Interested in Ayn Rand's personal life as well as her philosophy? "Journals" offers an interesting look at the famous author.

I was initially disappointed. The early pages are difficult to read and mostly seem to restate stuff that shows up in more polished form later. However, you can see the transition from quasi-Nietzschean ideals to a more mature Objectivism, and in particular the transition of the primary virtue being independence (The Fountainhead) to rationality (Atlas Shrugged). Interesting elements: Rand's notes for a movie about the invention of the atomic bomb, including what she was trying to convey and what she learned from her interviews. Her notes on books about architecture, her response to what she considers silliness, and her adaptation of what is said to characters in the book.

Most of the notes from Atlas Shrugged deal with analyzing the psychology of the "parasite." This goes on for pages and seems rather tedious since it comes across as largely speculation-no evidence is cited. More interesting are the notes from the interviews she conducted about how to depict a steel mill and other settings that occur in the book.

Also noted that she wants to believe in the existence of a soul (i.e., the element of a human being that thinks and is not part of conventional matter). That was rather striking!

I am inordinately proud of myself for finishing it in one day, though I wonder at the same time how much I missed. Can't see myself rereading it anytime soon, though. If I reread anything, it will probably be Atlas Shrugged or possibly The Fountainhead.

I agree with Stephen Cox, who writes on The Daily Objectivist website: "One of its best features is the large amount of plain good writing that one discovers here, much more than one might expect to find in an author's working notes. Rand does very well in the medium of brief and (as she thought) temporary comments. The volume contains many shrewd observations, vital expressions of personality, and spirited confrontations with intellectual problems." A great insight into a great mind!