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I’m Going to Read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and You Should Too!
By JLP | January 9, 2009
I have owned a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged
Anyway, after reading Stephen Moore’s column titled ‘Atlas Shrugged’: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years in today’s Wall Street Journal, I have decided to get my copy down off my book case, blow the dust off, and read it.
Should you read it? Read these quotes from Mr. Moore’s column and decide for yourself:
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as “the looters and their laws.” Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the “Anti-Greed Act” to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel’s promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the “Equalization of Opportunity Act” to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the “Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act,” aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn’t Hank Paulson think of that?
……… The current economic strategy is right out of “Atlas Shrugged”: The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That’s the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies — while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to “calm the markets,” another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as “Atlas” grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate “windfalls.”
Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it?
Would AFM readers be interested in reading along with me? Perhaps have a sort of book club discussion as we read through the book? I’m going to read the book regardless, but if you are interested in a discussion, leave a comment and let me know. If you need to purchase a copy of the book, there are several to choose from at Amazon.com
Regardless, I’ll let you know what I think of the book as I read it. It should be interesting.
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Topics: Books, Miscellaneous |
January 9th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
By far my favorite of all fiction books I have ever read. No one can claim to be a real Libertarian without being at least partially familiar with the works of Ms. Rand.
Enjoy the book!
January 9th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
by far the best book i have ever read. I read a borrowed copy, then bought my own. It is currently on loan to a friend.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I read it a few times in High School. The characterizations were pretty weak (especially the villains), and the writing was *way* too wordy.
I enjoyed it at the time, but I doubt I’ll ever re-read it. Rand wasn’t as rational as she liked to think, though she was a very good *rationalizer*.
If you’ve never read it, it’s worth a once-over.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I too have had this book for awhile, began it briefly, then let it collect dust. I did read the Fountainhead and loved it. I’m in for the group read.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I barely have enough time to read my RSS feeds.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I don’t know, I read the Fountainhead just because I had heard so much hype about Rand. I was really disappointed because it was all so obvious and symbolic. It was just shoving objectionism down your throat without going about it in an artful way, or even a shadowed way, it was all just so surface and obvious what she was driving at through each of the characters. I wasn’t impressed.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I’m like you, JLP. I’ve had a copy for years, and would always start it, but never finish it. Of course, I do this with all books, not just this one. I have looked up and read quite a bit about Ayn Rand and Objectivism.
While I don’t agree with everything she has to say right down to every detail, I do find many areas of this philosophy hold true with many of my own beliefs.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Of course I am a constructivist in both philosophical and artistic terms. I really love Russian Constructivist art and philosophy which is what Ayn Rand was pretty much the opposite of since she came out of the Russian Revolution.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I would definitely love a group discussion. Just read it for the first time last year. As soon as I finished, I read The Fountainhead. It was quite the Ayn Rand Marathon.
Moore left off the fact that Atlas Shrug is also about the volition. The book’s mantra, “I will not live my life for another person” is central to Rand’s philosophy. The government has been running contrary to this point for decades via social security, medicare, etc.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I will read it too and would love to discuss, however I have had too much wine tonight to decipher the tenets of objectivism vs existentialism and constructivism. Ouch, should be fun though, I haven’t used my brain like this in a long time.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
If you have access to NetLibrary, you can download Atlas Shrugged as an audiobook. Military members have free access by going through militaryonesource.com. You need to login then go to Education->Library Resources->NetLibrary I plan on listening to the audiobook on my way to work.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
The ideas are interesting, but I think it’s terrible as a book. Wooden characters, a boring plot, etc.
It could easily be condensed into essay form (which is apparently what you linked to above).
January 9th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I love love love the book. It’s a great argument for rational self-interest. I’ve heard some describe it as one of the best political books written, but not necessarily that it’s the class of best written, and I think that’s a pretty fair characterization. Nevertheless, there are some great quotes that come out of it, and great comparisons to what’s going in today’s world.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I am in for a discussion on the book. I suggest that my graduate (business) students read the book every semester. The book was a major influence in my life.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
It’s definitely a good book in terms of its philosophy. I’ve actually read it numerous times (three times all the way through and other times just picking certain passages or chapters). From a creative standpoint, it’s nothing special–I agree with Andy on the characters. The plot wasn’t too terrible, but the verbiage is overwhelming (especially Gault’s radio speech). Rand has a way of making a simple thesis into a rambling novel (pretty much saying the same thing numerous, lengthy times).
