Atlas Shrugged
I know I really should. And at times my intentions have been really good.
But then I look at all 839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds of it sitting on the coffee table....and I just can’t.
839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds
You should try it. It’s a pretty easy read despite the length. I would like to find the 800+ page version as mine is 1100 :-)
On Kindle, it weighs the same as a comic book. :)
Rand sure did want to make sure people got the point so every character gets a bit preachy. General rule of thumb is if a character has a speech that goes on longer than a page, skip the next 10. You won’t miss any plot.
Try the audiobook. I love listening to them while at work.
I read it years ago, and bought it a couple of years ago to read ago. It's sitting in the stack on my nightstand.
9. On the Origin of Species. D/L'd from Gutenberg, and that's about as far as I've gotten with it.
8. Les Miserables. Saw the pre-Lloyd Webber musical.
A Tale of Two Cities. Saw the 1930's movie.
7. 1984. Read it, and its "cousin" Brave New World.
6. Democracy in America. Always intended to...
5. Wealth of Nations. Read it.
4. Moby Dick. Read it, albeit over about four years.
3 The Art of War. Read it. Seriously. BOMC paperback.
2. The Prince. Wanted to, but obviously not badly enough.
1. Ulysses. I think I may have been given a copy, but absolutely no desire.
It took me the better part of a month to work my way through it. There are parts that you would fly through and others that drag. He gives a speech about 2/3-3/4 of the way through that is about 50 pages. If you can get through that you can get through anything. It really is worth reading.
I actually tried reading Atlas Shrugged several times back when I read a fair amount. But after reading a few pages I would decide that rearranging my sock drawer was much more important and I would put it down. Maybe someday........ at the home........ :)
I know I really should. And at times my intentions have been really good.
But then I look at all 839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds of it sitting on the coffee table....and I just can’t.
I've taken on a few books of daunting heft in the past few years, simply by purchasing the e-book or kindle versions. Just leave the giant paper copy on the bookshelf or coffee table, it looks best there anyway. The digital page count isn't nearly as off-putting.
Ploughed through "The Fountainhead" and decided enough is enough.
Atlas as with Moby are hard to get started. Democracy in America I have on my desk and has proven my foil to this point but ultimately I’ll perservere much as I just did with the Simarillion last week... again a hard start. War and Peace for me was the same but then 800 pages flew by and the last 200 seemed as long as the first 100.
My copy has over 1100 pages. Once you get to page 450, it’s all downhill from there.
Spare yourself. I finally did read it about ten years ago, and it was the biggest waste of a month of reading time I can remember. There was far too much unnessary repetition; and then some more repetition; then another 150 pages of redundancy; then more repetition.
The necessary story and points could have been condensed to 100 or so pages, and it would be a great book.
Here's the gist: Socialism is bad and destructive. Capitalism is good and constructive. Engineers and entrepeneurs deserve the wealth created from their efforts.
Oddly, Rand seemed to believe that people doing the labor to make all those ideas into reality should work for the sheer joy of working.
I've read it twice...decades between.
Reading it today, you can put names and faces on some othe the characters...all in the Obama administration.