Posted on 11/12/2013 11:29:26 AM PST by Publius
Who is John Galt?: A Navigational Guide to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is now available at Amazon. Click here for a link to the book. This book is the result of our first FReeper Book Club.
In recent press articles and among the general public, there is a sense that Ayn Rand’s monumental Atlas Shrugged is a prophetic work, accurately predicting the Great Recession and the path on which America’s economy and society are set. But Atlas Shrugged is a difficult book to read. Many are daunted by its extreme length, Rand’s prose style, interminable speeches where the action stops cold, the author’s atheism, and the sexuality of its characters. Rand references economists and philosophers such as Smith, Mill, Marx, Nietzsche and Aristotle without attribution. As a result, much of Rand’s message goes over the head of the average reader.
This makes it difficult for the reader to understand the main point of Rand’s book: precisely what is it that happens when Atlas shrugs, and how does a society change over the course of that event? Is it merely fiction, or is Atlas shrugging now?
The purpose of this book is to simplify the reader’s task in understanding what Rand is saying and the philosophical and economic sources she mined. With increased interest in Rand’s book on the part of book clubs, reading circles, and now a three-part movie, this book will aid casual and serious readers, book clubs, high school and college classes, moviegoers, and home-schoolers to master Rand’s work.
There are 30 chapters, each one matched to the 30 chapters Rand utilized for Atlas Shrugged. Each chapter starts with a synopsis and detailed discussion of Rand’s source material and the points she wishes to make. There may be one or more essays explaining arcane points of railroading, American society of the Fifties, or historical characters thinly disguised by Rand for the book. Rather than didactically draw open parallels to current events, each chapter closes with discussion topics posed to the reader, class or book club to encourage independent thought.
This book will be an outstanding aid to comprehending one of the most discussed books of this era.
Atlas Shrugged and Who is John Galt? should be read together at the same time.
Awesome! Will be doing that!
ROFL!
Need to put her “Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal” on the book shelf beside “Atlas” - after you’ve read it :)
bought my first copy in 1959 :)
oops - I mean first copy of “Atlas”
oops - I mean first copy of “Atlas”
Say what?
Considering that Atlas Shrugged" has been in continuous print for some 55 years and has sold over 7 million copies as of 2010 - I look at the above assumptions as akin to some contemporary artist deciding to repaint the Mona Lisa, making "improvements" so that the denser among us can better appreciate it -
peace...
(I first read "Atlas' in 1959 - I was a bit 'younger' then. but had no problem with the length, the 'sharp edges' or 'deep holes'. Well, a bit of a problem with the length in that I couldn't put it down, so lost a lot of sleep. :)
I don’t know who wrote that review. It wasn’t me (or anybody I paid).
That’s for the reply.
Bah, meant thanks. Can’t have coffee at 10:10 at night.
Thanks, Publius. Is there a hardcopy or ebook other than Kindle version available?
No, just paperback and Kindle.
Yup. Just key in “Who is John Galt” over at Amazon, and it will come up.
I'm thinking of opening an alternate Amazon account with my Groucho glasses on. "This book is teh shizzle for only liter8 rdrs LOLZORZ." I may have to work on the vernacular a little.
Kindle-ing that thing was not a happy process due to a weird bug in the conversion process that we got around by changing from the recommended PDF format to a back-revved Word one. Trial and error. You want that number to be n+1 for trials and it wasn't happening...
Thanks for the kind words, all!
A very kind review. And I didn’t even have to pay for it.
Thanks!
Taxman Bravo Zulu!
Atlas Shrugged
Synopsis,
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