Posted on 11/12/2013 11:29:26 AM PST by Publius
Who is John Galt?: A Navigational Guide to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is now available at Amazon. Click here for a link to the book. This book is the result of our first FReeper Book Club.
In recent press articles and among the general public, there is a sense that Ayn Rand’s monumental Atlas Shrugged is a prophetic work, accurately predicting the Great Recession and the path on which America’s economy and society are set. But Atlas Shrugged is a difficult book to read. Many are daunted by its extreme length, Rand’s prose style, interminable speeches where the action stops cold, the author’s atheism, and the sexuality of its characters. Rand references economists and philosophers such as Smith, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche and Aristotle without attribution. As a result, much of Rand’s message goes over the head of the average reader.
This makes it difficult for the reader to understand the main point of Rand’s book: precisely what is it that happens when Atlas shrugs, and how does a society change over the course of that event? Is it merely fiction, or is Atlas shrugging now?
The purpose of this book is to simplify the reader’s task in understanding what Rand is saying and the philosophical and economic sources she mined. With increased interest in Rand’s book on the part of book clubs, reading circles, and now a three-part movie, this book will aid casual and serious readers, book clubs, high school and college classes, moviegoers, and home-schoolers to master Rand’s work.
There are 30 chapters, each one matched to the 30 chapters Rand utilized for Atlas Shrugged. Each chapter starts with a synopsis and detailed discussion of Rand’s source material and the points she wishes to make. There may be one or more essays explaining arcane points of railroading, American society of the Fifties, or historical characters thinly disguised by Rand for the book. Rather than didactically draw open parallels to current events, each chapter closes with discussion topics posed to the reader, class or book club to encourage independent thought.
This book will be an outstanding aid to comprehending one of the most discussed books of this era.
Will it be available in Kindle?
I’d enjoy swapping points of philosophy with her, although I would always address her as Mrs. Palin or Gov. Palin, not “Sarah”, as so many FReeper do. If I called her Sarah, the next thing I’d expect to see would be Todd Palin’s fist going through my face.
Yes. Billthedrill is working out the finer points now.
She had a mega-bus and an entourage. We got a beat-up pickup and a stray cat I picked up in Boise. And some beers I threw in the back. We're gonna need one heck of an advance team...
yes, I just might suspend my reading of part three til it arrives in a few days. Finish part 3 with your book & I then will read the whole book with it
Great!
Just ordered! The excerpt alone was excellent, and I’m sure the whole thing will be! Well done!
Get the companion and Atlas Shrugged ‘lite’ (The Fountainhead). All are (or soon will be) in der kindle
KYPD
Thank you!!!
Thank you for the ping. I am excited to get and digest your work.
check my tagline. :-)
OK, great. I enjoyed reading the chapter discussions during the Book Club. Just ordered the guide.
Recently I had occasion to meet Andronico Luksic Craig, son of Andronico Luksic, who died in 2005, leaving his family fortune listed by Forbes as 35th richest in the world (1st in Chile).
I read about him and wondered if he’d served as some sort of inspiration for the character of Francisco d’Anconia. Certainly Rand would have known of Luksic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andronico_Luksic
Well, how about that. The Freeper book club produces an actual book! Will have to get this soon. Congrats on the hard work!
You may have something there. BTW, isn’t Steerpike a character in the Gormenghast trilogy?
The best book clubs produce actual books. We couldn’t have done it without our fellow FReepers.
More than that, he was the best character.
Many Might Mouse entrepreneurs who have amassed enough money to buy a place in a remote part of Tennessee might shrug, but the people at the top won't ever shrug.
All they'll do is lobby a willing government to cut them enough slack to continue to thrive in an ever more centralized and collectivist society.
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