Posted on 03/03/2009 7:06:39 AM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing
Books do not sell themselves: That is what films are for. "The Reader," the book that inspired the Oscar-winning film, has shot up the best-seller lists. Another recent publishing success, however, has had more help from Washington, D.C., than Hollywood. That book is Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged."
Reviled in some circles and mocked in others, Rand's 1957 novel of embattled capitalism is a favorite of libertarians and college students. Lately, though, its appeal has been growing.
According to data from TitleZ, a firm that tracks best-seller rankings on Amazon, an online retailer, the book's 30-day average Amazon rank was 127 on Feb. 21, well above its average over the past two years of 542. On Jan. 13 the book's ranking was 33, briefly besting President Barack Obama's popular tome, "The Audacity of Hope."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
But it is not a masterpiece. The philosophy is fine (if strident), the political theory is very well thought out and well stated.
That alone does not make a masterpiece. You may value a book for the thoughts in it, but object quite validly to the way in which the book is written. It's just not a good novel, qua novel. The characters are simply lay figures that are posed in positions by the artist, the dialogue is awful (people don't talk like that and never have), and the plot has holes you could drive a two-ton truck through.
Compare any of Rand's dialogue to, say, a conversation between two of Kipling's characters in one of his English short stories, or two of Mark Twain's characters in Huck Finn. No comparison.
I’ll have a shot at them, thanks.
Sorry, but endorsements, from either Bush or Clinton aren't worth spit.
And Rand was still a mean, self-absorbed feminist, who didn't come up with any concepts a reasonable person couldn't think of for themselves.
Yeah. In a way that’s a sad commentary on our society right there. I look at most high profile CEOs as flim flam men.
Where are the Carnegies, the Fords, etc...
“Set speeches don’t work in a REAL book.
The book is interesting for its political arguments, but it certainly doesn’t work as a novel.”
That’s quite an ignorant comment considering Atlas Shrugged is one of the most successful works in modern publishing.
As Mark Twain said, the rules of novel-writing require (inter alia) "that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the ["Atlas"] tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together."
You’re talking style and I’m talking content.
When it comes to style, there are many novels (some worthless) that stylists would consider as “masterpiece” works.
When it comes to content, Atlas Shrugged is a masterpiece novel that’s right up there with Les Miserables.
“though you exaggerate substantially when you say ‘one of the most successful works in modern publishing”
Might I suggest you check that statement?
And to put Atlas Shrugged in the same city block with almost anything by Victor Hugo is just embarassing. He was definitely a political animal (as was Anthony Trollope and to some degree Kipling) but he knew he was writing a novel and not a tract.
I can't think of any 'masterpiece' that travels on style alone - they tend to be nine-day wonders that fizzle out as soon as the publicity lets up. Good example would be stuff like A Prayer for Owen Meany which enjoyed a vogue but is now horribly passe'. Can you name one 'masterpiece' that is stylistic without content? Even Lafcadio Hearn and Henry James (two very elaborate stylists, each in his own way) have content.
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We will have to agree to disagree on two points: (1) the people that Ayn Rand was working against in the 1940’s were the collectivist planners (not liberals) depicted in that wonderful comic book; and (2) Her characters may be over the top (which befits her narcissistic amd obsessive personality) but they are wonderful symbols of individualism and self-reliance. I really enjoy her work precisely because her characters are “different”.
(2) The only place I can really stand characters who are symbols rather than living, breathing human beings is in something like The Pilgrim's Progress (although Bunyan's characters are breathing flesh-and-blood creatures compared to the likes of Taggart and Galt, despite their old-fashioned descriptive names). But that sort of set-piece only works when it doesn't attempt to exist in the Real World . . . I think Rand really couldn't decide if she was writing a novel, an allegory, or a polemic. A little of all three, perhaps.
Excerpted From
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/252423/atlas_shrugged_a_closer_look_into_the.html
Atlas Shrugged: A Closer Look into the Second Most Influential Book of the Twentieth Century
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, can be looked at from several different perspectives. A fantastic work of pure fiction. An implementation of personal philosophies. A tale of socioeconomic struggles and a failing capitalistic society. However you look at it, it’s impossible to deny the impact it’s had in modern history and every day life.
Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s way of demonstrating how her personal philosophy can be applied to everyday life. She calls the philosophy “objectivism” and describes it as “a philosophy for living on earth”. She does a great job of illustrating her philosophy throughout the book, ensuring that anyone who reads the story will have a strong understanding of what she is trying to teach.
Philosophy aside, the book is a great read. Originally published in 1957 and full of illustrative examples and stunning plot points. It takes place at an unknown time in the not too distant future. The whole book takes place in a fictitious United States. The book focuses heavily on the weakness of evil, corporate greed, dealing with “moochers” or those that try to parasite off of society instead of making their own way, and many other very interesting plot points, metaphors, and ideas.
The main story revolves around fictitious corporations. The capitalist economy in the United States is failing. Most of the rest of the world has turned to socialism and isolates themselves from the United States. Colorado, due to the big oil companies, is the last great industrial center in the world. The train tracks, essential to Colorado’s economy, are in desperate need of repair, and the book begins with several corporations competing for the job. Talented and well respected people within the United States are mysteriously retiring and vanishing from their jobs. The world is losing it’s greatest minds, and this is only the beginning.
Nearly every single character, corporation, or material in the book is a metaphor in support of Rand’s philosophy. Humans can either be good or evil. Weak or strong. Just like the corporations, the different types of steel, and the many other very insightful metaphors carefully implemented throughout the book.
Because of it’s deep philosophical impact on society, Atlas Shrugged remains as influential and popular today as ever before. The book still mirrors our everyday lives. The world has always had greed, weakness, evil, good, and many other factors working against each other within, and Atlas Shrugged provides the philosophical groundwork for people to cope with these problems for themselves.
Voted as being the “second most influential book of the twentieth century” in a poll conducted through a joint effort between the Library of Congress and The Book Of The Month Club, Atlas Shrugged is one of those rare books that truly stands the test of time. Perhaps Howard Dickman of Reader’s Digest said it best when he wrote that the novel had “turned millions of readers on to the ideas of liberty” and helped people to understand that they have the “profound right to be happy.”
But here's the key that it's not a masterpiece, but a set-piece:
Nearly every single character, corporation, or material in the book is a metaphor in support of Rand’s philosophy.
Like I said, it's something along the lines of Pilgrim's Progress . . . but without Bunyan's vivid characterizations and white-hot dialogue. Bunyan's work caught the imagination at a time when his beliefs and thinking were central to the issues on the table in 17th century England, just as Rand's thinking is very topical right now.
I doubt Rand's work will survive over 300 years, and we won't be around to see it. But if Obama is successful in overthrowing the American government and Rand's work doesn't get burned by the Gauleiters, it may well.
Aristotle’s work is still around after more than 2400 years, due probably to the fact that his simplistic ethics was ignored — the Nichomachean Ethics that made Alexander great.
Given that, you’re probably right. Rand material won’t be tolerated by those that enslave people.
Imagine people passing bootleg copies of Rand books around in utter secrecy and under pain of instant arrest . . . .
bttt
All of your arguments about it not measuring up to Victor Hugo or other classic novelists seem out of place for someone who never finished the book.
I don't need to read an entire book to the bitter end to form an opinion.
Unless Rand's style, characterizations and dialogue undergo some sort of radical change at a point somewhere past halfway through the book, my criticism stands.
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