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The Romantic Manifesto
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Manufacturer: Signet
Author: Ayn Rand
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Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Signet
Author: Ayn Rand
Publisher: Signet
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The Romantic Manifesto Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 101
EAN: 9780451149169
ISBN: 0451149165
Label: Signet
Manufacturer: Signet
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 200
Publication Date: 1971-10-01
Publisher: Signet
Studio: Signet
Dewey Decimal Number: 101
EAN: 9780451149169
ISBN: 0451149165
Label: Signet
Manufacturer: Signet
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 200
Publication Date: 1971-10-01
Publisher: Signet
Studio: Signet
Editorial Review of The Romantic Manifesto
Customer Reviews of The Romantic Manifesto
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Complicated But Good
Review: I'm aware that Ian is regarded as one of the greatest writers, if not the greatest female writer's ever known, but I found it very difficult to get through her book. However, I did enjoy reading it and I did gain some insight for my efforts. It's been some time since I read her book and I still find myself thinking about many of the things she talked about: That's not true with most books I read. My advice is to have a dictionary by your side while reading Ian's book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Brilliant, but Flawed Work
Review: I found the book a brilliantly conceived, but ultimately flawed exploration of a philosophy of art. While I enjoyed the book, I suspect Ms. Rand was too overclouded by her own philosophical predispositions to realize the limitations of her assertions - and they are assertions, quite bald in their judgments, as many here have said.
A couple will serve:
Given her problem with art that is "foggy" in its conclusions or metaphysical genesis she is wrongfully led, I believe, to conclude that music, for one, cannot convey anything "concrete" from its experience, only an emotional response "by whom in the name of what, it is for each individual listener to supply." This is false. By way of personal example - bear with me - a journal entry from years ago: On first hearing Beethoven's Ninth, I was moved to write a paean to universal humanity - and in that piece, I talked of "starred canopies, such a profusion of white stars piercing the black canvas of impenetrable night...to belong to that canvas, those heavens..." I only later, much later, came to read the text of Schiller's Ode to Joy. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or perhaps Beethoven's genius in eliciting the concrete, the metaphorical rush of images and scenes, which accompanies all great music.
More, music isn't alone here. If music requires an auditor "by whom in the name of what, it is for each individual listener to supply," then so does all else, with the possible exception of the visual, figurative arts. Art is an engagement, not a drug; a line in a book: "...the black paint, dripping down the sodden planks" is an invite, not a prescription. It requires the individual mind reading to create the concrete form of the scene. As such, it is relational, alive. As with music.
Ms. Rand appears to give no credence to experiments in technique that are very much born out of modern life; she either dismisses them as sheer frippery or woeful ineptitude at best, or some "immoral" metaphysic at worst, even if ably applied. For example, she describes the advent of the "narrator" in the stage play as a "breach of dramatic principle...an encroachment by incompetence," and not an innovation worthy of the form. I cannot agree. The advent of meta-technique, such as the Narrator, skillfully employed, can make artifice more real than reality; impulse, inner life, phenomena more keenly observed. And by her own stand, this is the essence of art - to concretize the abstract in order to provide a realized, personal meaning.
Just a couple, and there are many others.
Still, the above said, I think it's an important book, with tremendous value. For anyone who would make art, or enjoy it; or who would gain by one thinker's look at the relation of art to a guiding moral philosophy, this is a worthy work. I'd also recommend, with others, Jacques Barzun's Classic, Romantic and Modern, as well as John Gardner's controversial On Moral Fiction.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Entertaining and thought-provoking
Review: 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.
Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: More words to live by...thank you, Ayn Rand...
Review: The Romantic Manifesto is a collection of essays connecting Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophy to the aesthetic concepts of "romanticism" in visual art, literature, music, etc. For those like me who live by the philosophy presented in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and just can't get enough of Ayn Rand's emphatically reasonable point of view, this book is another shady spot of respite, though not for the idealogically-challeneged. Her non-fiction plays out mostly as pure philosophical reading in a much more wordy, less tangible sphere, and readers may find themselves hunting around the text for key points and word definitions, and re-reading paragraphs over and over again in order to stay on track. While Rand does briefly step back from the "higher-level" discourse, I found myself craving more frequent concrete examples and more frank discussion of the real-life implications of her ideas (although the few demonstrations in the book from her own novels are perfectly presented). However, the message underlying all the metaphysics and psycho-epistemology (my new favorite, and in this book, possibly even Rand's favorite, word), beneath the musings about Pollock as a quack and the inherent doom of popular music, is a truly inspiring look at the reasons why man is uniquely master of his domain, why man's existence is of utmost importance, and why the future of humanity depends on understanding the indisputable difference between right and wrong. As things in the world continue to spin out of control, in this book lives one of Rand's most determined and motivating statements of purpose: "Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today." (Ayn Rand, The Romantic Manifesto)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Invaluable and irreplaceable
Review: When discussing the theory of art in Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, I cited only Ayn Rand's esthetics. An early reader suggested I "balance" the presentation by mentioning other writers on esthetics.
