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Atlas Shrugged *chunky read*
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Laura
(new)
Jul 30, 2010 08:11AM
Plus it's a bigger book, so the font size is pretty much the same as most books.
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OK ... found out who John Galt is!Why is this book so irresistible?
no worries. Just tryin to get you laggarts to catch up to me lol.
Mod
Our reading assignment for this week is Part 2, Chapters 1-3. :o)
Part 2, Chapter 10. I started out behind, so I was reading fast to catch up to you guys, then I got so into the story, I couldn't stop. Now it seems like I can't stop, even though I'd like to. The last time I felt like this w/a book was Twilight. Book Crack!
We are reading as fast as we can, Laura. So, in the meantime grab yourself a copy of Mudbound and join Shay and I in a discussion on it.The book is FANTASTIC!!!
I think I have the same copy as you Laura - a bit larger than trade size, same number of pages and a reasonable font size. But I do wish it wasn't so hard to hold.
I really loved this :Reardon is the Atlas holding up the country's economic system.
and
Morality is the most powerful weapon that evil men wield in their war against good.
The best is yet to come.....Book Three!
Something like Congress passing a health care bill because it is good or us but not good for them, I think, Meg.
Laura wrote: "OK ... found out who John Galt is!Why is this book so irresistible?"
:) :) :) :) :) He does what he says he would do, doesn't he?
heehee! I'm zipping the lip, but let me just say that Book Three gets even better! :)
It's so funny, Marialyce, I thought I'd be barely able to keep up the Chunky schedule on this book, but it's completely captivated me. I'm still blown away, after almost two weeks of reading.
Are you surprised at your reaction to the book?
I am surprised at my reaction, but Laura, I am shocked at yours!!!!
I am actually. I was intimidated by the length and small text, but I am having such a reaction to writing of over 50 years ago that I am blown away by it. It is frightening for me sometimes to read what can be interpreted as happening now in our time. Was Ayn Rand being prophetic? Was her vision our present?
Or does history repeat itself and run in cycles?
Meg wrote: "I am surprised at my reaction, but Laura, I am shocked at yours!!!!"lol Meg, no more shocked than I am! I didn't even wanna read this once I found out how coughcoughrightwingcoughcough it was, but CRAP it's awesome! It's almost like going to college and taking Philosophy, Business & Econ 101.
Marialyce - It's crazy wild how relevant this is and at times, prophetic too! And Nancy I do think history repeats itself. Just like everything else in life is so based on cycles. Everything, if you think about it. The seasons, the moon, our bodies, everything.
Oh I really have to read a lot to get there, Laura. Only up to Chapter 4 in Book 2, but I promise to get crackin! You are going to LOVE
Far From The Madding Crowd
Yay I can't wait for Madding, thanks Marialyce! You're getting there!!!
Laura,Do you have a Kindle? They are giving free downloads on all the classics.I downloaded 29 classics for nada!
I'm a booksniffer Marialyce, I just can't see buying a Kindle. Maybe if I carried a new book w me so I could sniff it all the time. I love the smell of new books!Do you have to pay a monthly fee just to have wireless service on a kindle? I have thought about it from time to time. And I love the classics, so it would make sense for me.
No, we do not pay a fee, but we do have wireless in the house so I am not sure if that effects the connection. I know I just switch it onto wireless and download the books. You could always keep a new book near you for the scent of the words!
We have wireless too. I'm gonna have to think about this!! Plus, can't you change the typeface and the size of the print too? That's another big plus.
Yes, you can and you can turn the kindle in a position that you are comfortable with either vertically or horizontally. It adjusts automatically. Another good thing is that many new books are available and you can download the first chapter for free and see if you like it. Bestsellers are usually $9.99 on it. ...not to mention that the books that weigh a million pounds weigh nothing on the kindle.
OK Marialyce, list the classics you downloaded. I am having trouble finding them. Laura no fees for using kindle. And now you can also put it directly on your pc. It so awesome.
Which one do you guys have, the 6" screen or the larger one? And do you have trouble reading outside in the sun?
