Essays on Ayn Rand's "We the Living"

by Mayhew, Robert; Mayhew, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780739149706
• ISBN10: 0739149709
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-17
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Ayn Rand remains a truly significant figure of modern philosophy. Her unique vision of a world in which man, relying on reason, acts wholly for his own good is skillfully developed and illustrated in her most famous novels, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. But Rand's first novel, We the Living, a lesser-known but no less important book, offers an early form of the author's nascent philosophy-the philosophy Rand later called Objectivism.In the second edition, Robert Mayhew once again brings together pre-eminent scholars of Rand's writing. The edition includes three new chapters, as well as an epilogue by renowned Rand-scholar Leonard Peikoff. In part a history of We the Living, from its earliest drafts to the Italian film later based upon it, Mayhew's collection goes on to explore the enduring significance of Rand's first novel as a work both of philosophy and of literature. For Ayn Rand scholars and fans alike, this enhanced second edition is a compelling examination of a novel that set the tone for some of the most influential philosophical literature to follow.

Author Biography

Robert Mayhew is professor of philosophy

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Bibliographical Note	p. xv
The History of We the Living	p. xvii
From Airtight to We the Living: The Drafts of Ayn Rand's First Novel	p. 1
Parallel Lives: Models and Inspirations for Characters in We the Living	p. 45
We the Living and the Rosenbaum Family Letters	p. 65
The Education of Kira Argounova and Leo Kovalensky	p. 85
Russian Revolutionary Ideology and We the Living	p. 113
The Music of We the Living	p. 143
Publishing We the Living	p. 159
Reviews of We the Living	p. 171
Adapting We the Living	p. 181
We the Living: '36 &'59	p. 209
We the Living as Literature and as Philosophy	p. 243
We the Living and Victor Hugo: Ayn Rand's First Novel and the Novelist She Ranked First	p. 245
Red Pawn: Ayn Rand's Other Story of Soviet Russia	p. 279
The Integration of Plot and Theme in We the Living	p. 299
The Sacred in We the Living	p. 305
The Plight of Leo Kovalensky	p. 315
Kira's Family	p. 333
Kira Argounova Laughed: Humor and Joy in We the Living	p. 351
Forbidding Life to Those Still Living	p. 363
The Death Premise in We the Living and Atlas Shrugged	p. 381
Epilogue: Introduction to We the Living	p. 403
Select Bibliography	p. 407
Index	p. 409
About the Contributors	p. 417
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