But here's the problem: no one surpasses or even equals Ayn Rand in the field of esthetics. Rand treats art with the same rigor she applies to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics. She begins her discussion by stating what art is and what purpose it serves for human beings. Her definition, "a selective re-creation of reality based on an artist's metaphysical value-judgments," indicates that an artist chooses his subject and style based on what he considers important, and creates something recognizable so that others will see it and grasp his message: "THIS matters - pay attention to THIS."
Rand lays out the fundamentals of the field of esthetics. Using her definition of art plus her theory of knowledge (see Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology: Expanded Second Edition), one can determine what is and is not art: driftwood, paint splattered on a canvas, the Parthenon frieze? One can determine the esthetic requirements for good art: Is a portrait by Rembrandt better than one by Picasso in his Cubist phase? One can even explain why people often react so violently to works of art: "It repulses me but I can't turn away!"
I have read hundreds of books by art critics and historians, many of whom have an encyclopedic grasp of their subject and descriptive abilities that make me wildly jealous. Not one of them offers a proper definition of art. The fifth edition of Janson's widely used Janson's History of Art: Western Tradition (7th Edition), for example, says a work of art is "an esthetic object" and that "esthetic" means "that which concerns the beautiful." The term is, he promptly admits, unsatisfactory, but "will have to do for lack of a better one."
When I'm visiting a gallery or reading a novel, I can and do revel in art without first subjecting it to rigorous esthetic analysis. I've found, though, that I can extend my enjoyment if I THINK about a particular work as well. For purposes of thinking about art and conveying my ideas to others, a proper definition is indispensable. In that respect, I have found Ayn Rand's essays on esthetics in Romantic Manifesto, The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, and Ayn Rand Answers: The Best of Her Q & A(the esthetics section) invaluable and irreplaceable.
Review Summary: Complicated But Good
Review: I'm aware that Ian is regarded as one of the greatest writers, if not the greatest female writer's ever known, but I found it very difficult to get through her book. However, I did enjoy reading it and I did gain some insight for my efforts. It's been some time since I read her book and I still find myself thinking about many of the things she talked about: That's not true with most books I read. My advice is to have a dictionary by your side while reading Ian's book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Brilliant, but Flawed Work
Review: I found the book a brilliantly conceived, but ultimately flawed exploration of a philosophy of art. While I enjoyed the book, I suspect Ms. Rand was too overclouded by her own philosophical predispositions to realize the limitations of her assertions - and they are assertions, quite bald in their judgments, as many here have said.
A couple will serve:
Given her problem with art that is "foggy" in its conclusions or metaphysical genesis she is wrongfully led, I believe, to conclude that music, for one, cannot convey anything "concrete" from its experience, only an emotional response "by whom in the name of what, it is for each individual listener to supply." This is false. By way of personal example - bear with me - a journal entry from years ago: On first hearing Beethoven's Ninth, I was moved to write a paean to universal humanity - and in that piece, I talked of "starred canopies, such a profusion of white stars piercing the black canvas of impenetrable night...to belong to that canvas, those heavens..." I only later, much later, came to read the text of Schiller's Ode to Joy. Coincidence? Perhaps. Or perhaps Beethoven's genius in eliciting the concrete, the metaphorical rush of images and scenes, which accompanies all great music.
More, music isn't alone here. If music requires an auditor "by whom in the name of what, it is for each individual listener to supply," then so does all else, with the possible exception of the visual, figurative arts. Art is an engagement, not a drug; a line in a book: "...the black paint, dripping down the sodden planks" is an invite, not a prescription. It requires the individual mind reading to create the concrete form of the scene. As such, it is relational, alive. As with music.
