| | I think I might disagree, Robert. :)
Maybe we should consider that the word "myth" has negative connotations.
A few talk points come to me...
Miss Rand chose to introduce her philosophy via novels (this is storytelling). Personally, I think this was brilliant in its simplicity. Old school, really- the oldest school. The strength of the effect is of a far higher magnitude than putting out a manifesto. The potential audience, very much the same situation.
The characters were highly stylized, they were carrying a good deal more weight as characters than even the most complex figures in novels.
Here, this is why I think her novels function for us much like classical mythological themes (The Hero's Journey, etc.) have in the past- it's the powerful and simple way that they serve. How many times have we been in the thick of it, really in a thin place, and we think of goings on in Atlas Shrugged to reset, direct, and inspire us? No complicated process there, its pretty much pure effect. And, because her mythology is of the modern form (man-centered), it works in even more ways than the old myths.
Do you see where I'm coming from on this?
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