Comments | dumpsterskunk: It's been that long?

dumpsterskunk

It's been that long?

Apr 15, 2011 23:53

A lot has happened since my last post here, some not so great, and I'll probably give the books etc stuff a go-by for now, maybe permanently. Who reads that and who cares? Not that I haven't made some interesting additions to the Library. Ah, well...

So today's Houston Chronic had a movie ad and article about something that came right out of ( Read more... )

Comments 2

tara_li April 16 2011, 14:40:56 UTC

As for the tech of transportation is involved in the novel - one, the novel does focus on a character who's primary involvement is the rail industry, and two - the Interstate Highway system was not authorized in Congress until 1956 - and three - the airline industry had not reached anything like what we have today. A lot of the characteristics are somewhat exaggerated for effect - but there are many who would say that yes, the Fabians as you say did take over - the big dictators are flashes in the pan, for the most part ( ... )

dumpsterskunk April 18 2011, 03:35:15 UTC

Someone's actually reading my stuff here?! I'm shocked! SHOCKED, I tell you.

Good point about the Interstate Highway Act. Ayn Rand actually started writing AS in Jan 1945 (when the war's outcome was by no means so certain as people like to pretend), so it definitely had a long gestation.

The world of AS had its ethnic groups - Chinese, Latinos etc - but none of these seemed to be living in the US for some reason. This seemed to be a common situation in a lot of literature from that time. By contrast, look at the sly game Robert Heinlein played with the ethnic background of the narrator in Starship Troopers, a book that in some ways (the lectures!) resembles AS ( ... )