Seriously. Of all the uncompromising, highly-principled characters amidst the vast depth and breadth of all English literature... why would anyone ever compare the guy to some fictional Randroid character like "Howard Roark"?
What an awful, awful choice. What kind of stupid shit IS that?
The only thing worse than making flame bait comments like this is making throwaway user accounts to do it. Please don't do this on HN.
And I say this as someone who has criticized Ayn Rand numerous times on Hacker News. Just in ways that were more constructive and germane to the point.
I fail to understand this. Is your dislike of Rand overwhelming your ability to make a fair comparison? Roark's burning of "his" building provides the simplest example of an uncompromising act and damn-the-outcome that I can think off. Who would you use? Jesus and the money lenders? Ahab's hunt? Julius Levy killing his daughter? I can't think of anything even remotely as appropriate.
I understand your point, although I wonder if there are many more characters that are "top of the shelf" reference points for highly-principled artists... curious who you would've preferred?
[disclaimer: I have an undergraduate degree in English Literature, which doesn't mean ALL that much, tbh, but I've read a book or two.]
What an awful, awful choice. What kind of stupid shit IS that?