Editing Ayn Rand (section)

=== Influences ===
[[File:Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat 1876 - full.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photo of Victor Hugo|Rand admired the novels of [[Victor Hugo]].]]
In school, Rand read works by [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Edmond Rostand]], and [[Friedrich Schiller]], who became her favorites.{{sfn|Britting|2004|pp=17, 22}} She considered them to be among the "top rank" of [[Romanticism|Romantic]] writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots.{{sfn|Torres|Kamhi|2000|p=59}} Hugo was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel ''[[Ninety-Three]]'', Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature".{{sfn|Heller|2009|pp=32–33}}

Although Rand disliked most Russian literature, her depictions of her heroes show the influence of the [[Russian Symbolists]]{{sfn|Grigorovskaya|2018|pp=315–325}} and other nineteenth-century Russian writing, most notably the 1863 novel ''[[What Is to Be Done? (novel)|What Is to Be Done?]]'' by [[Nikolay Chernyshevsky]].{{sfn|Kizilov|2021|p=106}}{{sfn|Weiner|2020|pp=6–7}} Scholars of Russian literature see in Chernyshevsky's character Rakhmetov, an "ascetic revolutionist", the template for Rand's literary heroes and heroines.{{sfn|Johnson|2000|pp=47–67}}

Rand's experience of the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia influenced the portrayal of her villains. Beyond ''We the Living'', which is set in Russia, this influence can be seen in the ideas and rhetoric of Ellsworth Toohey in ''The Fountainhead'',{{sfn|Rosenthal|2004|pp=220–223}} and in the destruction of the economy in ''Atlas Shrugged''.{{sfn|Kizilov|2021|p=109}}{{sfn|Rosenthal|2004|pp=200–206}}

Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having a broad [[establishing shot]] description of a scene followed by [[close-up]] details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a "[[male gaze]]" perspective.<ref>Gladstein, Mimi Reisel. "Ayn Rand's Cinematic Eye". In {{harvnb|Younkins|2007|pp=109–111}}.</ref>