Anyone In Here Read "Atlas Shrugged"?

[BamaLefty]

It is a conservative themed book, but a good read anyway.

I am currently on page 558... has anyone else read it? By Ayn Rand

[mr_hat]

1. Ayn who? Doesn't ring a bell...

[pamela]

2. I've read it several times...

I loved it, and The Fountainhead, too.

[NVMojo]

27. I liked both of those too!

if you don't know who Ayn Rand is ...you missed something ...

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer

She like was a total conservative, in fact more like libertarian, but not the Bush type of neocon that believes in no separation between church and state and welfare for who they like. In fact, she is probably rolling over in her grave when she hears about Bush Jr. and his cabal of glut suckers.

[whistle]

3. Yes, it's the neo-conservative bible along with Ayn Rand's lassie...

...faire philosophy known as objectivism which is such a crock! Here is a link:

http://rous.redbarn.org/objectivism/Writing/NathanielBranden/BenefitsAndHazards.html

The Benefits and Hazards of the Philosophy of Ayn Rand: A Personal Statement
by Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D. ([e-mail])
Copyright (C) 1984, Nathaniel Branden, All Rights Reserved
Copyright (C) 1984, Association for Humanistic Psychology
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abstract: For eighteen years I was a close associate of novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand whose books, notably The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, inspired a philosophical movement known as objectivism. This philosophy places its central emphasis on reason, individualism, enlightened self-interest, political freedom -- and a heroic vision of life's possibilities. Following an explosive parting of the ways with Ayn Rand in 1968, I have been asked many times about the nature of our differences. This article is my first public answer to that question. Although agreeing with many of the values of the objectivist philosophy and vision, I discuss the consequences of the absence of an adequate psychology to support this intellectual structure -- focusing in particular on the destructive moralism of Rand and many of her followers, a moralism that subtly encourages repression, self-alienation, and guilt. I offer an explanation of the immense appeal of Ayn Rand's philosophy, particularly to the young, and suggest some cautionary observations concerning its adaptation to one's own life.

[papau]

4. most here have read Ayn - a nice pro-choice women lib lady with

a problem thinking money makes for better love making!

[SharonAnn]

5. Yes, of course. There's a lot about it that's good, and a lot about

it that's bad.

Interesting philosophy but it falls apart when you try to apply to specific life issues. It's too "Black & White", no gray.

Also, there's the issue about everyone being basically "self-made".

And then for some reason, Dagny Taggart who is a strong and bright and resourceful woman, can only have sex with men she's seriously attracted to if they rape her. Go figure!

[Syncronaut Seven]

6. Was an excelent book, but with some scary dogma.

Rand could get a little preachy. I read it as an adult with fully informed opinions about capitalism.

No telling where it might take a youngster.

[phaseolus]

7. only got to page 50.

It made my brain hurt, sorry...

[Justitia]

8. Objectivism is more libertarian than conservative

And I think the book was pure torture.

[zeemike]

9. Read it many years ago

And I fell for the pitch until I came to my senses

It basically says that if you take all restraints from capitalism the supermen of the world who are driven to have more money, will rise to the top and create a perfect world.
Self interest is the only virtue that matters
I think that at the base of here philosophy is the Divine Right of Kings, but she just could not bring herself to say it that way.

[babylonsister]

13. Nothin' for nothin', sounds like Shrubbie.

And I also read Ayn Rand in my youth, but think I need to read those masterpieces again.

[NV Whino]

10. Ayn Rand was a bit ahead of her time

She was writing about the Bush corporatism when she wrote Atlas Shrugged. I read it in the sixties and loved it. Looking back I now understand that I loved the heros she created rather than the philosophy. And she was one hell of a story teller.

And here's a little something that not many people know/remember: Alan Greenspan was one of her inner circle. You can check that out in her biography, The Passion of Ayn Rand by Barbara Brandon (who was the former wife of Nathanial Brandon--she divorced him when he had an affair with Rand, a woman about twice his age). The photos show a much younger, but very recognizable Greenspan.

[Gnscih]

11. isolationist fantasy.

Reputedly Rand and her "objective-ism" is held in the highest esteem by Fed chair Greenspan. I wouldn't be surprised if historians look on "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" as a modern day "The Prince" in its philosophical influence on those who hold or aspire to power in the age of the Neos. Consider the backdrop of the Red scare Communism era against which it was written - 1957 (Rand was born in Russia. Safe to say she wasn't a comunist...). It inspired a cult-like following in my college crowd (pre-Berlin wall-fall) and piqued my interest then. I found "Atlas" both attractive and repulsive simultaneously. The older I get the more repulsive its philosophy becomes. Important reading for all Dems who want a peak into the mind of the thinking pug.

[mikehiggins]

12. Not conservative, at least not what passes for conservative

in this day and age.

Rand was an emigre from Russia who fled the Bolsheviks and whose experiences there shaped her philosophy of life, which was an uncompromising individualism based on objective reality.

