 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Ayn Rand |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | New American Library |
Publication date | July 7, 2015 |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | 978-0-451-47555-8 |
| OCLC | 915372742 |
Ideal is a posthumously published 2015 novel by Ayn Rand. [1] [2] [3]
The July 7, 2015 first edition of the novel was published featuring the book version along with the 1936 Ayn Rand play Ideal . [4]
Millionaire Granton Sayers is killed on the same evening that he has dinner with famous actress Kay Gonda. Gonda goes on the run, and both the police and journalist Morrison Pickens are searching for her. Pickens visits Gonda's publicist, Mick Watts, who is drunk and rambles about Gonda being on a "great quest". Gonda has taken with her six letters written by fans in the Los Angeles area. She visits each of the letter writers seeking their help to hide, but she is repeatedly disappointed.
The first fan, George Perkins, initially offers to hide Gonda, but changes his mind when his wife objects. The wife of the second fan, Jeremiah Sliney, is more agreeable, and they offer Gonda a room for the night. Afterwards, Gonda hears the couple plotting to turn her in for a reward, so she flees. Dwight Langley, an artist who claims in his letter to have drawn Gonda's face many times, does not recognize her when she comes to him. The next fan she visits, Claude Ignatius Hix, is very religious. He urges Gonda to turn herself in and confess her sins. The fifth fan, Dietrich von Esterhazy, says he would be honored to protect her, but then attempts to rape her.
The final fan Gonda visits, Johnnie Dawes, is the only one who lives up to what he had written to her. As they talk, Gonda repeatedly tries to destroy the admiration Dawes expressed for her in his letter. She tells him that she has slept with "every man in the studio", and suggests that he should try to exploit her for her money and connections. Dawes tells her that she has already given him everything he ever wanted from her. She tells him that she did kill Sayers, although no one else witnessed it. Dawes gives her his bed for the night. The next morning, he tells Gonda he has a plan to save her. He tells her to drive away from the city and come back the next evening. When Gonda returns, she learns that Dawes has committed suicide, leaving a false confession to the murder of Sayers. Sayers's widow reveals that her husband had also committed suicide; Gonda had nothing to do with his death.
Watts, now sober, confronts Gonda, saying she caused Dawes to commit suicide by pretending to have killed Sayers. Gonda responds that her deception "was the kindest thing I have ever done."
Rand wrote Ideal in 1934. She was 29 and had been in the United States for eight years after emigrating from the Soviet Union, where her strong anti-Communist opinions had put her at risk. [5] She was living in Los Angeles, where she had worked in Hollywood as a junior screenwriter for Cecil B. DeMille, and later in RKO Studios' wardrobe department. [6] [7] Ideal is one of several projects from the early days of Rand's writing career that were not published during her lifetime.
Rand rewrote Ideal as a play of the same name in 1936, but she was unable to find a producer for it. [8] The text of the play was first published in 1984 as part of The Early Ayn Rand , an anthology of Rand's previously unpublished fiction, but this volume did not include Ideal in its novel form.
A review in The New York Times by critic Michiko Kakutani drew parallels with Rand's other novels, saying it displayed the negative qualities of her work, including didactic speeches by characters and "contempt for ordinary people". Kakutani says the novel is "a reminder of just how much her didactic, ideological work actually has in common with the message-minded socialist realism produced in the Soviet Union, which [Rand] left in the mid-1920s and vociferously denounced." [9] The Guardian panned the novel as poorly written and lacking dramatic conflict. [10] In Time , Rand biographer Anne Heller said the novel displays self-righteousness and dislike for ordinary people, but not Rand's skill at embedding ideas into interesting plots. [11] Kirkus Reviews said it was only of interest to students of Rand's writing. [12]
Alice O'Connor, better known by her pen name Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.
The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect who battles against conventional standards and refuses to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation. Roark embodies what Rand believed to be the ideal man, and his struggle reflects Rand's belief that individualism is superior to collectivism.
Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Russian–American writer Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in the United Kingdom. The story takes place at an unspecified future date when mankind has entered another Dark Age. Technological advancement is now carefully planned and the concept of individuality has been eliminated. A young man known as Equality 7-2521 rebels by doing secret scientific research. When his activity is discovered, he flees into the wilderness with the girl he loves. Together they plan to establish a new society based on rediscovered individualism.
We the Living is the debut novel of the Russian American novelist Ayn Rand. It is a story of life in post-revolutionary Russia and was Rand's first statement against communism. Rand observes in the foreword that We the Living was the closest she would ever come to writing an autobiography. Rand finished writing the novel in 1934, but it was rejected by several publishers before being released by Macmillan Publishing in 1936. It has since sold more than three million copies.
