Chicks On Lit discussion
Archive 08-19 GR Discussions
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Atlas Shrugged *chunky read*
Mod
Me too, Meg. I have it on reserve at the library.
Does anyone have a copy that doesn't have teensy print? If so, can you tell me who the publisher is?
Laura wrote: "Does anyone have a copy that doesn't have teensy print? If so, can you tell me who the publisher is?"Laura, you can get it on kindle. Even if you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free PC version. I would think you could then adjust the size of the type to suit your needs. Perhaps someone else can confirm this.
Looks like we have some new people joining. This is wonderful to see. Thanks Tera and Meg for all your hard work. I heart the chunky group.
okay this is an insanely long book.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Laura wrote: "Does anyone have a copy that doesn't have teensy print? If so, can you tell me who the publisher is?"Laura, you can get it on kindle. Even if you don't have a Kindle, you can dow..."
Thanks Elizabeth, but I do want to read the book, not be chained to my computer to read it. I appreciate the idea tho.
I don't blame you Laura. I'm not ready for electronic books, may never be. I just thought it an option. Will keep my eyes (and ears) open for you.
Thanks! My library's got the paperback, which is a couple of inches thick, and the print is veeery small. I could do it probably for a couple of hundred pages, but after that, I'm not so sure.
Wow! My library has this on downloadable audiobook - and CD book! 55 and a half hours....WOAH! But that could definitely help!
Mod
I'm not looking for large print, but the copy I saw was the smallest print I've ever seen in a book. Maybe the book / audio / back to book thing would work.
Oh, yikes. $18.99 for the Kindle version? That's absolutely ridiculous!
Tera wrote: "I think a large print version of this book would require a consumer warning for lifting with your legs not back and/or requiring a back brace while handling"hahahaha, that's funny Tera :)
LoL Tera. I was thinking maybe I could to arm curls with it for my workout.
I am very excited that there is so much interest in this chunky. this will be really fun, we do it slow and before you know it you are done!
I am reading this book with the group come hell or high water. I loved The Fountainhead and have heard that this is the book Rand wanted The Fountainhead to be. I'm in the process of rereading The Fountainhead so that I can compare the two.
Britt☮ wrote: "Oh, yikes. $18.99 for the Kindle version? That's absolutely ridiculous!"Yes! The sony price is the same. I even tried books on board and fictionwise and there was no difference. I may have to see if an online library has it!
Just ordered it from the library. Looking forward to reading it with everyone.
Mod
Hi there, how do you choose the chunky read? I've never seen any polls for it.
Thanks for that information Anna, if anyone still needs a copy.We do have polls for our reads. Sometimes if the polls are close we just do the runner up next. Why? Do you have a request? We haven't picked one for after Atlas Shrugged.
Very excited to read Atlas Shrugged. I adored The Fountainhead as a teen but never got around to this one.I do have a suggestion for a future Chunky: David Copperfield. I love Dickens but never have been able to get through this monster on my own.
... or perhaps The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Atlas Shrugged will be good because it is more than just a good story. Having read both David Copperfield and The Woman in White, I would hope we would pick something that could offer more discussion.
Mod
Another possible chunky is Ulysses, by James Joyce.
So far we have done:War and Peace
East of Eden
Vanity Fair
Middlemarch
Cloudsplitter
The Count of Monte Cristo
I don't think I have forgotten any?
Mod
Well, I for one am looking forward to Atlas Shrugged. Thank you Meg!
I'll second The Forsyte Saga since I recently bought it.
Mod
So, double thank you to Meg for helping us all tackle these "chunkies".
I am so happy that you are all planning on joining in. I hope everyone has the book by our start date!
Meg wrote: "Thanks for that information Anna, if anyone still needs a copy.We do have polls for our reads. Sometimes if the polls are close we just do the runner up next. Why? Do you have a request? We h..."
Nope, just curious on how they were picked!
Actually I just thought of one: The Pillars of the Earth - I haven't read it but everyone who has recommends it.
I have read Pillars and its sequel, totally awesome books!
Yes we also read East of Eden and the Count of Monte Cristo, which I add to the above list.
Some background googled information:Twentieth-century culture spawned the most oppressive dictatorships in human history. The Fascists in Italy, the National Socialists (Nazis) in Germany, and the Communists — first in Russia and later in China and elsewhere — seriously threatened individual freedom throughout the world. Ayn Rand lived through the heart of this terrifying historical period. In fact, when she started writing Atlas Shrugged in 1946, the West had just achieved victory over the Nazis. For years, the specter of national socialism had haunted the world, exterminating millions of innocent people, enslaving millions more, and threatening the freedom of the entire globe. The triumph of the free countries of the West over Naziism was achieved at an enormous cost in human life. However, it left the threat of communism unabated.
Ayn Rand was born in Russia in 1905 and witnessed firsthand the Bolshevik Revolution, the Communist conquest of Russia, and the political oppression that followed. Even after her escape from the Soviet Union and her safe arrival in the United States, she kept in close touch with family members who remained there. But when the murderous policies of Joseph Stalin swallowed the Soviet Union, she lost track of her family. From her own life experiences, Ayn Rand knew the brutal oppression of Communist tyranny.
