Atlas Shrugged

by purplesofa 39 Replies latest jw friends

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  purplesofa

  I finished reading "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand yesterday. Like reading Crisis of Conscience it will forever alter the way I look at many many things.

  This paragraph is only a small part in this amazing book, if you ever have a chance to read this book, try. It's about a thousand pages, you can't just skim through.

  I just want to share this......

  "What is the nature of the guilt that your teachers call his Original Sin? What are the evils man acquired when he fell from a state they consider perfection? Their myth declares that he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge-he acquired a mind and became a rational being. It was the knowledge of good and evil-he became a moral being. He was sentenced to earn his bread by his labor-he became a productive being. He was sentenced to experience desire-he acquired the capacity of sexual enjoyment. The evils for which they damn him are reason, morality, creativeness, joy-all the cardinal values of his existance. It is not his vices that their myth of man's fall is designed to explain and condemn, it is not his errors that they hold as his guilt, but the essence of his nature as man. Whatever he was-that robot in the Garden of Eden, who existed without a mind, without values, without labor, without love-he was not man."

  What do you think?

  purps
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  John Doe

  I loved the book. I think it should be required reading for students.
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  Robdar

  Loved the book and it altered the way I look at many things too. The only problem I have with the story is that Ayn Rand tends to run on and on and on and on to get her points across. John Galt's radio address could have been 5 pages shorter in my opinion.
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  purplesofa

  The only problem I have with the story is that Ayn Rand tends to run on and on and on and on to get her points across. John Galt's radio address could have been 5 pages shorter in my opinion.

  about going on and on.......i kept thinking as I was reading some of the dialog.......that NO ONE talks like this ever!!!

  about John Galts radio address.........Later he mentions it took three hours. I suppose when the book was written, radio was the main communication and people did not have much to do and could sit that long and listen. It was just so much to digest.

  purps
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  Dagney

  Yep. Read twice. So many people I respected begged me to read it. Maybe as a response to my preaching about a "Cocoon-like" Utopian paradise for so many years. **sigh**

  It's been quite a few years since I read it, but my name here is take on the heroine's name.

  Who is John Galt?
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  John Doe

  From wikipedia:

  John Galt is one of the main characters in Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.

  An engineer by trade, Galt is the male hero of the story; [1] his actions include withdrawing his talents, 'stopping the motor of the world', and leading the 'strikers' against the 'looters'.

  The question "Who is John Galt?" is asked repeatedly throughout the story. Despite rumors and legends, the identity of the actual Galt is learned only after a prolonged search by Dagny Taggart, the female heroic character, with whom Galt has a romantic relationship. Galt is the same character as the Mystery Worker.

  or, as I suspect, were you being sarcastic? ;-)
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  purplesofa

  Dagney,

  I thought so about your name!!!!!! Cool.

  Who do you think should play some of the characters in the book????

  purps
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  tinker

  I read Atlas Shrugged several years ago at the suggestion of our friend here on JWD, Dagney. You will recognize that main character. It is unlike any book I'd ever read. While the story is layered and interesting that is not what keeps you reading. It was the insights of passages such as you quoted that had me reading certain pages over and over. I started keeping a highlighted at hand to mark parts that made me go 'ah ha' It is one of those book I plan to read again. Thanks for the reminder.
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  SixofNine

  "Like reading Crisis of Conscience it will forever alter the way I look at many many things."

  .

  Such as?
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  purplesofa

  Such as?

  The inner goings on of how people think and come to decisions. COC gave insight on the governing body and the way the ran things. Atlas Shrugged, while we see many movies about corrupt and idiotic government and politics, Rand clearly showed how man is where he is from not thinking. As did Franz.

  But it's not just that, I wish I was able to formulate in words what is in my head, I am just not good at it. I had those aha moments whle reading Atlas Shrugged as I did with COC.

  I felt more confident, energized, free from reading both books.

  I understand more that I have been an observer of life, but after reading AS, I wanted to become active, in what I don't know. LIFE, I suppose.

  purps