Atlas Shrugged and 1984

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trekrok

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If this has been beaten to death somewhere, please forgive the new thread.

I've read both books but have Atlas queued for a re-read. If anyone hasn't read them I'd encourage you to do so - they are thought provoking for what's going on in the world, IMO. If you are over 40 and reading Atlas in paperback, I also recommend upping the magnification on your readers.

I watched both parts of the Atlas movie semi-recently, but was pretty disappointed. I definitely think spending the time on the book is worth it, even if it is a commitment.
 

Forgalspop

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After posting the reply about Unintended Consequences, I realized it was somewhat a caviler response. I enjoy holding a book in my hand and if the book is good reading slowly. If I read a book on the computer I tend to read way too fast and miss salient points. My wife on the other hand reads predominately on her IPad. The book Unintended Consequences has been recommended to me by others and has been on my list of must reads. I did download the PDF copy and if I can't find an inexpensive copy, I'll read it on my computer.

Where is John Galt when we need him?
 

zghorner

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atlas shrugged was pretty bad especially in comparison to the fountainhead and we the living.

Every single "good" character in AS is the exact same...Dagney, Rearden, Frisco JG, etc...they are the exact same character only with a different name. and JGs never ending 60 page speech was mind numbing and i really love Ayn's (Pronounced EYE+n for anyone curious) philosophy. Objectivism and the virtue of selfishness are both incredible...essentially the exact opposite of Socialism/communism. Her belief is that the focus should be on the individual...its all up the the individuals to improve themselves and in so doing, your family, friends, community, the world will benefit. Whereas something like communism focuses on the collective...the individual should be sacrificed for the good of the collective...we should give all of our wages away to the government via taxes so they can distribute evenly amongst the slave class.
 

zghorner

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On a related note, where are people buying books around the metro? Are there any non-specialty local stores in existence anymore?

I'm inflicting some economic pain on Amazon by not buying from them when I can avoid it.
I download PDFs and read them on my tablet via "google play books" app. Free most of the time especially since i read older stuff.
 

trekrok

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atlas shrugged was pretty bad especially in comparison to the fountainhead and we the living.

Every single "good" character in AS is the exact same...Dagney, Rearden, Frisco JG, etc...they are the exact same character only with a different name. and JGs never ending 60 page speech was mind numbing and i really love Ayn's (Pronounced EYE+n for anyone curious) philosophy. Objectivism and the virtue of selfishness are both incredible...essentially the exact opposite of Socialism/communism. Her belief is that the focus should be on the individual...its all up the the individuals to improve themselves and in so doing, your family, friends, community, the world will benefit. Whereas something like communism focuses on the collective...the individual should be sacrificed for the good of the collective...we should give all of our wages away to the government via taxes so they can distribute evenly amongst the slave class.

I certainly wouldn't call Atlas bad but agree there are stretches of the book that could have been condensed. I don't think there are many that will read it and not think it was time well spent.
 

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