“I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky”.
Flannery O’Connor on Ayn Rand
August 27, 2011 by Maclin Horton
Posted in Uncategorized | 27 Comments
27 Responses
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Recent Comments
- markymaypo71 on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- Dandylyon on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- Dandylyon on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- cubasari on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- cubasari on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- cubasari on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- JB on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- JB on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- Hyacinth Rodriguez on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
- Jalapeno Beano on The STP Family: Sagittarius, Tranquility (?), and Yes, Persistence
-
Recent Posts
Blogroll
- Alliance Catholic Worker
- American Worker Cooperative
- Antiwar.com
- Art and Adventure
- Benedictine Monks of Norcia
- Better Times Almanac of Useful Information
- Bill Kauffman
- Bob Waldrop
- Bridge Folk
- Catholic and Enjoying It
- Catholic Labor Network
- Catholic Moral Theology
- Catholic Near East Welfare Association
- Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice
- Catholic Social Encyclicals and other documents
- Catholic Worker Journal
- Catholics Against Militarism
- Christian Democracy Magazine
- Coalition for Clarity
- Commons Magazine
- Consistent Life
- Cooperative News
- Cornucopia
- Cosmos the in Lost
- Counter Punch
- De Leporibus et Ranis
- Eastern Christian Books
- Eclectic Orthodoxy
- Economic Policy Institute
- Every Birdsong a Blessing
- Food and Water Watch
- Food Democracy Now
- Friends of Justice
- Grassroots Economic Organizing
- Holy Resurrection Monastery
- Holy Theophany Monastery
- Holy Transfiguration Skete
- Interfaith Worker Justice
- International Organization for a Participatory Society
- It's Our Economy
- Ita Scripta Est
- justpeace
- Khanya
- La Via Campesina
- Labor Notes
- Light on Dark Water
- Little Flower Farm
- Mondragon Cooperative
- National Catholic Rural Life Conference
- National Employment Law Project
- National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- New Economics Institute
- Occupy.com
- ONE
- Open Source Ecology
- Opus Publicum
- Orthodox Arts Journal
- Pax in Terra
- Pithless Thoughts
- Popular Resistance
- Raise the Minimum Wage
- Red Egg Review
- roots
- Seed Savers Exchange
- Solidarity Economy
- Solidarity Hall
- The American Conservative
- The American Empire Project
- The Association for Union Democracy
- The Catholic Labor Network
- The Catholic Peace Fellowship
- The Catholic Worker
- The Chesterton Society
- The E F Schumacher Society
- The Economy Project
- The Holy See
- The Houston Catholic Worker
- The Land Institute
- The Lion and the Cardinal
- The Ochlophobist
- The Onion Dome 2.0
- The Orthodox Peace Fellowship
- The Society of St John Chrysostom
- The Sow's Ear
- The Undead NFP Thread
- The Union Review
- The Vatican Today
- Thomas Storck
- Union and Social Justice
- United Farm Workers
- US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
- Vatican Insider
- Vox Nova
- Working America
- Working Poor Project
Related Links
Archives
- April 2016
- February 2016
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
Pages
Meta
Absolutely hilarious; this quote made my week!! Thanks for sharing it.
ayn rand..BOO!!
Ha!!!! I assume this is from her letters. Do you know who the letter was to?
Wasn’t it one of the editors of National Review that thought the main appeal of Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” was the “fornicating bits”? I think it was Russel Kirk.
“She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky”. Flannery writes that as if it’s a bad thing.
According to the Wikipedia article on Mickey Spillane, Ayn Rand was quite a fan of his……..
I’m glad someone finally mentioned this. With all the talk about Rand’s philosophy not being compatible with the demands of the Gospel, the same thing also needs to be pointed out about her prose.
I love that quote! Do you have an attribution for it? A friend of mine who is an O’Connor scholar wants to know. Thanks!
May 31, 1960 Letter to Maryat Lee, The Habit of Being, p.398.
I love this quote!
Flannery at her best —unapologetically authentic!
