You're viewing a single thread.
Back when I was in junior high in the early 1980s, I found a copy of Atlas Shrugged on my father's bookshelf, and started reading it. I can't remember how far I got into it, but I do remember thinking it was just awful in just about every way: story, writing, pacing, everything.
I asked Dad about it, "Oh, that. It's terrible, isn't it?" A friend had given it to him. Neither one of us finished reading it and after that it ended up at a book reseller.
On the plus side, he'd gone through his books and gave me James Clavell's Shogun to read, which was an awesome novel.The audiobook isn't so bad. It's certainly 64hrs of audio... And took me 3 months.
That's how I ingested it. I did it on work related cross country drives at 1.3x speed. It was... underwhelming and made me ask "What the hell is this?" and "She can't seriously see the world like this, right?" many, many times.
I like to fall asleep listening to audiobooks, except they have to be kinda dull otherwise I get actually invested. You may have just picked my next one!
By the by, everything that the rich do in that book is what the workers have the power to do today. Corps are too big to stop. They don't just "retreat" from society. Eventually, everyone will quit them, not the other way around. One does not reap the benefits of a society they do not partake in. Otherwise, I liked the drama, and the characters are well-written imho.
the characters are well-written imho.
I hate to break it to you, but the characters in Atlas Shrugged are famously one-dimensional. They're terrible caricatures who are 100% good or bad. They never develop or learn anything new about themselves.
It's obvious who's good and bad from page 1, which makes the massive length even more ridiculous. It could have been a pamphlet that said "money good, helping people bad".
The best possible book review is just a recycled quote from Billy Madison:
"what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
Was your father an English teacher? That's how I ended up reading those books around that age. Add some Hesse and the Gulag Archipelago and we may be related.
I tried reading it twice and didn't finish either time.
The only other book I struggled with was Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The travel-log sections were entertaining, and the relationship with his son was interesting, but the discussions on the nature of quality were completely lost on me.
I did get through Zen on the second attempt because I thought it was worth it. I saw no value in Atlas Shrugged at all.
Shogun is a good one. My favourite book for a long time, and it currently sits on my bedside table for a second read. I’m just amazed that you mentioned it.
I remember not picking up another book for some time after finishing Shogun. I wanted to hang onto it as long as I could. It's epic.