"This is Shane Gault speaking....."
---"It took me all summer, but I finally finished Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. All 1070 pages of it. It's the longest book I have ever read..edging out Moby Dick by a good 320 pages. It is also the second best book I have ever read (The first still being Gullivers Travels)."
It does have its problems to be sure, but I have never read a book so full ( Read more... )
let it rest for a couple of months and then make yourself read Atlas Shrugged again. During that couple of months, watch people and the news to see if they exhibit some of the character traits and events shown in the different characters of Atlas Shrugged.
When you read Atlas again, pose questions to yourself first. (Don't pose more than you can track.) For example, when does it become specifically clear that the railway worker, whom Eddie chats with, is John Galt? What does the light in the bum's eyes signify? How does that light metaphor keep reappearing in the story, and in each case why? How does the content of each chapter match the chapter heading (some are tough)? What was Eddie's basic, philosophical error? Why do certain statements get the response they do?
As an example of the last question, James Taggart says, "Any grafter can make money." and Francisco responds, "Some day, Jim, you ought to discover that words have exact meanings." What kind of a response is that? What is the true meaning of the key words in what Taggart says (see Francisco's money-speech too). What is the common view of the meaning of those same words? If you see this, as and how I did, you may find yourself immediately going back to the very beginning and reading in a manner they never taught you use while in school or in University. It is a drug-free mind-altering experience.
On doing the above, and restarting that third time, see how much else you can discover. There is a good reason why people read Atlas and The Fountainhead five and six times.
All the best to any open mind,
RnBram
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