Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Let's start with my context. I am not a member of any Objectivism faction. I have never met or had anything to do with any of James Valliant, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, or Ayn Rand. I'm just a guy who has read Ayn Rand's work with interest and enthousiasm, and read both Brandens' books on her. I don't know that I call myself an Objectivist, but I am in basic agreement with all of its core premises.

And the most important of those, as Rand herself claimed, is reason. And so it was in accordance with reason that I wanted to read this book, to get the other side of the story and judge for myself.

Sadly, reason is what this book is wholly lacking. I wasn't even able to get more than a few chapters into it before I was forced to judge it worthless and not worth my time. Paragraph after paragraph, sentence after sentence was filled with claims and assertions that simply did not meet the basic test of logic. There were very specific errors in logic, but also a broad one underlying (and undermining) the whole affair: the assumption that anything the Brandens say must be taken with great skepticism, but anything that Rand says is unquestioned Truth, to be taken at face value. The result is that this is not a scholarly work that objectively examines the evidence and draws negative conclusions about the Brandens' accounts. This is a deliberate hatchet job, determined to focus on any negative aspect it can find or manufacture, and ignore any possible positive evidence, inference, or interpretation. The Brandens never get the benefit of doubt on any point, while Rand never gets the detriment of even a single doubt.

And it's a shame, because an even-handed examination of the veracity of the Brandens' accounts would be valuable. It is rather a shame that the main biographical information we have about Ayn Rand comes from two people who had complex personal relationships with her (in this case, leading to unpleasant breakups), which certainly has the *potential* to distort their account, even if unintentionally. As a parallel, consider the way that Schindler's biography of Beethoven is shown by later scholarship to be very flawed. But sadly, Valliant is no Thayer. I suspect that scattered about in Valliant's vitriol are some nuggets of truth. But it was just way too much effort for me to try to mine them.

What's more, the book isn't even well written. I found it poorly organized, flitting somewhat jarringly between seemingly unrelated harping points. It is certainly tedious, belabouring its points relentlessly and in minute detail.

But the main problem remains the poor logic. The unproven assertions, the drawing of conclusions not warrented from the evidence, the direct contradictions. I truly regret spending my money on this book.

Kudos to Mr. Valliant. His new book The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics has made me proud to call myself an Objectivist once more. This thoroughly researched and readable book reveals the scope of the premeditated and self-serving dishonesty of Nathaniel (and Barbara) Branden against the person and character of Ayn Rand. These lies (made while she was alive and especially after her death) smeared the reputation of Ayn Rand to the point that a mere mention of her name or ideas in certain quarters is met with a chorus of ad hominem attacks.

The book thoroughly exposes the Branden's and their motives, finally laying to rest all of the urban myths surrounding these private affairs, assisted by portions of the unpublished journals of Ayn Rand herself. I care little for the private lives of philosophers, but these matters have become an impediment to the serious discussion of Ayn Rand's ideas. Valliant's deft dispatch of the Branden's should clear the path for more rational consideration.

More interesting, the book reveals the amazing focus and moral clarity of Ayn Rand; remarkable given the painful personal nature of the context. Few who are familiar with the consistency and systematic nature of her values will be surprised that she was able to discover, despite the evasions and misdirection of her psychotherapist business-partner/lover, the true nature of Nathaniel Branden. But her ability for rational introspection during difficult emotional circumstances, while still feeling the emotions, is truly inspiring.

One the greatest contributions and innovations of Ayn Rand is her integration of the fields of Ethics and Metaphysics -morality based on reality, with `life' as the objective standard of value for human beings. In an age dominated by mystics on one side and relativists and skeptics on the other, the philosophical alternative offered by Objectivist ethics is a desperately needed (and much more rational) option.

Thanks to Mr. Valliant's efforts in The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics, the growing popularity for the ideas of Ayn Rand can enjoy a further renaissance of careful consideration and genuine debate, and we can put all that other rubbish behind us.

James Valliant, prosecuting attorney and graduate philosopher, aptly demonstrates a superior grasp of both professions with his book, "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics." The prosecutor meticulously delves into the voluminous fabrications, misrepresentations and outright lies perpetrated against Ayn Rand by her former associates, Nathanial and Barbara Branden. The philosopher exhibits the insight essential to a proper analysis of the facts in a highly philosophical context.

As an Objectivist on the scene when Ayn Rand denounced the Brandens in 1968, I can attest to the ensuing turmoil among her admirers due to the sudden necessity to face the distasteful fact of the Brandens' betrayal. In the confusion, they manipulated the unwary for years, strategically waiting until after Ayn Rand's death to unleash their main vitriol via "biographies," which in turn created a never-ending onslaught of attacks by a bevy of Ayn Rand haters. These books, notably Ms. Branden's "The Passion of Ayn Rand," are the primary source for virtually all the hatchet job op-ed misrepresentations that have appeared over the years of Ayn Rand, of her philosophy, Objectivism, and of her associates. The Brandens' fabrications have gone unanswered for decades.

Now comes James Valliant to set the record straight. Every Objectivist should read his book in order to grasp the incomprehensible depth and breadth of the scurrilous injustice perpetrated against our heroine. Every skeptic with an abiding respect for ideas should read his book in order to free himself of falsehood. Every detractor (and anonymous reviewer) should read his book; then look in a mirror.

Valliant's work is a tour de force. His is the dynamite to clear the logjam of deceit that has impeded the flow of Objectivism into the mainstream of popular thought; it will render the Brandens and their ilk just so much flotsam. As John Galt would say, "The road is cleared."