aspect of his writings for me. And in that aspect he would almost be the opposite of Rand. But his notion of the Overman fits well with Rand's characters. In reading both (and even Dostoevsky notion of superman) I gained insights into the self-will.