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Title: Shallow
Review: I picked this book up out of curiosity, after hearing that Ayn Rand provoked strong reactions - but without prior knowledge of Ayn Rand's philosophy. So I read it with an open mind, without expectations or preconceptions.Half the book later, I was forced to put it down in disgust. The characters are shallow, the plot is shallow, and the so-called philosophy is shallow. The heros and heroines of the novel - icons of her philosophy - are given godlike physical and intellectual attributes, while the chosen strawmen are bumbling, incompetent and evil.As a simple piece of fiction, this might have been semi-readable. But the consistent attempts to paint this as a profound philosophical work (complete with advertisements for her Objectivist school of philosophy lodged between the pages) make it completely repulsive.The true condition of life is much more nuanced than can be captured by her one-dimensional characters or one-dimensional philosophy; for understanding, look elsewhere.
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