Ok Here they are:A Christmas Carol, The Life and Most Surprising Times of Robin Hood,
Moby Dick or, the Whale, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Phantom of the Opera, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Crime and Punishment, The Scarlet Letter, War and Peace, Dracula, Far From the Madding Crowd, The Age of innocence, The Book of the Dead, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Vanity Fair, The People of the Mist, Leviathan, Middlemarch, Treasure Island, The First Men in the Moon, Kidnapped, The Man Who Would Be King, The Sea Wolf, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Call of the Wild.
They had more, Meg, I have all the Bronte and Austen books already so I didn't download those. My husband and I share the Kindle so some are for him.
Ah, The Call of the Wild. I love that one.Sorry, off topic.
Mod
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...
And here are links to the free books on Amazon that Jenny posted on another thread here on CoL
Free Classics for kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=2245146011
Promotional Books for free (limited time):
http://www.amazon.com/s/?node=2279458011
Top 100 free books (right column)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/...
This week's reading oh boy. We are all in for a big ride now.
I took my book to Florida, and the truth is that it was a little to heavy for the beach. I read something else while in there and read the book on the plane. I am at 50%. It is hard to remember what chapter I am in on the Kindle since I can't just look back, and that is why I am staying away from the spoiler thread.I am surprised I am enjoying this long book so much. The theme is a complicated one and can be dry at some times, but the characters are so alive, that it grabs me.
I agree with you Elena. Do not worry about posting if you are further than the suggested read. Everyone seems to be much further ahead, except me, but that is great. I am glad you are enjoying the book. If there are any complicated parts that you have questions about feel free. I find that when I read a chapter that is more complicated and I feel I missed out, I review with cliff notes. It helps me a bit because some of the political parts are pretty deep.
It is complicated in the sense that you have to think while reading to get the meaning of what is being said. I felt like being back at my economics class in college!I love when Rearden talks about love!
I think Rearden's idea of love is amazing. His love of the industry and Dagny and how he is so torn. Rand does a great job with the character development of these two.
I'm getting close to the end, but i'd like to go back through with the Cliffs notes, Meg, I think that's a great idea. Some of the philosophy stuff is a bit beyond me, but frankly I think one of the reasons this resonates w me so much is I was an Accounting major. So I took Business 101, as well as Economics 101, and just happened to take Philosophy 101 and Ethics. Really and truthfully, I bet colleges are teaching this book as a course. If they're not, they should be because it crosses so many disciplines. Toms to discuss!
*tons, sorry can't edit from the phone
I, too, am not ahead, Meg. I find I need to take this novel in small doses.A part that intrigued me was when Dr Ferris and Reardon are discussing laws. "Do you really think that we want those laws to be observed ...We want them broken. ...We're after power ...The only power the government has is to crack down on criminals. Well when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. "
Ferris calls it cashing in on guilt. I found this so very fascinating and wonder what everyone's thoughts are on it.
Francisco's speech at the wedding was amazing. It went a long way in validating the whole capitalist philosophy. Then the conversation between he and Rearden in the third chapter was powerful. Followed by the sudden accident that derails the conclusion to that discussion - pun intended... foreshadowing some truths about Francisco.
Cashing in on guilt - oh boy!! YES, I see people USING others' sense of obligation and morality to their advantage. But then again don't you think that sometimes that is the ultimate conflict in our society? Our inability to clarify or separate what is good for society from what is good for ourselves, and then identify a fair means to achieving that. I think that is what our partisan fighting is all about. Ideally we want the same thing, but we can't agree on the methods, nor honestly see the short or long term effects of those means. Sometimes that conflict and blindness is within ourselves. We think what we believe is for the good of all, when in reality it is self serving. I probably don't make sense. That is my optomistic, naive view of the average middle American. Then there are all those who are part of that complicated web of influence and pull. This country is SO large and business so vast that it is hard to begin to decifer all the lies and corruption.
a few interesting links re: academia/Atlas:http://chronicle.com/article/Atlas-Sh...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...
Check out this course! I'll have to download Real Player to view it though - a chapter-by-chapter discussion of Atlas!
http://aynrandnovels.com/novels/atlas...
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