On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:41:23 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:10:44 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:55:47 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:


I knew a Branden in boot camp, but maybe it was Brandon.
We never used first names, so I have no idea on that.
Too busy boating right now to look in the boot camp book.

--Vic


I believe the Branden referred to here was a follower of Ayn Rand,
originator of the most turgid bits of pseudo-philosophy and prose ever
perpetrated on mankind. Or close to it.

I started reading Atlas Shrugged once. Started. Quite a contrast in
the work of a Dostoevsky writing Crime and Punishment, and a Rand
writing her crap, though both were essentially writing about nihilism.

Um..not really.

Nihilism isn't a central feature of either novel.

Depends on your viewpoint/philosophy.
I studied Dostoevsky as a lit student and nihilism *was* a central
feature of C and P. Much analysis of the novel was devoted to
nihilism, its manifestations and its cures.
Maybe the philosophy department thought otherwise.
Another thing taught by the lit department was practical analysis.
There we learned to never say "Um, not really" in matters of
literature and philosophy.
As for Rand, my mention of nihilism is drawn from my own imputations
on reading criticism, not text. As Harry said, some find her
unreadable. That includes me.
I'll brook no further quarrel on this subject, as it has now passed my
weekly allotment of non-boating related subject matter.
Besides, I ain't in school no mo'

--Vic

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:42:13 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:41:23 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:10:44 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:55:47 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:


I knew a Branden in boot camp, but maybe it was Brandon.
We never used first names, so I have no idea on that.
Too busy boating right now to look in the boot camp book.

--Vic


I believe the Branden referred to here was a follower of Ayn Rand,
originator of the most turgid bits of pseudo-philosophy and prose ever
perpetrated on mankind. Or close to it.

I started reading Atlas Shrugged once. Started. Quite a contrast in
the work of a Dostoevsky writing Crime and Punishment, and a Rand
writing her crap, though both were essentially writing about nihilism.

Um..not really.

Nihilism isn't a central feature of either novel.

Depends on your viewpoint/philosophy.
I studied Dostoevsky as a lit student and nihilism *was* a central
feature of C and P. Much analysis of the novel was devoted to
nihilism, its manifestations and its cures.


Maybe the philosophy department thought otherwise.
Another thing taught by the lit department was practical analysis.
There we learned to never say "Um, not really" in matters of
literature and philosophy.
As for Rand, my mention of nihilism is drawn from my own imputations
on reading criticism, not text. As Harry said, some find her
unreadable. That includes me.
I'll brook no further quarrel on this subject, as it has now passed my
weekly allotment of non-boating related subject matter.
Besides, I ain't in school no mo'

10-4

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:42:13 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:41:23 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:10:44 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:55:47 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

Vic Smith wrote:
I knew a Branden in boot camp, but maybe it was Brandon.
We never used first names, so I have no idea on that.
Too busy boating right now to look in the boot camp book.

--Vic

I believe the Branden referred to here was a follower of Ayn Rand,
originator of the most turgid bits of pseudo-philosophy and prose ever
perpetrated on mankind. Or close to it.
I started reading Atlas Shrugged once. Started. Quite a contrast in
the work of a Dostoevsky writing Crime and Punishment, and a Rand
writing her crap, though both were essentially writing about nihilism.
Um..not really.

Nihilism isn't a central feature of either novel.
Depends on your viewpoint/philosophy.
I studied Dostoevsky as a lit student and nihilism *was* a central
feature of C and P. Much analysis of the novel was devoted to
nihilism, its manifestations and its cures.


Maybe the philosophy department thought otherwise.
Another thing taught by the lit department was practical analysis.
There we learned to never say "Um, not really" in matters of
literature and philosophy.
As for Rand, my mention of nihilism is drawn from my own imputations
on reading criticism, not text. As Harry said, some find her
unreadable. That includes me.
I'll brook no further quarrel on this subject, as it has now passed my
weekly allotment of non-boating related subject matter.
Besides, I ain't in school no mo'

10-4


Actually, I didn't find Rand "unreadable." I mean, I read three of her
novels when I was in the 8th grade. But even then I thought her prose
was turgid, and her "philosophy" simple-minded. That was when I was 14
years old or so. Now, I'd consider reading her works only as an
alternative to water-boarding.

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:01:26 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:


Actually, I didn't find Rand "unreadable." I mean, I read three of her
novels when I was in the 8th grade.

Where did you go to Elementary School? Come on - 8th grade?

But even then I thought her prose
was turgid, and her "philosophy" simple-minded. That was when I was 14
years old or so. Now, I'd consider reading her works only as an
alternative to water-boarding.

On that we can agree. :)

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:01:26 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:


Actually, I didn't find Rand "unreadable." I mean, I read three of her
novels when I was in the 8th grade.

Where did you go to Elementary School? Come on - 8th grade?

But even then I thought her prose
was turgid, and her "philosophy" simple-minded. That was when I was 14
years old or so. Now, I'd consider reading her works only as an
alternative to water-boarding.

On that we can agree. :)



Susan S. Sheridan Junior High School, Westville, Connecticut.
Ms. Gough was my 8th Grade English teacher.

In those days, but no longer, many of the New Haven schools were at the
top of the heap, academically. Kids were divided into "General,"
"Academic," and Accelerated Academic" groups, and if you were in the
latter, you had to produce. In Ms. Gough's class, we were required to
write one 25-page book report a month, and it had to be on a "serious"
book. I did three of Rand's novels in a row, and then Ms. Gough
suggested I move on. So I did, to Theodore Dreiser. :}

You'll be pleased to know that in those days, my math skills were
mediocre, but I did very well in English, science, and history.

In the seventh grade, for Science Project, I built a working cloud
chamber. I still remember EXACTLY how I did it, and I can still recall
all the necessary pieces and parts. I don't know if you can still buy a
Model A spark coil, but it was a necessary piece for the cloud chamber.
And you probably can't scrape radium off the face of an alarm clock
anymore, either.

Life was a lot different in those days. After school, we'd hang out at
the Catholic school down the street because the nuns ran a supervised
playground and ran informal hoops tournaments, and after an hour of
that, we'd go to the library and do our homework. I never got home
before 6:30 pm. Nowadays, of course, kids out that late would be
snatched up by perverts.