On Atlas Shrugged (the book) ...

[zbdent]

I find it ironic ... I read Atlas Shrugged in my mid-late teens.

Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. (I'm in my early 50s now).

One thing I remember distinctly is that there was a 200+ monologue, boring as hell.

I was the nerd in those days ... always in a corner, reading. One of my favorites was the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Every now and then, I pick it up and read it again, for pleasure.

Now, the irony ...

All the people I knew then that "follow" the ideas of Atlas Shrugged NOW were far too busy back then drinking and partying. Even a few using illegal drugs. I know for a fact that, if they weren't required to read anything, they wouldn't. And it's damn sure they have NEVER bothered to actually read the book they are likely told is one of the greatest things since sliced bread.

[Squinch]

1. As a young girl, I found it useful because it made me stop being a people pleaser. But I assumed

that that was all it was really good for. I was shocked and disturbed in later years to learn that people thought it was applicable to anything other than teaching 14 year olds about standing up for themselves.

[Warpy]

2. Good old Cliff's Notes

They got many a Republican knowledgeable enough about that horror of a book to be able to write a C level report on it.

I also read it all the way through, although I admit I scanned the tirades that took the place of conversation in that bilious monstrosity. The rest of it required kicking and clawing, but the tirades proved too much even for me.

The ideology impressed me negatively. The only thing I wanted to know was what kind of birth control Dagny Taggart was using. Of course, getting knocked up and producing a child could never have been done. It would have destroyed the ideology right there.

Imagine Dagny Taggart with a hungry toddler clinging to her pencil skirt while she tried to deliver another protracted monologue. I did and the image had me on silly giggles as I finally finished the horrible thing.

[Hoyt]

3. The most dreary, worthless rag in print.

[onehandle]

4. Who Is John Galt?

He's a self-centered, anti-social, pathetic psychopath. Why do you ask?

[Beearewhyain]

5. Your experience is similar to mine...

and it reminds me of this quote.

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged . One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
― John Rogers

[jazzimov]

7. I LOVE that quote!

I was thinking of posting it myself. Glad you beat me to it!

[Wounded Bear]

6. I choose to misbelieve anybody...

who claims to have read that entire book. I think I may have gotten 100 pages in or so, but looking back, I doubt it.

[zbdent]

8. I read darn near everything for quite some time ... but ...

"The Silmarillion" is just too damn plodding for me now (I believe I did try to read it in my late teens/early 20s, and found it unbearable) ...

and I believe Stephen King's "Insomnia" was supposed to be a cure for the title disease.

But I used to read a lot.

Even read Rush's two lame attempts ...