--- Monart Pon <monart@...> wrote:
> No clue yet as to the composer for the music or if the Concerto of
> Deliverance will be depicted, but the sriptwriter reportedly said:
>
> "'It's not very good literature...but I have respect for her.'"´

I'm fine with that opinion, though I'd like to know what he thinks
_Atlas lacks as literature. _Atlas_ does have arguable weaknesses as a
novel that are perhaps the inevitable result of constructing the plot
to handle so much philosophical exploration. _Atlas_ is not a novel of
deep psychological exploration that attempts to portray fully living,
breathing, complex, "believable" characters. Several minor characters
simply seem to be mere placeholders for certain concepts.

Yes, I know, _Atlas_ is romantic realist fiction. The characters
aren't supposed to be "believable". They are supposed to be
larger-than-life dramatic characters illustrating heroic themes, thus
showing us people as they can be and should be, but usually aren't.
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that Ayn Rand can be let off the hook
so easily.

Even heroic characters can be examined psychologically in a way that
makes them come alive in a convincing way for the reader. To some
extent Ayn Rand achieves this, and to some extent she doesn't. Or, at
least, that is my personal experience.

So, if Perelman is objecting to characters that lack psychological
complexity (which is what I suspect), we may have to acknowledge that
he is correct. The most important thing I see in that quote is that he
respects Ayn Rand. That's what is important here.


eudaimonia,

Mark




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