[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

"This is John Galt speaking"...or should that be "THIS IS JOHN GALT SPEAKING"?

Pretty much.

The thing is, I thought it was an okay book as a story, but it sometimes felt so crammed with philosophising shoved into any possible nook and cranny that it felt like sitting on an overstuffed chair (I should concede, though, that Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance might feel like this to some people too, though I loved it)

I hear that Rand's The Fountainhead is better though.

I liked Zen, too.

And the overstuffed chair analogy is apt, save that not only was the chair overstuffed, it was lumpy, uncomfortable, and you best not peer too closely at what was used for stuffing.

On another tack, I know some people dislike Moby Dick, and I've heard it expressed that this was possibly because they had to slog through it at school. Down this way, we didn't get a lot of Am.Lit. (mostly Eng.Lit., with increasing amounts of Aus.Lit. gradually being added), so the White Whale wasn't on the syllabus. I read it a couple of years ago, and quite enjoyed it - far more approachable than I expected. It was the kind of book that made me want to attend a study group on it, just for a couple of weeks to extract the a decent amount of filling from its rich, creamy centre.

I haven't attempted Moby Dick in many years, since it was part of the syllabus here. Being force fed something isn't a good way to develop a taste for it.

On the other hand, my last attempt at Crime & Punishment (admittedly over twenty years ago, while in my mid-to-late teens)...well, it wasn't a success. It's a "Worst" that deserves a review on my part though (since I didn't come close to completing it, or even starting it properly). I could say the same about ~gasp~ The Silmarillion.

I happen to love the Silmarillion, but I understand why it isn't to everyone's tastes. People coming to it expecting a continuous narrative with a consistent set of characters will be disappointed.

I tell new readers to imagine they are in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell, listening to the lore masters recount tales of the Elder days, The stories will vary in style and tone, depending upon the tale and the teller.

I was particularly taken with Tolkien's version of the creation myth, with Iluvatar as a composer, propounding theses of music, and the Valar and Maiar as a heavenly orchestra, taking the themes and expressing them, each according to its own nature and ability. The music brings forth a vision os Arda, the world, which so entrances some of the Valar they beg Iluvatar to make it real so they might dwell there. He does, and things begin.
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Dennis