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Favorite author?

Started by SandLizard04, March 30, 2009, 11:09:30 am

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Mike Bonds

Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on March 30, 2009, 11:31:16 am
I have a few:

C.S. Lewis
Ayn Rand (I don't really agree with the whole of objectivist philosophy, but I tend to side with her economic/political viewpoints.)
Dante Aligheri (I don't know of anything else he wrote outside of The Divine Comedy, but I enjoyed that enough to read through it 3 times.)

You may be the only person in the world that likes Lewis and Rand. 

Mike Bonds

My favorite is Philip K. Dick.  Own nearly everything he's ever done.

Chief_Osceola™

Quote from: Mike Bonds on August 10, 2009, 09:21:26 pm
Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on March 30, 2009, 11:31:16 am
I have a few:

C.S. Lewis
Ayn Rand (I don't really agree with the whole of objectivist philosophy, but I tend to side with her economic/political viewpoints.)
Dante Aligheri (I don't know of anything else he wrote outside of The Divine Comedy, but I enjoyed that enough to read through it 3 times.)

You may be the only person in the world that likes Lewis and Rand. 

That is quite a difference isn't it?  I enjoy Rand because I tend to agree with the Objectivist view toward economics.  I enjoy Lewis because of his ability to tell a story with symbolism; i.e. the Narnia series, and the way he can make a person think regarding the spiritual side of things; i.e. Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.

theHammer

Quote from: Mike Bonds on August 10, 2009, 09:21:26 pm
Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on March 30, 2009, 11:31:16 am
I have a few:

C.S. Lewis
Ayn Rand (I don't really agree with the whole of objectivist philosophy, but I tend to side with her economic/political viewpoints.)
Dante Aligheri (I don't know of anything else he wrote outside of The Divine Comedy, but I enjoyed that enough to read through it 3 times.)

You may be the only person in the world that likes Lewis and Rand. 
Make that people. Love 'em both. ;D

Texarkana_Piggie

i read thr3e by ted dekker this summer.  freaky book.  i have a trilogy of his i'm going to start this weekend.

Mike Bonds

Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on August 17, 2009, 03:32:29 pm
Quote from: Mike Bonds on August 10, 2009, 09:21:26 pm
Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on March 30, 2009, 11:31:16 am
I have a few:

C.S. Lewis
Ayn Rand (I don't really agree with the whole of objectivist philosophy, but I tend to side with her economic/political viewpoints.)
Dante Aligheri (I don't know of anything else he wrote outside of The Divine Comedy, but I enjoyed that enough to read through it 3 times.)

You may be the only person in the world that likes Lewis and Rand. 

That is quite a difference isn't it?  I enjoy Rand because I tend to agree with the Objectivist view toward economics.  I enjoy Lewis because of his ability to tell a story with symbolism; i.e. the Narnia series, and the way he can make a person think regarding the spiritual side of things; i.e. Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.

I think Rand is highly overrated.  I've never understood why simple raw selfishness should be considered a "philosophy."  Plus, the reading is so intentionally dense.  Everyone who finishes Atlas Shrugged should get a cash award, IMO.

I've always thought that Objectivism and Christianity were fundamentally irreconcilable. 

Now that my anti-Rand rant is over, I love C.S. Lewis, and especially the two books you've cited there.  Mere Christianity is so well thought out and delivered, and the Screwtape Letters is one of the wittiest books around.

Chief_Osceola™

Quote from: Mike Bonds on August 23, 2009, 08:00:36 am
I think Rand is highly overrated.  I've never understood why simple raw selfishness should be considered a "philosophy."

To read John Galt explain it, it actually makes a bit of sense.  That said, I've always viewed objectivism as pseudo-philosophy.

QuotePlus, the reading is so intentionally dense.  Everyone who finishes Atlas Shrugged should get a cash award, IMO.

That was probably my biggest issue with the book.  What took ~1,100 pages could have probably been done in 700 pages.  I thought there were a good deal of unnecessary descriptions and/or visualizations into people's thoughts and actions.  I can't exactly put my finger on what it is about her work that I enjoy; maybe it's the ultimate triumph of individuality over collectivism.  If the events in Atlas Shrugged were to come to being, I'd side with the strikers.