During the last days of World War II and in the years immediately following, communism conquered large portions of the world. Soviet armies first rolled through the countries of Eastern Europe, setting up Russian "satellite" nations in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere. Communists then came to power in China and North Korea and launched an invasion of South Korea. Shortly thereafter, communism was also dominant in Cuba, on America's doorstep. In the 1940s and 1950s, communism was an expanding military power, threatening to engulf the free world.
This time period was the height of the Cold War — the ideological battle between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union ruled its empire in Eastern Europe by means of terror, brutally suppressing an uprising by Hungarian freedom fighters in 1956. The Russians developed the atomic bomb and amassed huge armies in Eastern Europe, threatening the free nations of the West. Speaking at the United Nations, Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev vowed that communism would "bury" the West. Like the Nazis in the 1930s, communists stood for a collectivist political system: one in which an individual is morally obliged to sacrifice himself for the state. Intellectual freedom and individual rights, cherished in the United States and other Western countries, were in grave danger.Foreign military power was not the only way in which communism threatened U.S. freedom. Collectivism was an increasingly popular political philosophy among American intellectuals and politicians. In the 1930s, both national socialism and communism had supporters among American thinkers, businessmen, politicians, and labor leaders. The full horror of Naziism was revealed during World War II, and support for national socialism dwindled in the United States as a result. But communism, in the form of Marxist political ideology, survived World War II in the United States. Many American professors, writers, journalists, and politicians continued to advocate Marxist principles. When Ayn Rand was writing Atlas Shrugged, many Americans strongly believed that the government should have the power to coercively redistribute income and to regulate private industry. The capitalist system of political and economic freedom was consistently attacked by socialists and welfare statists. The belief that an individual has a right to live his own life was replaced, to a significant extent, by the collectivist idea that individuals must work and live in service to other people. Individual rights and political freedom were threatened in American politics, education, and culture.
"...many Americans strongly believed that the government should have the power to coercively redistribute income and to regulate private industry".... I think perhaps here, history is trying to repeat itself.I am old enough to remember the fear we had as kids of communism and the bomb. We had bomb drills in school in which we hid under our desks (as if that would have protected us!) It was scary and frightening for us as children.
I guess we are in the same age group because I remember those times as well. I did read this and think, hmmmmmmmmmmm sounds familiar
I was also thinking this sounds very familiar. Marialyce I remember 'bomb drills' too, except we were timed as to how fast it took us to get home. And anyone who couldn't do it in X amount of time was retained at school I guess. Of course some neighbors had bomb shelters in their basements stocked with supplies. We didn't have anything but perhaps a walk-in closet. Dad figured we'd be toast anyway. My kids just roll their eyes at these stories. How naive we were then as to destructive power of radiation!
Hi Meg and Nancy,Wow! I am so jealous, you got to go home on your bomb drills. We had to stay in school hiding and not talking at all during the drill. I do know that after 9/11 we had to have "evacuation" drills in school. (I was a teacher then!) NY State requires you have three a year. Of course my school evacuated at 3:05 (regular dismissal was at 3:30 and we had to stay until then) Don't let those teachers have five extra minutes.
I picked up Atlas Shrugged yesterday at the library. I also got a very strong pair of dollar store reading glasses. That print is minuscule for sure. I was surprised to see it is a Young Adult book. At any rate, it looks fascinating. So looking forward to reading and discussing it.
Marialyce - Laughing about your five mintue comment - I'm a teacher too. The only kind of drill we are required to do is a fire drill once a month and a tornado drill (OF COURSE!) in the spring. We have also done lock-down drills, but the evaculation plan hasn't been 'refreshed' or rehearsed since early post 9/11 days.
My husband always says put two teachers in a room (or on the internet) they could talk forever. I am sure we could compare notes on the "humane" treatment of teachers.
Meg wrote: "Ha ha I can join that discussion too!"Absolutely, Meg!
I'm hearin' ya! I would just like time to go to the bathroom. It has seriously not been a good thing in my case to refrain from drinking water during the day because there is no time (and my control aint what it used to be!). Then I make up for it in the evening and am up and down at night. Of course that's probably half an age thing. I used to be good at this!
Nancy.. shame on you teachers should not need to go to the bathroom after all you can go on your 30 minute lunch if your principal hasn't called you in for some inane thing or you MUST return a parent phone call.
Chicks On Lit
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July 18 - Discuss Chapters 1-6 read Chapters 7-10
July 25 - Discuss Chapters 7-10 read Part Two Chapters 1-3
August 1 - Discuss Chapters 1-3 read Chapters 4-7
August 8 - Discuss Chapters 4-7 read Chapters 8-10
August 15 - Discuss Chapters 8-10 Part Three read Chapters 1-3
August 22 - Discuss Chapters 1-3 Read Chapters 4-6
August 29 - Discuss Chapters 4-6 Read Chapters 7-8
September 5 - Discuss Chapters 7-8 Finish Book
September 12 Discuss book pick next chunky
Hope you can all read with us, enjoy the next few weeks
My new copy just arrived!