Ms. Rand appears to give no credence to experiments in technique that are very much born out of modern life; she either dismisses them as sheer frippery or woeful ineptitude at best, or some "immoral" metaphysic at worst, even if ably applied. For example, she describes the advent of the "narrator" in the stage play as a "breach of dramatic principle...an encroachment by incompetence," and not an innovation worthy of the form. I cannot agree. The advent of meta-technique, such as the Narrator, skillfully employed, can make artifice more real than reality; impulse, inner life, phenomena more keenly observed. And by her own stand, this is the essence of art - to concretize the abstract in order to provide a realized, personal meaning.
Just a couple, and there are many others.
Still, the above said, I think it's an important book, with tremendous value. For anyone who would make art, or enjoy it; or who would gain by one thinker's look at the relation of art to a guiding moral philosophy, this is a worthy work. I'd also recommend, with others, Jacques Barzun's Classic, Romantic and Modern, as well as John Gardner's controversial On Moral Fiction.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Entertaining and thought-provoking
Review: 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.
Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: More words to live by...thank you, Ayn Rand...
Review: The Romantic Manifesto is a collection of essays connecting Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophy to the aesthetic concepts of "romanticism" in visual art, literature, music, etc. For those like me who live by the philosophy presented in The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and just can't get enough of Ayn Rand's emphatically reasonable point of view, this book is another shady spot of respite, though not for the idealogically-challeneged. Her non-fiction plays out mostly as pure philosophical reading in a much more wordy, less tangible sphere, and readers may find themselves hunting around the text for key points and word definitions, and re-reading paragraphs over and over again in order to stay on track. While Rand does briefly step back from the "higher-level" discourse, I found myself craving more frequent concrete examples and more frank discussion of the real-life implications of her ideas (although the few demonstrations in the book from her own novels are perfectly presented). However, the message underlying all the metaphysics and psycho-epistemology (my new favorite, and in this book, possibly even Rand's favorite, word), beneath the musings about Pollock as a quack and the inherent doom of popular music, is a truly inspiring look at the reasons why man is uniquely master of his domain, why man's existence is of utmost importance, and why the future of humanity depends on understanding the indisputable difference between right and wrong. As things in the world continue to spin out of control, in this book lives one of Rand's most determined and motivating statements of purpose: "Anyone who fights for the future, lives in it today." (Ayn Rand, The Romantic Manifesto)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Invaluable and irreplaceable
Review: When discussing the theory of art in Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, I cited only Ayn Rand's esthetics. An early reader suggested I "balance" the presentation by mentioning other writers on esthetics.
But here's the problem: no one surpasses or even equals Ayn Rand in the field of esthetics. Rand treats art with the same rigor she applies to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and politics. She begins her discussion by stating what art is and what purpose it serves for human beings. Her definition, "a selective re-creation of reality based on an artist's metaphysical value-judgments," indicates that an artist chooses his subject and style based on what he considers important, and creates something recognizable so that others will see it and grasp his message: "THIS matters - pay attention to THIS."
Rand lays out the fundamentals of the field of esthetics. Using her definition of art plus her theory of knowledge (see Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology: Expanded Second Edition), one can determine what is and is not art: driftwood, paint splattered on a canvas, the Parthenon frieze? One can determine the esthetic requirements for good art: Is a portrait by Rembrandt better than one by Picasso in his Cubist phase? One can even explain why people often react so violently to works of art: "It repulses me but I can't turn away!"
I have read hundreds of books by art critics and historians, many of whom have an encyclopedic grasp of their subject and descriptive abilities that make me wildly jealous. Not one of them offers a proper definition of art. The fifth edition of Janson's widely used Janson's History of Art: Western Tradition (7th Edition), for example, says a work of art is "an esthetic object" and that "esthetic" means "that which concerns the beautiful." The term is, he promptly admits, unsatisfactory, but "will have to do for lack of a better one."
When I'm visiting a gallery or reading a novel, I can and do revel in art without first subjecting it to rigorous esthetic analysis. I've found, though, that I can extend my enjoyment if I THINK about a particular work as well. For purposes of thinking about art and conveying my ideas to others, a proper definition is indispensable. In that respect, I have found Ayn Rand's essays on esthetics in Romantic Manifesto, The Art of Fiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers, and Ayn Rand Answers: The Best of Her Q & A(the esthetics section) invaluable and irreplaceable.