QuoteI've always thought that Objectivism and Christianity were fundamentally irreconcilable.

I've kind of always thought that as well, as it seems impossible to be a Christian and an objectivist at the same time.  In fact, true objectivism denies the existence of any deity.  Again, I do tend to agree with the objectivist view of economics, and the tenets of personal responsibility, individuality, and achievement.

That said, there is actually a group of 'objectivist Christians'.  I hold that they are neither - if a person is a true objectivist, he/she cannot be a Christian, and vice-versa.

QuoteNow that my anti-Rand rant is over, I love C.S. Lewis, and especially the two books you've cited there.  Mere Christianity is so well thought out and delivered, and the Screwtape Letters is one of the wittiest books around.

Agree completely.

Mike Bonds

Quote from: Chief_Osceola™ on August 24, 2009, 11:29:46 am
Quote from: Mike Bonds on August 23, 2009, 08:00:36 am
I think Rand is highly overrated.  I've never understood why simple raw selfishness should be considered a "philosophy."

To read John Galt explain it, it actually makes a bit of sense.  That said, I've always viewed objectivism as pseudo-philosophy.

QuotePlus, the reading is so intentionally dense.  Everyone who finishes Atlas Shrugged should get a cash award, IMO.

That was probably my biggest issue with the book.  What took ~1,100 pages could have probably been done in 700 pages.  I thought there were a good deal of unnecessary descriptions and/or visualizations into people's thoughts and actions.  I can't exactly put my finger on what it is about her work that I enjoy; maybe it's the ultimate triumph of individuality over collectivism.  If the events in Atlas Shrugged were to come to being, I'd side with the strikers.

QuoteI've always thought that Objectivism and Christianity were fundamentally irreconcilable.

I've kind of always thought that as well, as it seems impossible to be a Christian and an objectivist at the same time.  In fact, true objectivism denies the existence of any deity.  Again, I do tend to agree with the objectivist view of economics, and the tenets of personal responsibility, individuality, and achievement.

That said, there is actually a group of 'objectivist Christians'.  I hold that they are neither - if a person is a true objectivist, he/she cannot be a Christian, and vice-versa.

QuoteNow that my anti-Rand rant is over, I love C.S. Lewis, and especially the two books you've cited there.  Mere Christianity is so well thought out and delivered, and the Screwtape Letters is one of the wittiest books around.

Agree completely.

I agree, pretty much down the line. 

Now that I've poked Ayn Rand in the eye with a stick, if you want a good little read from her without being immersed in the 4-point font of Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, Anthem is a pretty good story.  It's about 150 pages long, and it's a dystopia.

Rand was a Russian emirgre, so it's not too hard to figure out where her dislike of the collective came from.  lol

Have you ever read The Great Divorce by Lewis?  Picked it up in the bookstore the other day, and it looked really interesting.

Wampus_Cat

Quote
Now that I've poked Ayn Rand in the eye with a stick, if you want a good little read from her without being immersed in the 4-point font of Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead, Anthem is a pretty good story.  It's about 150 pages long, and it's a dystopia.
Being an Ayn Rand fan, Anthem is my least favorite book of hers.

If you want a good little read that doesn't have thaaat much philosophy in it, read "We the Living".

The_Pioneer


cuz

Jean Auel, Zane Grey, and Louis L'Amour

Mike Bonds

Quote from: retrorattler on September 18, 2011, 10:07:07 am
T.S. Elliot  and William Faulkner

I really like Faulkner.  I just finished Absalom, Absalom!  His best IMO is Light in August.

CatsRule

Any Wendell Berry fans? I'm currently reading 'Life is a Miracle' and 'Sex, Economy, Freedom, & Community'.  Very lucid stuff.

Rayburn

Lot's of mine have already been mentioned. Dostoyevsky and Lewis being my two favorites mentioned so far. Two that I put on par with those two, one of which won't seem to belong, are G.K. Chesterton and David Foster Wallace.
I mostly read the classics. Modern books usually seem to pale in comparison, feeling empty somehow. But Wallace rises above the crowd and stands with the greats in my mind.

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