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Dr. Strangelove
Joined: Dec 30 2010
Location: Salt Lake City
Posts: 104
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Is it any good? Or is it one of those unreadable classics? I want to read it but the size of the thing is intimidating! I could kill someone with that book
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aeonic
Title: Sporadic Poster
Joined: Nov 19 2009
Location: Kissimmee, FL
Posts: 2747
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Personally, I think that Ayn Rand is one of the biggest hypocrites in the world, and found it to be a tremendously pompous and boring read. That's just my take, though. Have you considered looking for an e-book version and seeing if you like the first chapter or two? Objectivism isn't for everyone.
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 Who likes role-playing games? Me. Way too goddamn much. |
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Dr. Strangelove
Joined: Dec 30 2010
Location: Salt Lake City
Posts: 104
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| aeonic wrote: |
| Personally, I think that Ayn Rand is one of the biggest hypocrites in the world, and found it to be a tremendously pompous and boring read. That's just my take, though. Have you considered looking for an e-book version and seeing if you like the first chapter or two? Objectivism isn't for everyone. |
I found a physical copy in my apartment building. The fact that it took a small forest to print that book is kind of guilting me into reading it
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SoldierHawk
Moderator
Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 6085
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| aeonic wrote: |
| Personally, I think that Ayn Rand is one of the biggest hypocrites in the world, and found it to be a tremendously pompous and boring read. That's just my take, though. Have you considered looking for an e-book version and seeing if you like the first chapter or two? Objectivism isn't for everyone. |
Bingo. My take too. Rand is neither a good writer, nor someone whose philosophy I want to embrace.
HOWEVER...she IS important. I feel the same way about Nietzsche, but I've read his books, too. I didn't like them, but I'm still glad I was exposed to his thinking. Same thing with Rand. If you're looking for entertainment though, definitely look elsewhere.
It will give you some very cool extra insight into Bioshock too, fwiw. 
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| William Shakespeare wrote: |
| Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. |
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IceWarm
Joined: Dec 22 2008
Location: Breckenridge, Colorado
Posts: 1691
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Bioshock was the only reason I started reading Atlas Shrugged. I got a ways into the book and just got bored and stopped reading it.
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"Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s because they sat there that they were able to do it."
"Fighting in a basement offers a lot of difficulties, number one being, you're fighting in a basement."
"You're Not So Tough Without Your Veggie!" |
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carnage_complex
Joined: Mar 04 2011
Posts: 3
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"Atlas Shrugged" is very comprehensive, although Objectivism (Rand's philosophy) tends to create an aversion in a lot of people. Her plots don't tend to be outlandishly original in any sense, and her characters are mostly cardboard Freudian aphorisms. If you think that you may be interested in her work, then I would definitely recommend starting out with one of her earlier, shorter works. "Anthem" weighs in at just under 150 pages. I have not read "We The Living," "The Fountainhead" is a slightly condensed version of Shrugged, and is about 800-ish pages. "Atlas Shrugged" is the best novel of hers that I have read, though its folio size tends to really turn a lot of people off. I understand that a film version is going to be released later this year. If you're really not sure if you want to give the book a try, then maybe you should see the movie first.
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sidewaydriver
2010 SLF Tag Champ
Title: ( ͡� 
Joined: May 11 2008
Posts: 6160
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I've always wanted to read this book but I haven't gotten around to it. 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World are some of my favorite books and this book sounds like it'll fit in with them. I'm going to make it my next read, I think I'll have some free time at the end of this month.
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Shake it, Quake it, Space Kaboom. |
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AtmanRyu
Title: The Wandering Dragon
Joined: Jun 25 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 986
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I found a graphic novel version of Anthem at a Books a Million, and for the love of me, I couldn't get past 20 pages without feeling enraged, not because of her views on objectivism and whatnot, but rather how much effort she puts to make the main character a Mary Sue in contrast to the planet of strawmen said character is living in. Half of the book is monologue alone, which begs the question of who thought a graphic novel of such was a good idea, since it amounts to walls of text ...
Because of that, I managed to read the whole thing in less than 5 minutes because it was easy to skip the "I'm so great and everyone around me is a goddamn moron" parts (which were plenty).
It's just as bad as LIBERALITY in general.
I won't argue about her "contribution" to philosophy, since it's not a field I'm knowledgeable about, however, one thing for certain, a great writer she is not.
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phantasmzombie
Joined: May 22 2009
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 353
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I liked the book, but its not for everyone. I found it at times to be very self indulgent and preachy. It supposed to be her magnum opus, but I think The Fountainhead and Anthem were better. I would read those two before I took on that 1000+ page monster.
The film adaptation to be released later this year is supposed to be the first part of a trilogy.
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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Okay, I gave it a day. Here's what everyone was waiting for:
Gah, embed codes everywhere got all stupid all of a sudden. Is there a hardware update or something Syd needs to install?
Anyways, I never read this book, but I remember as a kid reading a book called "the Girl Who Owned A City", which I later found out was "Ann Rynd for kids". I just remember it was a cool book.
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Jack Slater
Title: Friendly Felon
Joined: May 17 2009
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 706
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I think Ayn Rand is full of shit. Her philosophy would work great if it was just you on a desert island, but those of us living in society need to think of a bigger picture.
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Cause that's how I roll bounce. |
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brellow
Joined: Mar 08 2011
Location: Ohio
Posts: 131
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I read Atlas Shrugged about a month and a half ago and enjoyed it very much. I had read Fountainhead a few months before that and found that to be good too. The books are certainly worth reading as they are heady and touch on a lot of topics worth thinking about. But like others have said, some of her philosophy is strong and might put you off. I think reading Fountainhead would give you a decent idea of what her focuses are and fountainhead is shorter and easier to read. I enjoyed them both, I disagree that her stories are boring stock plot. Though they do take second seat to some really funny and thoughtful dialogue. If that sounds like the kind of book you might like then go for it or for Fountainhead. Anything that makes you think about things in a meaningful way, probably worth taking a look.
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Blackout
Title: Captain Oblivious
Joined: Sep 01 2007
Location: That Rainy State
Posts: 10376
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Never got any Fountainhead.
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