THE ROMANTIC MANIFESTO

These are articles from Miss Rand's publication, The Objectivist (cf. earlier political essays from the same provenance - Capitalism: also The Virtue of Selfishness) and once again there are the same deep contralto pronunciamentos. "One does not have to agree with an artist (nor even to enjoy him) in order to evaluate his work. In essence, an objective evaluation requires that one identify the artist's theme." True enough, but this is very difficult to do when, in the early chapters, Miss Rand is writing on the "Psycho-Epistemology of Art" or "Art and Sense of Life" ("A sense of life is a pre-conceptual equivalent of metaphysics, an emotional, subconsciously integrated appraisal of man and of existence."). If she lost you there, you'll find her only too easy to follow when writing about romanticism, romantic art, and the basic principles of literature. Miss Rand dislikes the contemporary "cultural sewer"; also the "unsanitary backyard" of Tolstoy; and firmly admires Victor Hugo, Mickey Spillane and Ian Fleming. She also returns again and again to The Fountainhead of her original beliefs in the "ideal man" reprinting scenes and excerpts thereof, along with the one negligible short story. $$$$ or sense?