In this beautifully written and brilliantly reasoned book, Ayn Rand throws a new light on the nature of art and its purpose in human life. Once again Miss Rand eloquently demonstrates her refusal to let popular catchwords and conventional ideas stand between her and the truth as she has discovered it. The Romantic Manifesto takes its place beside The Fountainhead as one of the most important achievements of our time.
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''Bernadette Dunne is a good match for Rand's voice, delivering the novelist's passionate convictions with a metered cadence. Dunne's clear conveyance of Rand's essays is important because her ideas are quite controversial. Dunne's voice has an empirical and authoritative tone that demands a full and concise hearing. . . a thought-provoking listen. . .'' --AudioFile
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About the Author
AYN RAND (1905-1982) was born in Russia, graduated from the University of Leningrad, and in 1926 came to the United States where she was naturalized. Her first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved a spectacular and enduring success and her unique philosophy, objectivism, gained a worldwide following.
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Ayn Rand's first novel, We the Living, was published in 1936. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved spectacular and enduring success. Through her novels and nonfiction writings, which express her unique philosophy, Objectivism, Rand maintains a lasting influence on popular thought.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 63 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is a compelling work on the nature and meaning of art. Besides containing Rand's manifesto, it is also a highly entertaining piece of criticism and analysis of art, culture and psychology.
In the introductory chapter: The Psycho-Epistemology Of Art, Rand defines art as a selective recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical value judgements. Art brings one's concepts to the perceptual level of conscience and enables one to grasp them directly as if they were precepts.
Chapter 2, Philosophy And Sense Of Life, deals with the "merciless recorder" that is the integrating mechanism of the subconscious mind. The next chapter, Art And Sense Of Life, opens with a fascinating observation on a hypothetical painting. Here Rand further explains the concept of a sense of life as it manifests in art. She argues that the emotion involved in art is automatically immediate and that it holds a deeply personal value-significance to the person experiencing it.
Art And Cognition is devoted to the question: What are the valid forms of art, and why? Here the author explores literature, painting, sculpture, music and architecture in turn. I find her speculations on music particularly thought-provoking.
Rand refers to Aristotle in discussing the attributes of the novel in Basic Principles Of Literature: theme, plot, characterization and style. Chapter 6 provides a definition of Romanticism, which recognizes volition, as opposed to Naturalism which denies it. She identifies determinism as the basic premise of naturalism in The Aesthetic Vacuum Of Our Age and hails the appearance of the novel in the 19th century as the vehicle of Romanticism.
Other essays include discussions on bootleg romanticism and moral treason in art, whilst the actual manifesto appears in chapter 11: The Goal Of My Writing and chapter 10: Introduction To Ninety-Three. This essay is an abbreviated version of the introduction she wrote for a 1962 edition of the book by Victor Hugo. The Romantic Manifesto concludes with The Simplest Thing In The World, a short story that illustrates the nature of the creative process.
Throughout this fascinating book, Rand provides examples of different manifestations of art plus informed criticism of personalities and a wide variety of works like Anna Karenina, Thomas Aquinas, The Avengers, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Lord Byron, Camille, Günter Grass, Salvador Dali, Don Carlos, Dumas, Flaubert, Ian Fleming, Gone With The Wind, Goya, O Henry, Alfred Hitchcock, Victor Hugo, Boris Karloff, Fritz Lang, Ira Levin, Michelangelo, Edgar Allan Poe, Friedrich Schiller, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Jan Vermeer, HG Wells, Thomas Wolfe and Emile Zola. Both high and popular culture is covered.
One does not need to agree with Rand's analyses and manifesto to find this a most stimulating and highly entertaining read. Many of her insights are valid and quite relevant to the state of culture and civilization today.
In the introductory chapter: The Psycho-Epistemology Of Art, Rand defines art as a selective recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical value judgements. Art brings one's concepts to the perceptual level of conscience and enables one to grasp them directly as if they were precepts.
