kenbuzz

After years of procrastination, primarly due to the sheer size of the book, I have finally put all of my delaying tactics on hold and have begun to read Ayn Rand's opus, Atlas Shrugged.

I have a hardcopy at home, and an unabridged audiobook copy in my car. The audiobook spans fourty-five 75-minute CDs, so I ripped and re-burned everything into MP3 format... but it's still 8 full CDs worth of Ms. Rand. I've read at home when the opportunities present themselves, but it's mostly the 40-minute commute where I've been listening in on the world of Dagny Taggart, Francisco D'Anconia, and Hank Reardon. Four weeks of daily commute, plus 4 hours spent listening while I drove to/from Cincinnati on Sunday for the Bengals game, and I'm not quite to the half-way point. I'm on "CD" #21 of 45. Reardon's wife has just met Hank at the train station, and there's talk of new government rules regarding wage, price, and spending freezes. (No, I'm not keen on spoiling anything.)

I have become completely hooked.

This story, while not exactly chocked full of adventure, action, or sex, has "clicked" for me. I think of myself as a capitalist and a constitutionalist - and I'm thinking this should be required reading for anyone professing a knowledge of how a free marketplace can and should operate. There was a speech last week given my Fransicso at a party where he responds to a comment about money as the root of all evil. It was wonderful! I was driving home that evening when he started, and I was literally doing some fist-pumps to emphasize points as he made them. The folks in the other lane probably thought I was having a seizure.

At another, earlier, point of the story, I believe it was Dagny who said the following: "What is morality? Judgment to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, dedication to what is good, integrity to stand by that good at any price." -- I wrote it down and have it sitting on my desk at work.

I know that several folks have made comments about the book - with most of the comment seeming to be on how they "gave up" because it was too long, too boring, or other reasons. I could see how it might be too conservative or too capitalistic for certain Otters, which might explain the bail-out rate. But I'd be curious to hear from folks who have read the entire book - without spoilers of course - to see what your opinions are.

crapkilla

I loved it!
It was a slog a times and there were a few of the long-winded speeches that I skimmed over because they seemed to drive the same general point over and over again - yeah I got it three pages ago.

I read the paperback with microscopic print, it was ridiculous but well worth the effort.

Of course, I'm certain it helps to have a capitalist lean going into it, but with the way things are heading it's amazing how much rings truer than it ever did when Ayn put it to paper all those years ago.

I'm going to look into The Fountainhead next.

Lateralus

I started reading this little gem back in 1994 and I got to page 734 where I was stuck for 14 years. I tried picking it up several times but it was just to damn self-glorifying. Too much "I'm a real man" bullshit, Ayn could have cut the book down by 500 pages and it would not affect the storyline. Finally I got the book from Audible.com for $5.99 and I started from the beginning and I finsihed it. I remember reading along with the book and when I got to page 734 with the faded outline of the bookmark I thought I was crossing the Teklanika River.

I enjoyed the book but I don't think I will read it again, like I said before too preachy. That being said I have also read Anthem, The Fountainhead and We The Living all of which follow the same line as Atlas Shrugged.

celmendo

One of my favorite books I haven't read since high school. It's always resonated for me and I rarely go a year without thinking about it in some small way. The Fountainhead was good too but way too thematically similar for me. Then again I read them back to back.

Tommy Ceez

I think the Fountainhead makes the same point without all the bulk

Sean O'Hara

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Boba Fett

I grabbed a copy of it after playing Bioshock. It unfortunately sits on my desk untouched.

Giantrobo

I've been meaning to read this and other Rand books for some time now.

I started reading "Anthem" but I haven't finished it yet.

kenbuzz

The Navy has a wonderful electronic/audio-book library. It's geared towards Sailors who will be shipping out for months at a time, but it's also available to the civilian workforce and (I suppose) to members or employees of the other military branches. I've just found that many of Rand's works are availble for download - Fountainhead, Anthem, others.

PS - Here's where I am in the story:

movielib

It has its faults (the oft-criticized Galt speech, I think, not being one of them) but it is one of my favorite novels of all time.

kenbuzz

I think that's a borderline spoiler. If that's a reference to something I've not read yet, please don't elaborate or expand it any further.

Tracer Bullet

I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 16. That's about the only age that one should read Atlas Shrugged.

kenbuzz

Wow.

solipsta

That's the exact age that I read it. I poured through it one summer, and became obsessed with her ideas and philosophy, buying and reading most of her books. Hell, I even tracked down a copy of the Fountainhead movie.

As far as entertainment value, while long, it was a fun read. I enjoyed it. However, I agree with whoever said it was preachy. And very black and white. The world is not like that...there are shades of grey. But not in Rand's world! It appealed to me at the time because of my very black and white thinking in general about the world. It gives one something to hold on to.

Tracer Bullet

They're wonderful novels to read when you're 16 and think that the entire world is against you and everyone else is stupider than you.

Then you have to grow up.

Nick Danger

That's a bit strong. I also read Atlas Shrugged as a teenager. I liked it for the reason you did. And as an adult, I still enjoy reading books about rugged heros and cowardly villains. They're fun!

The difference between those books and Rand's is that I'm expected to recognize that the world isn't like a Conan novel, and that Robert E. Howard doesn't try to convert me to his philosophy.

Tracer Bullet

Yes, that is true.

Ketamine

Just finished it after months (and months) of reading. It just surpassed The Stand as my favorite book of all time.

benedict

A pal of mine did much the same and loaned me some of Rand's fiction and non-fiction at around 14-16.

I'm not certain, but think the starting off point for him was Rand's Anthem, which he picked up primarily as a result of being a big Rush fan.

I'm not sure what I'd think if I tried to read Atlas Shrugged again today but, if I was going to make the required investment in time, I think I'd probably first spend it on re-reading Herbert's original Dune Trilogy!

movieking

I've never read this, but always wanted to. From what I've read above, not sure if it would be worth it to me to tackle it now. The comments above basically echo my thoughts about Catcher In The Rye when I read it for the first time last year. Maybe it is great when you are 16, but reading it when you are an adult severely lessens the appeal of the book (IMO anyway).

Count Dooku

Figured a Rush fan would read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

JasonF

This quote doesn't originate with me, but it has stuck with me since I read it a few years ago:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Supermallet

Put me firmly in the anti-Rand camp. What a blowhard.

Lateralus

I like the way Ayn thinks but she pushes her views to the extreme. Atlas Shrugged could have been 500 pages shorter if she took out all the "how to live life" bullshit.

Nefarious

I read The Fountainhead my freshman year in college and loved it. I read an excerpt of Atlas Shrugged my sophomore year, in a Philosophy course no less, and it made my blood boil. It was very much a straw-puppet argument that she had set up in support of pure capitalism. As others have said, she presents it as very black & white which isn't reality.

I still recommend The Fountainhead as an enjoyable read. The movie was such a bastardization of the book that I couldn't finish it. I'm actually getting ready to re-read it as it has been many, many years. I don't see myself delving into Atlas Shrugged, though.