The Journals of Ayn Rand Read Free Page A

that you cannot go on.” Throughout her long career, she remained true to this pledge—she was a “writing engine.” With the publication of her journals, we can now see the “writing behind the writing” and appreciate fully the prodigious effort that went into her published work.
    AR’s notes, typically handwritten, were spread among the numerous boxes of papers she left behind at her death in 1982. My editing of this material has consisted of selection, organization, line editing, and insertion of explanatory comments.
    Selection. This book presents AR’s working journals—i.e., the notes in which she developed her literary and philosophical ideas. Notes of a personal nature will be included in a forthcoming authorized biography.
    Approximately three-quarters of the working journals are presented here. I have included the material that I judge to be of interest to serious, philosophical admirers of AR’s novels and ideas. This standard is, in effect, a middle ground between the scholar who wants every note, and the casual fan who might be satisfied with a selection of notes on fiction.
    In most cases, I have described specific omissions in the chapter introductions. In general, notes have been omitted for the following reasons:
    1. Repetition with other notes. AR sometimes rewrote her notes, often for the purpose of condensing and essentializing. I have included such later material only when it contains provocative new formulations.
    2. Repetition with published material. Lengthy notes that merely state what the reader of her published work already knows, such as final outlines for novels, have been omitted.
    3. Quotes or paraphrases of other authors. In her research, AR often quoted or paraphrased material she had read. I have usually included these notes only when she adds her own comments.
    4. Isolated, usually political, notes that are unrelated to the surrounding philosophiclliterary material. For example, AR’s critique of President Truman’s decision to fire General MacArthur was omitted because the only other notes from the period were on Atlas Shrugged.
    5. Cryptic notes. Some material was too cryptic to be intelligible. Since AR typically wrote in complete sentences, such notes are rare.
    I have taken this opportunity to publish a few pieces that are not from AR’s journals, but are closely related to her notes and of great interest to her fans. In Chapter 10, for example, I have included AR’s testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which is followed by her notes on the hearings.
    Organization. The journals are presented chronologically, so the reader may follow the development of AR’s ideas. However, for the purpose of grouping together the notes on a particular topic, some departures from chronological order have proved necessary. For example, the presentation of her architectural research for The Fountainhead in a separate chapter required minor violations of the chronology. Also, her notes from 1947 dealing with collectivist propaganda in the movies are presented before the Atlas Shrugged notes, which begin in 1945. But in all such cases, the reason for my order is obvious.
    When a note is undated, I have made a guess at the approximate date, and placed it next to related notes written at about that time.
    The book divides naturally into five parts. As might be expected, the two longest parts are the notes for The Fountainhead (Part 2) and Atlas Shrugged (Part 4). Part 3 pertains to projects she worked on in the years between these novels. Parts 1 and 5 are relatively short; they present respectively her notes from the years prior to The Fountainhead and from the post-Atlas Shrugged period. Within each part, the reasons for the chapter divisions are either obvious or explained in my introductions.
    Line editing. AR wrote her thoughts down as they occurred to her; she did not outline material prior to writing the notes, and she did not edit the wording afterwards.
    Even so,