My Years with Ayn Rand

出版者:Jossey-Bass

作者:Nathaniel Branden

页数:432

出版时间:1999-2-26

价格:USD 36.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780787945138

具体描述

From Library Journal

Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy have been the object of widespread popular interest since the 1950s. After her death in 1982, there was a spate of biographical and critical interest; her popularity continues with a U.S. postage stamp and a television documentary, both scheduled for this spring. These two books offer divergent perspectives on Rand, her followers, and the Objectivist movement. Branden (The Art of Living Consciously, LJ 3/1/97) offers a revised version of his 1989 memoir. A personal account of his intellectual and romantic relationship with Rand and their famous break, it is useful for its insider's view of the Objectivist movement and may appeal to those interested in gossipy details of the protagonists' lives. While objectivity isn't expected in an insider's account, this memoir nonetheless lacks critical distanceAeven after nearly 50 yearsAand is marred by plodding narrative and wooden dialog. Canadian journalist Walker makes a more valuable and original contribution to Rand studies. He analyzes the Objectivist movement, Rand's leadership role, and the politics of her inner circle in terms of the cult dynamic. This analytical perspective avoids the common extremes of hagiography and vilification that mark many accounts of Rand's schismatic movement. Walker also does a credible job of placing Rand's ideas in the context of philosophies that preceded and followed her, and it offers insightful chapters on three of her major followers: Branden, Leonard Peikoff, and Alan Greenspan. His account is well researched and clearly written, though it is sometimes weighed down by an unsynthesized accumulation of detail. A solid contribution to 20th-century intellectual history.AJulia Burch, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Dr. Branden's account of his complex relationship with the literary great . . . allows us a fascinating glimpse into the passions of their lives--intellectual and personal. . . . [It is] not only a memoir of a mythic woman . . . but a chronicle of a stirring intellectual commitment to a political morality that indivudally could only fail." (NAPRA ReView)

"What a story! It's heroic, romantic, deadly, horrifying, tender-and I couldn't put it down." (George Leonard, author of The Transformation and Education and Education and Ecstasy)

"Relentlessly revealing. . . the myth of Ayn Rand gives way to a full-sized portrait in contrasting colors, appealing and appalling, potent and paradoxical. . . . it takes a special kind of nerve to write such a book." (Norman Cousins, author of Head First and The Healing Heart)

"Non-stop theater. All the ingredients are there: conflict, colorful characters, suspense, and a Greek inevitability of tragedy born of hubris. There's a nexus of sex nearly dizzying in its permutations." (Dale Wasserman, playwright and screenwriter, Man of La Mancha and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

"Branden plots his relationship with Rand from a psychological vantage point, with devastatingly articulate results. . . . A fascinating portrait of Rand and her disciples." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Do you know my greatest reward for 'The Fountainhead?' You." (Ayn Rand to Nathaniel Branden)

用户评价

坦白说，这本书的阅读过程并非总是一帆风顺的，它需要你投入相当的注意力去跟上作者飞速运转的思绪和不断闪回的记忆片段。但正是在这种略带挑战性的阅读体验中，我找到了极大的满足感。它不像那些流水账式的自传，而是充满了高度的内省和哲思。作者对人际动态的观察入木三分，那种权力结构如何微妙地渗透进最亲密的关系中，以及当信仰体系发生裂痕时，个人情感会如何剧烈地动荡，都被描绘得淋漓尽致。我特别喜欢书中那些关于艺术与商业边界的探讨，那种在理想主义旗帜下对实用性与美学价值进行权衡的挣扎，非常真实且引人深思。这本书无疑是献给那些不满足于表面现象、渴望挖掘事物深层结构的人们的一份珍贵文本。

如果用一个词来概括这本书给我的感受，那就是“锐利”。作者的文笔干净利落，不拖泥带水，直击核心。书中对某些理念的探讨，那种近乎手术刀般精准的解剖，让人不得不佩服其思想的深度和广度。阅读体验更像是一场智力上的角力，作者不断抛出挑战性的观点，迫使我不断审视自己既有的认知框架。我特别关注到作者对“创造性工作”以及“英雄主义”这些概念的描述，它们被放置在日常生活的琐碎与宏大理想的冲突中进行检验。这种处理方式非常高明，它避免了将人物或理念神化的倾向，而是将它们置于现实的熔炉中进行淬炼。读完之后，我感觉自己的思维方式被轻微地、但却是根本性地调整了一下，某些过去习以为常的假设受到了强烈的冲击，这正是优秀非虚构作品的价值所在。

这本书的气质是独特的，它混合了炽热的信仰与被时间冲刷后的冷静反思。我仿佛置身于一个密闭的，充满了特定语境和热烈辩论的空间里。作者用极富画面感的语言勾勒出了那个特定圈子的独特氛围，那种对卓越的近乎苛刻的要求，以及在追求某种“真理”的过程中，个体所经历的身份认同的重塑与挣扎。让我印象深刻的是，作者并未将历史描绘成一个简单的因果链条，而是充满了偶然性、情感的波动和个人选择的复杂性。这种坦诚，尤其是在回顾那些充满争议性的事件时所展现出的复杂情感，极大地增强了文本的可信度和深度。这本书的价值，在于它提供了一个极其私人化的视角，去理解一个强大思想体系是如何形成、如何运作，以及最终如何影响参与其中的每一个生命轨迹的。

翻开这本书，我立刻被带入了一个充满活力和思想碰撞的年代。作者的叙事方式非常引人入胜，仿佛一位老朋友坐在我对面，娓娓道来那些既令人振奋又时常让人感到困惑的经历。这本书的魅力在于它毫不回避地展现了人与人之间复杂的关系网，那些观点激烈的交锋，以及在追求某种理想主义生活方式时所付出的代价。我尤其欣赏作者在描绘那些关键人物时的细腻笔触，那些人物的言行举止、他们眼神中的光芒与阴影，都刻画得入木三分。你能在字里行间感受到那种真诚的力量，那种不妥协的精神，即便在面对外界的巨大压力和质疑时，依然坚持着自己内心的信念。这不仅仅是一段个人的回忆录，更像是一扇窗，让我得以窥见一个特定文化圈层内部的运作机制和情感纠葛，那种对智慧和独立思考的极致推崇，那种近乎宗教般的信仰体系，都让人深思。

这本书的结构安排堪称一绝，它巧妙地在时间线索的推进中穿插了对当时社会思潮的深刻反思。阅读过程中，我多次停下来，反复琢磨某些段落的措辞，那种精准的用词和排比的句式，构建出一种既富于诗意又逻辑严密的叙事氛围。它没有给我一个简单的、非黑即白的故事，相反，它呈现的是一个充满灰色地带的真实世界。作者对于“忠诚”与“幻灭”的探讨尤为深刻，如何在热烈的追随与最终的清醒之间找到平衡点，这个问题似乎贯穿了整本书的始终。我能感受到字里行间弥漫着一种知识分子特有的焦虑感——渴望建立一个完美的、由理性统治的秩序，却又不得不面对人性的局限和不可预测性。这本回忆录的叙事节奏把握得非常好，高潮迭起，低谷沉思，让读者如同亲身经历了一场漫长而深刻的心灵旅程。