Atlas Shrugged (1957) By Ayn Rand - 30 Q&As - Unbekoming Book Summary

unbeckoning.substack ^ | 1-14-26 | Unbekoming

[dynachrome]

This is not my usual fare. I typically summarize books that expose institutional capture, medical corruption, or the mechanisms by which official narratives diverge from observable reality. Atlas Shrugged is not that kind of book. It is a novel—a thousand-page philosophical novel published in 1957 about railroads and steel mills and a mysterious man who stops the motor of the world. It came up recently in conversation with a close friend, and I realized that despite its enormous cultural footprint, almost no one I know has actually read it. They know the name Ayn Rand. They have opinions about her. But they have not sat with the book itself.

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TOPICS: Books/Literature; Chit/Chat; Reference
KEYWORDS: atlasshrugged; aynrand

[dynachrome]

A long essay and overview on "Atlas Shrugged". A lot of similarities to the current world.

[dynachrome]

Question 26: What is Directive 10-289 and what are its effects on the economy?

Answer: Directive 10-289 is an emergency order issued by Wesley Mouch that attempts to freeze the economy in place. Its provisions include: no worker may leave their current job; no employer may discharge any employee; no business may close or relocate; no new business may be opened; no new products may be invented or manufactured without government approval; all patents and copyrights are to be transferred to the government; all wages, prices, and profits are frozen at their current levels; and all citizens must spend the same amount of money as they spent in the previous year. The stated purpose is to stabilize an economy in freefall by forbidding the movements that constitute freefall. The actual effect is to guarantee that no adaptation to circumstances is possible.

[Macoozie]

You’ve done it now.

The Objectivists are gonna screech.
The Anti-Randians are gonna screech.

Too early for popcorn . . .

[Macoozie]

sorry, got this after I posted.

“almost no one I know has actually read it”

I find that kind of hard to believe.
You really do need to surround yourself with a broader group of folks.

[omni-scientist]

What I find interesting is that what is happening in California and NYC is beginning to look like Atlas Shrugged on a smaller scale. Does it grow bigger?

And yes, I have read the book, many years ago.

[DeplorablePaul]

I began reading Atlas Shrugged in 1973. I'm almost done. Kidding aside, there is actually a three part movie adaption of Atlas Shrugged. It's available on streaming services. A major distraction is that Dagney is played by three different actresses. There is a surprising cast of I would guess libertarian actors.

[cpdiii]

I realized that despite its enormous cultural footprint, almost no one I know has actually read it. They know the name Ayn Rand. They have opinions about her. But they have not sat with the book itself.

I read it 50 years ago and it had great influence on my life.

[Tijeras_Slim]

ping

[JBW1949]

I read the book...Extremely interesting...

[Psalm 73]

"...almost no one I know has actually read it."

Well that's just sad - one should choose acquaintances better.

Atlas Shrugged is NOT a literary classic like Shakespeare or Tolstoy, but it's a CULTURAL classic. Most people I know have read it.

[cgbg]

I read the book when I was sixteen years old.

It gave me the “intellectual ammunition” to know when my college professors were lying.

They were lying a lot.

My favorite lie came from the Economics 1 professor on the subject of the national debt.

“We owe it to ourselves.”

[DIRTYSECRET]

Think of the NYC cops in the same position as John Galt. Will they shrugg? Why hasn’t anyone named their daughter Dagny? Heck of a role model.

Rand seemed mildly obsessed with sex as in the rape in Fountainhead and Dagny having 3 male paramours. Could she have been frustrated or did she put those scenes in for effect?

[Reily]

As I remember there was enormous push back by Hollyweird on the actor\actresses careers that participate in this trilogy. There was an active effort to prevent and discourage its release.
As a consequence the quality after the first suffered. The first was quite good, the second was “meh”, the third was awful! It was obvious it was by design!

[Antihero101607]

I’ve seen the first two of the movie adaptations and the casting thing kind of got to me a little bit, especially with Hank Rearden. Patrick Fabian was a pretty good choice for James Taggart, and I especially appreciated Armin Shimmerman (Quark Star Trek DS9, also voiced Andre Ryan in BioShock) being cast in a minor role.

[Reily]

Thanks to our multimedia\podcast culture and incompetent K12 education reading is discouraged.

[cgbg]

The joke among some followers of Rand was that her best book was read by nobody—her worst book was read by many millions.

(Her best book was this one—I would be very impressed if anyone here had even heard of it—much less read it:

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Objectivist-Epistemology-Expanded-Second/dp/0452010306)

[DeplorablePaul]

Yep. It was produced on a shoe string budget. I agree with your assessment part one was pretty good. The subsequent Dagneys got dumpier and dumpier.

[Vermont Lt]

She had me up to the 30 page monologue. That thing was like trudging uphill in waist deep snow with a 40 mile an hour wind in your face.

[Dixie Yooper]

there is actually a three part movie adaption of Atlas Shrugged.

Never read the book, but I did manage to sit through all 3 parts of the movie. There are 3 movies I have sat through in my life that had me not caring about who won or lost by the time the credits were rolling. Heaven's Gate, To Live and Die In L.A., and Atlas Shrugged. To give Atlas Shrugged credit, it was made while Democrat's had control of practically everything. Anyone who had anything to do with making it was threated in ever way possible and punished professionally.

[Night Hides Not]

Agree with your take on the trilogy. Part 3 was a major disappointment, Hank Rearden was a nonentity.