Literature World collides with Business World

It is interesting to find famous authors names in the business news. Today I came across an article titled F. Scott Fitzgerald Did His Own Taxes (Until He Arrived in Hollywood) posted on WebCPA (find it here). William J. Quirk reviewed Fitzgerald's tax returns (you can only do that if the author is dead...I think) and found

Fitzgerald’s ledger for 1929 recorded royalties of $5.10 from the American edition of Gatsby and $0.34 from the English edition, Quirk noted.

Fitzgerald kept the ledger and did his own taxes by hand until 1937, when he went off to Hollywood in search of further fame and fortune. Once he arrived in Tinseltown, Fitzgerald used accountants to prepare and type his returns.

This was interesting because I loved The Great Gatsby and dying to read/listen to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons." Quirk states that Fitzgerald's returns reveal a lot about his life. Interesting...The original article is here titled "Living on $500,000 a Year" in The American Scholar.

Second article sent to me was regarding Ayn Rand. I have listened to two of her books, We the Living and The Fountainhead. The article is titled "Greenspan Backs Key Obama Wall Street Reform Effort" at Huffington Post (read here). The article starts stating

A keystone of Obama's Wall Street reform agenda is getting support from the unlikeliest of corners. Alan Greenspan, an acolyte of Ayn Rand and extreme free-marketeer, is backing one of the most far-reaching elements of the financial overhaul: the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

In the article, Alan Greenspan admits that he was shocked to learn that this ideology was not right and was not working. The article further states, "He [Alan Greenspan] has already said that he erred in assuming that the market would take care of things--the Ayn Rand point of view--but this seems to go farther than he's gone before in calling for a new agency to protect consumers from financial products" to hammer the point that Alan Greenspan has now become a "former" Ayn Rand acolyte. I enjoyed reading Ayn Rand, but for me her novels were more like novels than an economic way of life. I understand her ideology, but I don't agree with it one hundred percent. Reading this article gave me a new insight. I remember, in college Alan Greenspan was worshipped in the economic world. At that time, I didn't take initiative to learn enough about Greenspan to know his ideology. I wonder what Ayn Rand followers have to say about this.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

This morning at 8:00 I finished the novel, The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. It does not have a tragic ending like We the Living. Little bit about the book before I start my views.

There are five main characters in the book:

• Howard Roark: He is the protagonist of the novel. He represents the views of Ayn Rand. He is an architect who works on his own terms. He is a modernist. Due to this, he struggles to establish himself.

• Ellsworth Toohey: He is the antagonist. He is a collectivist and preaches altruism. He represents everything that Howard Roark despises and vice versa.

• Dominique Francon: She is the daughter of Guy Francon, the owner of one of the biggest architect firms in New York. She is in love with Howard Roark.

• Peter Keating: He is everything that Howard is not. He pursues the career because his mother tells him so. His success is temporary since he does what pleases others.
• Gail Wynand: He is a big newspaper tycoon. Roark and he become very good friends, but Wynand's need of others ends the relationship.

There is so much in the novel that I am not going to summarize the story. I enjoyed listening to novel. Ayn Rand's theory "Objectivism" can be seen throughout the novel, and through Howard Roark. In the end, Roark's speech explains Ayn Rand's theory. As I listened to it, I realized I was nodding my head and was agreeing with every single word. The theory is 100% true when it comes to creation and destruction; however, there is more to the world than that. Even though I agreed with the novel, I don't think I completely agree with what she preaches. I feel that we need others for support and survival and we must depend on others. One must be selfish but to an extent where others are not hurt. When a person crosses that line, then relationships end and suffering begins. I said enough about my views in the review of We the Living so I am not going to repeat that again.

Overall, this book was great. I am still debating if this book is going to be one of my favorite books or not. I think I will give it another read and then decide. I will give this book 9.5 out of 10.

I think I am going to take a break from listening to the books until next week. As I say this, I have three audio books in my car. But it has been a while since I listened to some good music during my commute and I think I will do do that Thursday and Friday. Monday I am off..yay!!! Tuesday I will pick up another book. Good bye for now...

We The Living - Ayn Rand

I picked up this novel based on a recommendation. I must admit that I had heard of Ayn Rand but never expected to pick up one of her novel. Well I finished this about 2 weeks ago, and here is my review of the novel.

When listening to the Introduction, I realized the Ayn Rand actually has humor. I don't know why but I always considered her a very serious personality, and thought that that would be reflected in her works, and make them boring. I am happy to say I was wrong. The introduction was funny and her novel was interesting.

After the introduction, the novel started and it introduced the Argounovas travelling back to Petrograd. The starting didn't capture my interest as much and I had to rewind the chapter few times before I actually understood what was going on. After which, the story went only uphill. The novel revolves around lives of three characters: Kira Argounova, Leo Kovalenski, and Andrei Taganov. Kira is the protagonist. She represents Ayn Rand in her days. Kira is born in a Bourgeois family. Their house was taken away by the government and their factory was nationalized; thus, they were left with nothing. Kira is an individualist, who solely believes in her existence and opposes Communist's views of the society. She meets Leo Kovalenshi, who shares her views. They fall in love, although I feel Leo's love was not really love, and they move in together, which is against the society. At the same time, Kira is attending University of Petrograd with a desire to become an engineer. Again, she expresses herself as an individualist by wanting to do something that is not acceptable by the society, but she wants to do it. Andrei Taganov is introduced at this point. He is an officer in G.P.U., secret police of the Soviet. He is also an idealist. Even though they are opposite, they get along very well. After Kira is expelled from the University due to her past, Leo and she are forced to work odd jobs in order to feed themselves. Leo's personality starts to become indifference toward everything. Kira chooses to ignore this change as she loves him too much. Leo gets sick and Kira tries to do everything in her control to help the situation. Since the income is not stable, she decides to have an affair with Andrei, in return she receives money and gifts. Both, Leo and Andrei, are unaware of Kira's relationship to the other. I think I have said enough about the novel, and won't reveal the end.

My views on the novel and Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism: The novel was good. I agree with Ayn Rand's philosophy to an extent. I feel that Ayn Rand is too extreme, and I see that in her second novel, The Fountainhead. I think one must live for themselves but should not forget those around them. Everyone has something to contribute to one's life and that should not be forgotten. We must learn to appreciate and repay other's good deeds toward us and others. About the novel, I don't disagree with Kira's decisions. I feel that her decision was good considering the situation. I can't say what I "would've" done then, but I don't hate Kira for her actions. I have so much more to say but it is time to get back to work...sigh....

I will give this book 9 out of 10.