text: Alright, for those of you who say Rand is criticizing works for false ideals, or lacking in substance, I say this: who is Rand to say what the absolute greatest ideals are?  Who is Rand to say what substance is?  You've got to look at her bias, first.  Realize that Rand never takes into account anything not related to personal freedom.  As if outside factors never matter; and maybe they don't, for her.  Maybe her life in an oppressive Russia did nothing to form who she is today.  But I doubt it.
  
  Though I believe personal choice plays a huge factor in determining who we are and how we live, outside influences do affect a person.  But she doesn't.  Thus she condemns all works that are not driven solely by the individual as crap.  All books that are not driven solely by the individual's sense of reason: don't read, cause it will lessen your IQ.  
  
  Any work that portrays or is driven by an emotion she doesn't find worthwhile or cannot understand, she condemns.
  
  Rand, at least as portrayed in what I've read of her work, is unfeeling toward anything but what she wants.  And this is carried over into this book in what she criticizes.  They cannot hold a little or a fairly large amount of quality, they are either good or worthless.   The pieces of art she says are empty ARE empty, absolutely.  They don't fit into her paradigm thus have nothing to offer.  Nothing to offer her, that is.  
  
  How is a completely selfish person supposed to write a critique of history's best books, telling OTHER people (with different wants and ideas and all the other funtions of an individual) What they should read?  Truthfully any criticism in this form, like a list I saw detailing the 100 best literary works in the world, is elitist crap trying to close people's minds toward books that a certain group deems lesser than others.  They have their bias like anyone else.
  
  I say read in variety.  Observe art outside of Rand's choice of art.  Take in all you can, with an open mind, then start pondering whether you agree or not.  If you then agree because YOU agree, then I say great.  Its the basic individualistic response that Rand seems to forget to address.  She says question society, but by my line of inquiry.  She says be an individual, but only I know the basis of who you want to be
  