Chapter 2, Philosophy And Sense Of Life, deals with the "merciless recorder" that is the integrating mechanism of the subconscious mind. The next chapter, Art And Sense Of Life, opens with a fascinating observation on a hypothetical painting. Here Rand further explains the concept of a sense of life as it manifests in art. She argues that the emotion involved in art is automatically immediate and that it holds a deeply personal value-significance to the person experiencing it.
Art And Cognition is devoted to the question: What are the valid forms of art, and why? Here the author explores literature, painting, sculpture, music and architecture in turn. I find her speculations on music particularly thought-provoking.
Rand refers to Aristotle in discussing the attributes of the novel in Basic Principles Of Literature: theme, plot, characterization and style. Chapter 6 provides a definition of Romanticism, which recognizes volition, as opposed to Naturalism which denies it. She identifies determinism as the basic premise of naturalism in The Aesthetic Vacuum Of Our Age and hails the appearance of the novel in the 19th century as the vehicle of Romanticism.
Other essays include discussions on bootleg romanticism and moral treason in art, whilst the actual manifesto appears in chapter 11: The Goal Of My Writing and chapter 10: Introduction To Ninety-Three. This essay is an abbreviated version of the introduction she wrote for a 1962 edition of the book by Victor Hugo. The Romantic Manifesto concludes with The Simplest Thing In The World, a short story that illustrates the nature of the creative process.
Throughout this fascinating book, Rand provides examples of different manifestations of art plus informed criticism of personalities and a wide variety of works like Anna Karenina, Thomas Aquinas, The Avengers, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Lord Byron, Camille, Günter Grass, Salvador Dali, Don Carlos, Dumas, Flaubert, Ian Fleming, Gone With The Wind, Goya, O Henry, Alfred Hitchcock, Victor Hugo, Boris Karloff, Fritz Lang, Ira Levin, Michelangelo, Edgar Allan Poe, Friedrich Schiller, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Jan Vermeer, HG Wells, Thomas Wolfe and Emile Zola. Both high and popular culture is covered.
One does not need to agree with Rand's analyses and manifesto to find this a most stimulating and highly entertaining read. Many of her insights are valid and quite relevant to the state of culture and civilization today.
41 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Don't listen to Greg Nyquist. Ayn Rand is actually quite fair in her valuations of art. She does have strong opinions, but she makes it clear that although she doesn't enjoy certain authors (for various reasons), she is still able to appreciate their literary abilities. I think some people hate Ayn Rand simply because she's straight-forward and honest, both with herself and with others. Ayn Rand is not afraid to speak her mind. If this bothers you, then don't read this book. But if you want one woman's calm, rational, and well thought out opinion on art in its various manifestations, then I guarantee that you will enjoy this book.
37 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Are you an artist? A painter, a sculptor or a writer perhaps... In this, the icing on the cake of all of Rand's works, you will discover EXACTLY what makes something qualify as a work of art or not and why.
Throughout her work, Rand analyzes the different types of art, mainly Romantic art and Naturalistic art. In short, Rand defines Romantic art as a painting, sculpture or writing which portrays LIFE not as life is but as life COULD and SHOULD be. For example: An artist's work displaying a painting of a building as it could and should be is a romantic art work. Rand tells of how Romanticism lived for only a brief period of time in the 19th century and possibly early twentieth century and how today it is nearly non existent. She reccommends reading, as a beautiful example of the romantic form of art, the works of Victor Hugo. Rand tells of how today the predominant form of art is what is called Naturalistic art.
Naturalistic art, says Rand, is work which portrays life as it is, exactly as it is and nothing more. Rand tells of how, in art schools of today students are encouraged to do only naturalistic works. She also mentions several authors of today's era who have come close to creating some ROMANTIC art but have fallen short.
Rand discussed how it is the PHILOSOPHY of today which promotes and encourages naturalism and deters Romanticism. This discussion will perhaps be most appreciated by those readers of Rand who appreciate and admire her works, but wonder as to what, upon careful analysis, would be the cause of the bitter political and sociological debates which rage over her ideas and works. This book is BEST for those who have read and liked her works but it is fine, standing on its own, as an analysis or what makes great art great!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Uplifting and enlightening for lifelong fiction afficionados
From the perpective of one who came of age in the 1990s and 2000s, this work is as relevant in this generation as in its time of publication. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. Edlaine
An essentially Nazi screed
"The Romantic Manifesto" is a bizarre and essentially Nazi screed penned by Ayn Rand, the goddess of Nietzschean-libertarian crackpotdom. To Ms. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ashtar Command
Awesome
Classic Ayn Rand. One of my favorite of her non-fiction works. Read and re-read for years! Everything you ever needed to know about her art and art in general.