Reading Atlas is like slugging through tons of mud to find a gold nugget–it’s very much worth the effort, but you had better bring along a change of clothing.
January 10th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Learn something. Pay nothing. Get it at your local library.
January 10th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Best book I have ever read. After reading it your outlook on the world will be changed. It should be mandatory reading for everyone in office, but seeing as how most of them failed a simple civics test (http://tinyurl.com/8emxjh) I doubt they could finish a book of that length.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I loved this book when I read it in high school, when I devoured all of her fiction and the bit of non-fiction I could get through.
It’s important to remember, though, than Ayn Rand’s most famous and influential disciple, Alan Greenspan, recently was forced to admit to Congress that he had misunderstood the free markets, which led to errors in his judgment as fed chief, and helped to cause a great deal of what has come to pass. Just something to keep in mind before you see Ayn Rand as too great a prophet.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Thanks for the tempting tidbits above…now I’ll have to read it. Right after I finish my current book club selection. It sounds fascinating!
January 11th, 2009 at 9:42 am
The IDEAS are what makes Atlas Shrugged so amazing. I have a problem with Ayn Rand’s character creation and dialogue; IMHO her writing style is horribly stilted, which provides an impenetrable barrier to most people. Sadly, this means many abandon her books before they get far enough in to realize just what they’re reading.
I too have owned AS for > 20 years and have attempted to read it many times; I finally was able to force myself to slog through it about 5 years ago, and as others have commented it is truly a reference bible for libertarianism and free-market economic thought.
Entertainment, it ain’t; I think of it as a textbook rather than a novel.
January 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
I am in. Where can the discussion take place?
January 12th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I’ve read AS as well as Fountainhead a couple times each. (Actually, I’ve only read AS all the way through once, as John Galt’s radio speech is a nightmare of too many words.)
All in all, I enjoy reading books that are huge. (I’ve also read the entire Dune cycle and the Baroque Cycle more than once.) But the philosophy behind Rand’s work seems smart on first read, but when you really examine it, it’s simplistic and, much like Communism (and most of these sorts of things) it functions better in theory than in practice.
The suggestion of getting it from the library strikes me as slightly ironic.
January 12th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Atlas Shrugged is one of the best books I’ve read. There are holes in her argument but it’s still a pretty compelling read.
January 12th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I’m game for a discussion, it’s been on my “to be read” list for quite some time.
January 12th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Sorry, JLP, I have about another 900 pages of the writings of Josephus to get through. That will take a while. You start without me.
January 14th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I just started a “Radicals for Capitalism” reading group at the Barnes & Noble where I work. We’re doing something similar to what you propose, but reading “The Fountainhead” first.
I wonder how many other people are starting to dust those books off here in the age of bailouts and resdistribution…Are we witnessing the dark before the Libertarian light?
January 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Atlas Shrugged is a very good book. It’s _great_ because of it’s themes, and okay because of it’s writing. If you like to think, then you will like this book.
But it is very long and drawn out. I didn’t read it myself — I listened to it. I don’t know that I could read it, and I really, really like to read.
My favorite part of the book is d’Anconia’s speech at the dinner party (you’ll know it when you get there). It is:
“Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to be the tool by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of men. Blood, whips and guns–or dollars. Take your choice–there is no other–and your time is running out.”
For those who do not want to read or re-read the book, the entire speech that this quote was taken from was published in Capitalism Magazine in 2002 is available free at their website: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=1826
January 19th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Very idealist book. I read it. It is not worth 1000 pages. As an engineer, I had a problem with some of the mechanics of the book. I would suggest that you read a summary instead. I enjoyed reading We the Living much more than Atlas Shrugged.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:17 am
totally off based. I love Atlas shrugged, reading it again. But, it shows me how imperfect our world is- not just politicians. The rich in Atlas Shrugged work hard every day of their lives, pay fair wages, invent (irrational) technologies. The guys at AIG, do you think they have kept the world moving? Do they pay fair wages?
Hels no. She speaks of a utopian world that we can all strive for. Government is our next best solution. I am libertarian at heart, democrat by living.