"Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand

[DawnCt1]

I am picking up my copy today. I think its time that I read it. Anyone want to join me?

 

[Aisling]

Dawn, I read read this book years ago and was floored by it. This was back in the President Ford years when all was fine and dandy. This woman was right on target, and once again I'm floored. I recently gave it to my 23 year old son to read.

Another Ayn Rand gem is Anthem. It's futuristic, short, an easy read, and gets straight to the heart of government taking over our lives and individual freedoms for the good of the masses.

I'd be very interested in what you think of Atlas Shrugged when you've finished reading it. She's rolling in her grave now saying "I told you so."

 

[Nie0214]

I read Atlas Shrugged and Anthem a few years ago as well. I really liked Atlas Shrugged. I believe I still have them on my shelf, maybe a re-read is in order.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

DH has been reading it for 3 weeks now. I get it when he's done.

 

[Jennasis]

I read Anthem in 7th grade many moons ago. Good book.

 

[soupy11]

I liked this book, very good read. I am still trying to trek through Joyce's Ulysses. Boy oh boy that is one thick involved read.

 

[SteveInBrooklyn]

Dawn, I read read this book years ago and was floored by it. This was back in the President Ford years when all was fine and dandy. This woman was right on target, and once again I'm floored. I recently gave it to my 23 year old son to read.

Another Ayn Rand gem is Anthem. It's futuristic, short, an easy read, and gets straight to the heart of government taking over our lives and individual freedoms for the good of the masses.

I'd be very interested in what you think of Atlas Shrugged when you've finished reading it. She's rolling in her grave now saying "I told you so."

I'm not familiar with Ayn Rand. Did she predict the sort of things the Bush Adnministration did? The warrantless wiretaps, the torturing, the suspension of habeas corpus, etc? Kudos to her if she predicted that and she was writing in the 70's.

 

[soupy11]

I'm not familiar with Ayn Rand. Did she predict the sort of things the Bush Adnministration did? The warrantless wiretaps, the torturing, the suspension of habeas corpus, etc? Kudos to her if she predicted that and she was writing in the 70's.

She wrote about statism and the movement towards socialism....I think that is why the novel got mentioned

 

[hoosll]

Loved Atlas and Fountainhead.

When I worked at Barnes and Noble, they were among my favorite books to recommend to high school/college students.

Rand was a philosopher who used fiction to disseminate her ideas.

 

[DawnCt1]

We could start sharing our impressions, if anyone wants to pick it up. Sort of like an "on line book discussion group".

 

[dennis99ss]

I'm not familiar with Ayn Rand. Did she predict the sort of things the Bush Adnministration did? The warrantless wiretaps, the torturing, the suspension of habeas corpus, etc? Kudos to her if she predicted that and she was writing in the 70's.

That book was called 1984

 

[DawnCt1]

That book was called 1984

No, 1984 is what you have now. You have a president that is truly "Orwellian". He says one thing and does another. He rails against Wall St. yet the political elite charter private jets and go on "fact finding" junkets to Italy. He raises taxes on the producers, but his own inner circle "made simple mistakes". "All Animals are equal. Some Animals are more equal than others". (That's Animal Farm). Obama gets two books from Orwell.

 

[GoodFairies]

Been there, read that, several times. I like it but feel free to skip her famous "I am repeating the same ideas over and over again for 50+ pages" dissertations; they add nothing to the novel (to any of her novels actually). I'm also not that huge of a fan of her female characterizations.

 

[DVCLiz]

This novel is being discussed as a favorite of many of the Amazon Kindle boards, but because Rand's estate has not yet released the electronic publishing rights it's not available in Kindle format. I'm not buying anything in paper format anymore unless it is a "must read" and right now this doesn't fit in that category for me.

Those are the kinds of books I would like to buy and read on my Kindle, though, so if it comes out soon (and there was someone who had been in touch with the publisher who reported that they were in the process of formatting her books to make them available as Kindle editions) I'll add them to my list of things to read.

However, from the tone of the posts already made I have to say that it would not be easy to have a discussion of this book. When I go to a book club meeting and have a real book discussion, we focus on the author and the writing, and any disagreement is respectful and comes after taking the other point of view into consideration. There are already signs that this would denigrate into the same kind of tit for tat name calling that I can already read in any political post on the DIS. No thanks.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Loved Atlas and Fountainhead.

When I worked at Barnes and Noble, they were among my favorite books to recommend to high school/college students.

Rand was a philosopher who used fiction to disseminate her ideas.

Among authors and philosophers, Ayn Rand is noteworthy for her atheism and uncompromising opposition to religion. Unlike many non-believers who see utilitarian value to religion, Rand is somewhat unique in seeing (with minor exceptions) virtually no value to religion.

Always puzzled me that so many of the right wing, a America is a Christian nation, family values folks manage to ignore the underpinning of her philosophy that they glomm onto.

 

[ringaswan]

She also said that there really wasn't any such thing as love, that everything we do "in the name of love" is really selfishly motivated. In fact everything we do is selfish in nature, and that we should only be looking out for ourselves (not our family, just ourselves).

But please do read the book ... you may have a completely different perception of what she has to say! And there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

 

[DawnCt1]

Among authors and philosophers, Ayn Rand is noteworthy for her atheism and uncompromising opposition to religion. Unlike many non-believers who see utilitarian value to religion, Rand is somewhat unique in seeing (with minor exceptions) virtually no value to religion.

Always puzzled me that so many of the right wing, a America is a Christian nation, family values folks manage to ignore the underpinning of her philosophy that they glomm onto.

I don't think you have to "buy" into every aspect of someone's philosophy to appreciate some aspects of it. No one agrees with anyone 100% of the time, and often not 50% of the time. That doesn't mean that all of their thoughts and opinions are worthless.

 

[DawnCt1]

She also said that there really wasn't any such thing as love, that everything we do "in the name of love" is really selfishly motivated. In fact everything we do is selfish in nature, and that we should only be looking out for ourselves (not our family, just ourselves).

But please do read the book ... you may have a completely different perception of what she has to say! And there's certainly nothing wrong with that.

I certainly think that is how we are born. Babies are ultimately selfish. As they grow they find that by becoming socialized within the family, and later outside of the family, by making other people happy,and meeting other's needs and expectations, they ultimately make themselves happy. They get what they want, they get positive gains, avoid punishment, rejection, find acceptance. That all starts with the EGO at the center of that universe. So, no, I don't find that a foreign concept.

 

[ElizK]

I read Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead when I was 16 or 17. LOVED Atlas Shrugged, HATED Fountainhead. I reread Atlas Shrugged about 6 months ago. Wow, the similarities to our current political environment was a bit unnerving.

Along the same lines, I was listening to Dave Ramsey's financial talk radio show today. A surgeon's wife called in to ask a question. It came down to Dave saying that the time is coming in America when our top acheivers will leave the country because it's no longer worth it to do business here. That's exactly what happened in Atlas Shrugged .

(Who is John Galt? )

 

[gina2000]

Love Atlas Shrugged. And yes, it is a prediction of doom and gloom for the future should we not allow free enterprise to flourish.

I somehow doubt we're at that point, yet.