Published 6 months ago by Jason Martin
Romanticism
Nothing surprising from Ayn Rand after having read " The Fountainhead" and " Atlas shrugged ". The author is more concise in this book (which is a welcomed breath of fresh air as... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Serge Ledan
great service
The book arrived on time as well it was in the condition it was said to be in. A great deal and great product.
Published 9 months ago by snbrowning
Renaissance
I was but a Sophmore in high school when i delved into Ayn Rand's fiction. This "manifesto" of hers definitely helped me establish a proper view of what art is, and what it should... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jay Mlz
Quite possibly the stupidest book on literature I have ever read
This was the first of Rand's books I ever read. It was also the last.
Rand argues that any art which does not fall into the pre-existing genres which currently exist is... Read more
Rand argues that any art which does not fall into the pre-existing genres which currently exist is... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Daniel Dickson-LaPrade
Ayn Rand is a great writer
This book is wonderful for an artist or an Ayn Rand lover, she is just truly a master of expression.
Published on January 30, 2010 by Kristin Bauer
Very Interesting essay about art and its value on our lives
I bought this book looking for tips and "inspiration" for my own writing, and I got more than that, this book is a clear view about the philosophy or Rand and the purpose of the... Read more
Published on January 18, 2010 by Fredy Flores Gutierrez
The Romantic Manifesto
Everything about the purchase of this book was great and deserves a five star rating. One's personal library concerning philosophy and the importance of understanding art from a... Read more
Published on August 13, 2009 by Eunice Williams
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THE position of art in the scale of human knowledge is, perhaps, the most eloquent symptom of the gulf between man's progress in the physical sciences and his stagnation (or, today, his retrogression) in the humanities. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
normative abstractions, floating abstractions, folks next door, conscious convictions, primary arts, musical perception Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Victor Hugo, James Bond, Howard Roark, New York, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Middle Ages, Buck Rogers, French Revolution, Les Misérables, Sinclair Lewis, Mickey Spillane, Gail Wynand, Guy Francon, World War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE position of art in the scale of human knowledge is, perhaps, the most eloquent symptom of the gulf between man's progress in the physical sciences and his stagnation (or, today, his retrogression) in the humanities. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
normative abstractions, floating abstractions, folks next door, conscious convictions, primary arts, musical perception Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Victor Hugo, James Bond, Howard Roark, New York, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Middle Ages, Buck Rogers, French Revolution, Les Misérables, Sinclair Lewis, Mickey Spillane, Gail Wynand, Guy Francon, World War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 39
books:
See all 39 books this book cites
58
books
cite this book:
See all 58 books citing this book
- Quo Vadis ? (Spanish Edition) by Enrique Sienkiewicz on page 107, and page 115
- Quo Vadis: A Narrative Of The Time Of Nero by Henryk Sienkiewicz on page 107, and page 115
- Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz on page 107, and page 115
- Web & the Rock (Voices of the South) by Thomas Wolfe on page 95
- War and peace : a novel by Count Leo Tolstoy (Modern Library Giants, 1.1) by Leo Tolstoy on page 118
See all 39 books this book cites
- The Early Ayn Rand: Revised Edition: A Selection From Her Unpublished Fiction by Ayn Rand on 7 pages
- The New Ayn Rand Companion, Revised and Expanded Edition by Mimi Reisel Gladstein on 7 pages
- Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist by Tara Smith on 6 pages
- The Early Ayn Rand: A Selection from Her Unpublished Fiction (The Ayn Rand Library, Volume 2) (v. 2) by Ayn Rand on 6 pages
- The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers by Ayn Rand on 5 pages
See all 58 books citing this book
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