She beleived there was an objective reality and that one could prosper according to one's ability to think and act in accordance to it. Great book for college kids to sit around in pizza parlors and drink beer. At least that's how I experienced it.

I have a huge hard-cover edition of ATLAS and another of the FOUNTAINHEAD but when my kid asked about whether he should read it I told him not to bother.

Objective reality suggests that her philosophy is bogus.

[babylonsister]

14. May I suggest you don't tell

your kid not to bother. My mom saved me: older neighbors when I was a female tyke of around 13 told me Ann Franks' novel was too 'real' for me. My mom told them I could read whatever I want, whenever I want. She was very PRO- and encouraged me and my 4 siblings, all who read to this day.
I am now amazed, at the age of 48, that I read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand when I was probably 14-17, and have never tried again. Woe is me.
It's on my list now. Thanks for the heads up and reminder!

[WMliberal]

15. couldn't make it through.

well, i could have. And I could also whack my head repeatedly against a brick wall and stick my finger in the light bulb socket.


Enjoy the drivel.

[Carson]

16. Read it. Loved it. Flame away. ; - ) n/t

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

22. Spoiled little rich girl so displaced by the Bolshevik revolution that

she had to MAKE UP the philosophy of objectivism in order to compensate for her loss. There is no objectivism possible within the filters of the human mind. The FRAME of the human mind renders it impossible.

[TrogL]

17. Black and white thinking in action

A little later on in the book, because the capitalist barons can't get their own way they take their ball and bat at go home.

In The Fountainhead, Roarke burns down an apartment block because they modified his design.

This kind of thinking can be very dangerous. I fell into a deep depression striving for the kind of perfection she demands.

[NVMojo]

28. I knew an architect who wanted to do that to a building the neocons

changed for profit on their own. She asked me to read or watch "The Fountainhead" to understand her feelings. I think I got her point.

[Zorra]

18. One of the 10 worst books on my list that I could not get past page 50 in

a minimum of 5 attempts.

[AgadorSparticus]

19. I read it in college. I enjoyed the storytelling more than anything else.

much of the philosophy didn't jive for me back then either. With my rosie colored glasses firmly planted on my face, I remember thinking that her rationalization of selfishness was a backlash at the group/collective thinking that came about in the 50's. And you should be more true to yourself.

But beyond that, it just crumbled. And I remember not giving it credence because of it. Life is not black and white and we are not the center of the universe. There is too much selfishness already. We do not need to promote its ugly face.

I enjoyed it nevertheless. I would have my kids read it and show them how things can go terribly wrong.

[ContraBass Black]

20. Both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountain Head are insightful,

intriguing, fascinating, and laughable.

She taks several very nice ideas, and uses them to build a ridiculous product.

But reading them was fun.

[LisaM]

21. Oh yes, the world where only the good-looking and gifted count..

I've been in a running argument with a friend for years over the Fascist elements in her books (which creep me out.) I read three of them quite quickly ("Atlas", "Fountainhead" and "The Virtue of Selfishness" while I was in college and I was pretty repelled. What I mostly hate about her work is that she has utter disdain for most of the world, and doesn't care at all about people on the bottom. And she calls those who need help "looters" - very Darwinian, no human empathy towards the weaker or unlucky elements of society. And she also testified in front of the Un-American Activities Committee during the Communist witch hunts.

[Unstuck In Time]

23. Atrocious writing. Flat plot. Fantasy-land philosophy.

First book I ever quit before finishing.

[Kellanved]

24. the worst book I have ever read

I couldn't even throw it away, as it was required reading x(

[Kazak]

25. Who is John Galt?

Yeah, I read that back in high school. A little bit fanciful if you ask me, but I enjoyed it none-the-less.

[NashVegas]

26. A Long-winded Bore

good book, but the hero sure knows how to put a reader to sleep with that monolog.

[ContraBass Black]

29. Yes, that was more than a bit much.

A more skillfull writer would have found a way to tell the philosophy through the story, rather than taking a time-out for ten solid pages of preaching.

[RobinA]

30. Loved Them Both

as stories, never bought the philosophy. Sure, all the good characters are goodlooking and smart, but that's not much different from every movie and TV show out there.

[RUDUing2]

31. In High School had to do a research paper on it..

I liked it better then the Fountainhead..

She makes some good points..very much an anti-communism book, but has some relevance to things that are starting to happen in the US now...(but then again I read it 25+ yrs ago...)

[DebJ]

32. I read it when I was about 22, which is to say 27 years ago.

The only theme I recall from it was a conspiracy type theme, that there is a small group of people out to control the world, that money means nothing to them except as a tool of power. That power of and for itself is their overriding objective and only pleasure.

I also skimmed a book called "The Illuminati Manifesto", and in it, this author, claiming to speak for the Illuminati, says that Ayn Rand is a tool of theirs, that they created her, and she spoke for them.

[MISSDem]

33. I tried but did not make it.

By the way have you seen the story of Ayn's life. What a self-centered, manipulating woman.

[Uncle Roy]

34. kick