Night of January 16th [Paperback]

Ayn Rand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1971

On one level, "Night of January 16th" is a totally gripping drama about the rise and destruction of a brilliant and ruthless man. On a deeper level, it is a superb dramatic objectification of Ayn Rand's vision of human strength and weakness. Since its original Broadway success, it has achieved vast worldwide popularity and acclaim. Now at last this important work is available for the first time in a trade paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Plume; First Edition edition (January 1, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452264863
• ISBN-13: 978-0452264861
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting play, though failing in its aim, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Night of January 16th (Paperback)

Ayn Rand's play "Night of January 16th" is a courtroom drama. A young woman, secretary and mistress of a famous, wealthy businessman, is accused of the murder of her employer, whilst trying to make it look like suicide. Although the question wether or not she is guilty is what is to be decided by the trial, the focus of the play is on the souls of the main characters: the businessman, his mistress, his wife, the wife's father and a few others.

The conclusion of the play is the verdict by the jury. The main gimmick of the play is that the members of the jury are drawn from the audience, and so the play can end in either a guilty or a not guilty verdict.

Like all of Ayn Rand's works, the play opposes individualists and originators against second-handers. As the preface states, the idea was that the jury should not decide on the grounds of the evidence, since that could go either way, but wether they would feel more drawn towards the character of the mistress (the individualist) than of the wife (the second-hander), or vice versa.

As it stands, I don't think Rand succeeded. If this would happen in a real court, the story presented in defense of the mistress would be considered preposterous, and she should be either pronounced guilty on the basis of the facts, or not guilty because there is not enough evidence. Wether or not her character appeals to the jury shouldn't matter for the verdict, and I don't think it matters in the play.

The conclusion of one of Ayn Rand's masterpieces, "The Fountainhead", is also a courtroom scene. In this scene, the jury is effectively asked to choose in favor of or against the soul of the protagonist, since the nature of his soul and the way society treats such a soul is his only defense. Something like that is what Ayn Rand probably meant but failed to do with "The Night of January 16th".

However, it is certainly a captivating story with a few surprises, and I would very much like to see it performed. Of Ayn Rand's works it is probably the least interesting.

23 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For completists only, May 23, 2000

By 

Tcaalaw "Tcaalaw" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night of January 16th (Paperback)

I would like to preface this by pointing out that I am a great fan of Ayn Rand's writing and Objectivism. I'm even an ARI member. However, even with that level of fandom, I must admit that I was sorely disappointed with "NoJ16".

If this work had been the first one I came across by Ms. Rand, I am not sure that I would have ever read any of her other books. While it does feature a struggle between individualist and collectivist characters, the struggle is not as well presented as in "Anthem", "The Fountainhead", etc. Furthermore, the story is cluttered with odd bits that detract from the main subject. For example, what relevance did the platinum mesh dress have? I don't see how it showed Bjorn and Karen possessed a superior sense of life.

As a law student, I can testify (pun intended) to the inaccuracies in court procedures, but on the other hand this is intended as a fast-moving play. I don't think it would be fair to hold a 60-minute play whose primary purpose is a philosophical discussion to the same standards as a multi-hundred page novel which is intended to examine the working of a courtroom. And I thought the jury "gimmick", was quite clever; early interactive entertainment.

Overall, I would recommend this play only to people who are already interested in Objectivism and even then only to "completists" such as myself. (I.e. those who are interested in assembling a library of all of Ms. Rand's published works.) This is a non-essential work for anyone else.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Neglected Classic from Ayn Rand, June 1, 2009

By 

M. Richardson (TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night of January 16th (Paperback)

*As Amazon's scoring system won't allow for nuanced ratings, I'm going to bump the official rating up to 4 stars. But I really can only give this 3.5. Bear this in mind.)

This is one of Rand's earlier published works, and it shows. Her characters are bubbling with life and she doesn't feel the need to preach constantly. It is a success in many ways. Rand, firstly, is a good writer: I felt myself glued to the page, finding myself unable to put the book down. That only happens very rarely. I can only imagine how engaging it would be on stage with a competent production and decent actors. Rand, secondly, is a decent dramatist. The second act, in particular, ends with a real bang. Thirdly, Rand largely succeeds in developing engaging and distinct personalities.

Now to the faults! Firstly, the courtroom procedural is all wrong. I tend to get irritated when a writer does not do her research and depicts a courtroom setting like an amateur. Secondly, her 'heroes' seem like extremely unpleasant people. This seems to be during the stage when Rand was more enamored with Nietzsche than Aristotle (or Kant, however much she might want to deny it). As with many of her other characters, the people here are so stuck up that they make life harder for themselves than it really needs to be. Thirdly, the drama can quickly become melodrama. It alternates between being captivating and droll.

Is it Rand's best work? No. It has its faults. But if you're new to Ayn Rand, this is a great introduction (because one usually either loves Ayn Rand or one hates Ayn Rand; there aren't too many people who fall in-between. Why dive into one of her 700-1100 page novels when you don't really know what you're getting into?). And if you're already a Rand fan, I don't need to tell you to read this. Good read. Recommended.