Location: United States
Member Since:
March 15, 2011
Mary Stromquist
Smashwords book reviews by Mary Stromquist
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Gods of Ruin: A Political Thriller
on April 18, 2011
(no rating)
Though I empathize with the writer's passion, "Ruin" is just that, a ruin. It's amateurishly warmed-over Ayn Rand. Awkward and clunky wording, not a full character to be found, undeveloped story line. In other words, a waste of time. Rand was brilliant, had developed her intellectual premise thoroughly, yet amusingly signed up for both social security and medicare, both of which would violate her purported beliefs, the moment she qualified. Her fiction writing never won plaudits for its quality, but endured for its philosophical rigor. Comparing "Ruin" to "Atlas Shrugged" is comparing a Harlequin Romance to Tolstoy. Rand's formative years under a totalitarian regime molded her vision, but her utopia failed to account for human variety, complexity, or for that matter, why humans have "feelings" in the first place (or their purpose). Ironic that our current world situation can be partially laid at the feet of one of her closest acolytes, Alan Greenspan. Failure to grasp this leads many she inspired to ignore her most valid proposition, to "examine your premises." Read the original, if you must, but don't waste your time on this volume.