[…] Link. […]
What I find shocking is how many people kick and scream that you should not read Rand. No one tells you to throw “Mien Kampf” in the trash immediately or Mao’s Red Book. It’s the one that speaks out against slavery and human sacrifice that you should throw in the trash.
Xgenx
You are wrong. It is by reading and learning about the true nature of Ayn Rand as a person and as a “thinker” that will cure people of their infatuation with her anti-Gospel rants. I would guess that most who hold “going Galt” signs at Teaparty rallies or use her to back up their market opinions have read little or none of her. The problem of reading her actual works is how long, bad and insufferable they are as literature or philosophy.
Many authors are quoted by dilettantes who know only snippets. Adam Smith is one such author. He would be shocked to see the corruptions and excesses of the market that are justified in his name. Many Christian dilettantes of Rand would be shocked to learn the true character of the woman they hold up as a patron saint.
Or at least we hope that would be the case. If knowing Rands true nature most did not reject her, we are in worse trouble than we may think.
Well there we go. That is quite a lot of opinion. Now the question: Have you read her books? Or are you one of the people I was referring to?
I’ve read her books and I agree wholeheartedly with Sean. She was a terrible writer on top of being an enemy of the Church.
I don’t think there are a lot of people reading “Mein Kampf”, and certainly it’s most understood that it is bad philosophy.
People of reasonable judgement in this country do not need to be told that Hitler’s polemic or Mao’s propaganda are not worth the paper they’re printed on. Rand is passed off as the great conservative philosopher (snicker!) thus the treatment her trash receives.
They don’t need to be told that? Then why all the people following the Hitler or Mao creed? Why are the streets full of socialists crying “we’re sliding into fascism!” Have you seen the OWS rallies? You should check out the news sometime.
Why do we have so many young people pointing at China and proclaiming the values of socialism!?!? Even though it was capitalism that drug 600,000,000 Chinese people out of abject poverty in a short 15 years?
I disagree about you claim that people of reasonable judgement don’t need to be told about Mao’s (and the creeping fascism is what they are marching against) creed.
You may be right, but as it turns out, the best antidote against anti-democratic forms of “socialism” is a good dose of democratic socialism or social democracy. Check out Germany, France, and the Nordic countries.
I disagree. True democracy is unlimited majority rule, with the ability to abnegate rights. When you say “best antidote” I think you are overlooking the establishment and defense of rights. Check out this video. It has a lot to do with the recent U.S. holiday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHg86Mys7I
I knew from your first defense of Rand you were a Paulbot. Guess what, according to the Koch Brothers funding the Randian Libertarian movement through the John Birch Society and Cato Institute nut farms, it doesn’t exist. It’s a facade like the Tea party that serves only Corporatists. It is a mirage. Instead of bandying propagandist terms like Mao and Hitler at the drop of a hat, try putting down the FICTION and educate yourself and take the burden off of Ayn doing it for you. We have no laissez-faire free market and never will. “Man is a bad animal.” That one quote from Burroughs shoots down all of her simplistic Objectivist views on capitalism. I’m never really sure how anyone reconciles that turning greed loose and giving the reins to Big Corp. is going to make them freer. You live within a society, as irritating as that fact is to the average Paul disciple, so get used to it. Or if all else fails, start your own Liberia (that would be a hoot) somewhere at let the rest of us get on with things.
“Freedom without socialism is privelege and injustice; socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality.” – Bakunin
http://expandyourmind.tripod.com/whatisdemocraticsocialism.htm
Lots of young people are pointing at China as an example of the values of socialism? I remember that from 4 decades ago. I haven’t seen a red book for years.
Sez the woman with a black condom on her head.
Really? You sure?
I’m not sure if I’ve ever recommended Ayn Rand to anyone, but I did greatly enjoy reading “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” I see them more as a testament to the power of the individual to triumph over tradition and authority more than anything else. I think she was an excellent writer, though I must admit I’ve never read any Dostoevsky.
Hello there, just was alert to your weblog via Google, and located that it’s really informative. I’m gonna be careful for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you happen to proceed this in future. Many folks might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!