This is a bibliography for Ayn Rand and Objectivism. Objectivism is a philosophical system initially developed in the 20th century by Rand.
Night of January 16th is a theatrical play by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, inspired by the death of the "Match King", Ivar Kreuger. Set in a courtroom during a murder trial, an unusual feature of the play is that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury. The court hears the case of Karen Andre, a former secretary and lover of businessman Bjorn Faulkner, of whose murder she is accused. The play does not directly portray the events leading to Faulkner's death; instead the jury must rely on character testimony to decide whether Andre is guilty. The play's ending depends on the verdict. Rand's intention was to dramatize a conflict between individualism and conformity, with the jury's verdict revealing which viewpoint they preferred.
Arthur Phillips is an American novelist. His books include Prague (2002), The Egyptologist (2004), Angelica (2007), The Song Is You (2009), The Tragedy of Arthur (2011), and The King at the Edge of the World (2020).
Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for The New York Times from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal is a collection of essays, mostly by the philosopher Ayn Rand, with additional essays by her associates Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen. The authors focus on the moral nature of laissez-faire capitalism and private property. They have a very specific definition of capitalism, a system they regard as broader than simply property rights or free enterprise. It was originally published in 1966.
The Fountainhead is a 1949 American black-and-white drama film produced by Henry Blanke, directed by King Vidor, and starring Gary Cooper, Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey, Robert Douglas and Kent Smith. The film is based on the bestselling 1943 novel of the same name by Ayn Rand, who also wrote the adaptation. Although Rand's screenplay was used with minimal alterations, she later criticized the editing, production design and acting.
For the New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand is a 1961 work by the philosopher Ayn Rand. It is her first long non-fiction book. Much of the material consists of excerpts from Rand's novels, supplemented by a long title essay that focuses on the history of philosophy.
The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers is a book about fiction writing by the philosopher Ayn Rand, published posthumously. Edited by Tore Boeckmann, it was published by Plume in 2000. The book is based on a 1958 series of lectures about fiction writing which Rand gave to a group of student readers and writers in her living room. A companion book is The Art of Nonfiction.
Atlas Shrugged is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. It is her longest novel, the fourth and final one published during her lifetime, and the one she considered her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing. She described the theme of Atlas Shrugged as "the role of man's mind in existence" and it includes elements of science fiction, mystery and romance. The book explores a number of philosophical themes from which Rand would subsequently develop Objectivism, including reason, property rights, individualism, libertarianism and capitalism, and depicts what Rand saw as the failures of governmental coercion. Of Rand's works of fiction, it contains her most extensive statement of her philosophical system.
Red Pawn is a screenplay written by Ayn Rand. It was the first screenplay that Rand sold. Universal Pictures purchased it in 1932. Red Pawn features the theme of the evil of dictatorship, specifically of Soviet Russia.
Journals of Ayn Rand is a book derived from the private journals of the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. Edited by David Harriman with the approval of Rand's estate, it was published in 1997, 15 years after her death. Some reviewers considered it an interesting source of information for readers with an interest in Rand, but several scholars criticized Harriman's editing as being too heavy-handed and insufficiently acknowledged in the published text.
Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right is a 2009 biography of Ayn Rand by historian Jennifer Burns. The author explores Rand's intellectual development and her relationship to the conservative and libertarian movements. The writing of Rand's books and the development of her philosophy of Objectivism are also covered.
The Ayn Rand Cult is a book by journalist Jeff Walker, published by Open Court Publishing Company in 1999. Walker discusses the history of the Objectivist movement started by novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, which he describes as a cult.
Ideal is a play written by Ayn Rand. It follows Kay Gonda, a movie star suspected of murder, as she seeks support from various fans, most of whom disappoint her. Written in the 1930s, it was never produced or published during Rand's lifetime. Since her death it has since been published multiple times and produced twice, in 1989 and 2010.
The Unconquered is a three-act play written by Russian-American author Ayn Rand as an adaptation of her 1936 novel We the Living. The story follows Kira Argounova, a young woman living in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Her lover Leo Kovalensky develops tuberculosis. To get money for his treatment, Kira has an affair with a Communist official, Andrei Taganov. After recovering from his illness, Leo becomes involved with black market food sales that Andrei is investigating. When Andrei realizes that Kira loves Leo, he helps his rival avoid prosecution, then commits suicide. Leo leaves Kira, who decides to risk her life escaping the country.
Jernigan is the 1991 debut novel by David Gates. The book received widespread critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to Richard Yates, Joseph Heller, and Frederick Exley. Jernigan was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.
