Will Atlas Shrug?

While I understand that Ayn Rand was very much the atheist, and heartily disagree with her there, I have to say that I agree with quite a lot of what she wrote about in her final novel, "Atlas Shrugged".

Some background ... a few years ago Maureen got interested in reading some dystopic novels, and asked me to read them at the same time so we could discuss them. So, for the first time, I read Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and Orwell's "1984" ... I had read Orwell's "Animal Farm". It was amazing to me to see how of what had been written in these books has come to pass in our societal make-up.

Then, someone I worked with recommended "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. He said it "changed his life and how he viewed the world." I couldn't begin to understand how a novel could change a person's outlook on society. I picked up the book (and a copy for Mom, hoping we could do a "read along" like Mo and I had done), but I just couldn't get into the book. Ok, I have to say that part of the reason is that it's a 1,100-ish page book in about 8-point type .... these old eyes just don't want to work *that* hard. So I set it aside and decided that I'd "get to it some time" down the road.

Well, lately some friends have made references to it, and I got curious again. I looked at the book again and just couldn't bring myself to read type that small. But I've read a few posts/articles here and there and see that it ranks #2 to the Bible's #1 status as books that have changed the world.

So a friend from Ravelry suggested that a bunch of us do a "read along" and I really wanted to participate ... but having had the detached retinata several years ago makes it hard for me to read that small of type for very long ... so I came up with a solution ... iTunes.

I downloaded it and am now in the third of three 10-chapter sections. And it's astounding how much I can see from this dystopic novel that is paralleled in our society today. So many attitudes and "feelings" expressed in the text of the novel are commonplace in American society. So many abuses of "the system" and "government" are evident, as they were in the novel.

People are having "tea parties" around the country in protest of the current economic stimulus "remedies", and signs are showing up in photos saying things like "Atlas Will Shrug" and "It Work Worth It?"

It's interesting that bookstores are having the Dickens of a time keeping this book on their shelves. Libraries have waiting lists for this book that are several patrons deep, all clamoring for a chance to read the borrowed copy.

It's also interesting to find that while the new book "Pocket Obama" is showing up on Amazon.com at #175,052 in sales, "Atlas Shrugged" is showing up at #45.

"Atlas Shrugged" is also show up in more frequent articles lately, such as this one in the Wall Street Journal.

So my questions are:

1.  Have you read this book?

2.  What parallels did you see in the book that mimic today?

3.  Do you see this as a cautionary tale?

4.  Do you see this as a manual on how to re-make society to be more caring?

5.  The groups pointed out in the novel are the "Looters", "Moochers", and "Producers" -- which group will eventually win in our society?

(Of course, we know that God wins in the end, but the elements of this "Randian" society depicted in the novel is what I'm getting at...)

Comments

[Nadine Bailey]

I first read Atlas Shrugged in high school, then again in my 30s and again in my 40s each read brings something new to light. My favorite part is when the to two government workers are talking to each other and one says "we have so many laws that it is hard for people to tell when they break them." the other one says " thats the idea. Make so many laws that people can't help but break one. When people are law breakers then you can control them." I live in CA where we have air boards, water boards and a coastal commission all with sets of rules to follow on top of the state laws. Ayn saw the future and it is here. We ignore her at our own peril.