[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Altas Shrugged (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/23/2009 7:56:26 AM EDT
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I'm reading Altas Shurgged currently and I'm having a hard time getting into it. Anyone else have this problem? other books I have read recently (Alas Babylon was the last one) I got through in a weekend, but I have been reading Atlas for 2 weeks and only have 150 pages done! Not my usual pace.
Any suggestions? LOL J- |
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stick with it. the love story is complete filler as if needed any filler.
I have to agree. 1500 pages is a tire chock. Rand needed notes from hemmingway on gettting to the damn point. but it's a good book though. Personally, I read Anthem before AS/ The Fountainhead at the suggestions of the hive. Anthem is much shorter, still rambles a bit,(Randish) but you could finish it in week, if you need to. But it still radiates with the same general themes and engrains you to the world of "Randism". |
| I just finished AS last week. Probably took longer than any book I've read( and I read a lot). Was it a good book? Yes. Could it have been a hell of a lot shorter and still been as good? Yes. It got a bit bogged down for me during the 2nd book. All in all I'm glad I took the time to read it. Keep at it you'll get through it. Who is John Galt? |
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I'll have to respectfully disagree with the general consensus to this point. Its length and drudging read (even if tedious at times) is intended to help the reader identify with the characters and their struggles. If the story's challenges and conclusions were quick in coming in order to satisfy our short story/a.d.d. attention spans, how could we understand the consistent Sisyphean tasks and frustrations the characters endure?
Of course it's long, often cheesy, depressing and discouraging... but never more appropriate and relevant in our Obama-socialist times. It's the greatest testimonial for the power and value of man. Jefferson would be proud. Stick with the book, identify with the characters, relate it to our current issues, roll through any lame parts, and it'll change your life as it did mine. This is the greatest book I've ever read, and I've read quite a few. 
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me. |
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me.
clancy is a far better writer than rand ever dreamt of being |
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It took me a few weeks to get through Atlas Shrugged; I have a very high reading speed, and at times, I was in 4-Low slogging through AS. At times, I felt like I was
back in graduate school...but it was worth it, though, as have been all the other Ayn Rand books I've read (Fountainhead, Anthem, We The Living). I really liked Atlas Shrugged, though I think I enjoyed the story more in Fountainhead. In my opinion, there's really no comparison with Alas Babylon (which I liked very much),though both are very worthwhile reading. Keep at it; the end result is worth the effort! David |
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It's been a few years since I read AS, but IIRC, there's about a 50 page section way, way far into the book (3/4 of the way, perhaps?)
where one of Rand's characters lays out the outline of Objectivism, her philosophy. That section bored me to tears...but slogging through it was worth it, as well. It was only the one section, though. Just forewarning, so you're forearmed. Keep at it, you'll be glad you did. I've got all my copies of Rand's books loaned out right now, or I might start re-reading it myself. David |
| I read it and thought it was a great book. I consider myself an average reader and it took me the better part of 10 months to get through it. IIRC I think I did take a breather, or two, and read some short books in there somewhere. Overall, I think it is a great story. My children will be required to read this one day, but that'll be several years down the road! LOL! |
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I agree with this perspective. I have a (relatively unknown) book of Rand's short fiction, and it's remarkable how quickly she comes to the point when she wants to. When she writes in a more "drudging" style, it is intentional.
Its length and drudging read (even if tedious at times) is intended to help the reader identify with the characters and their struggles. If the story's challenges and conclusions were quick in coming in order to satisfy our short story/a.d.d. attention spans, how could we understand the consistent Sisyphean tasks and frustrations the characters endure? |
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I've been meaning to read this book for several years, now, and I finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago. I'm currently 400+ pages into it, and it is definitely a challenging read. I agree, however, that Rand's writing style is intentionally designed to help the reader identify with, and fully understand the difficulties the characters have to face. This seems to be a story than cannot be rushed, but rather, must be carefully and fully absorbed. I suspect the end result will be well worth the journey.
Good reading. |
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I've been meaning to read this book for several years, now, and I finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago. I'm currently 400+ pages into it, and it is definitely a challenging read. I agree, however, that Rand's writing style is intentionally designed to help the reader identify with, and fully understand the difficulties the characters have to face. This seems to be a story than cannot be rushed, but rather, must be carefully and fully absorbed. I suspect the end result will be well worth the journey. Good reading. If you're 400+ pages into it now the story should be flowing pretty well. I took much more interest after I was a few hundred pages into it. Once I tuned into her writing style the words flowed better for me. Enjoy the book! It's a wonderful read! |
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For a book written in the 40s, it is timeless in its message.
The language, the grammar, syntax, the cadence and tone –– even the sentence structure –– are from a bygone age. Almost like reading the first English language translations of an Alexandre Dumas novel. This explains the difficulty of getting beyond the reading and to the story. Keep at it. |
| Started it on Friday. I'm through the Part 1, Non-Contradiction. So about 300+ pages. I should have it finished in about 2 weeks looking at my schedule. I like the story but there are parts that are really tough to read through. The HEAVY dose of philosophy I find I have to read 2 or 3 times to grasp at the many points to fully comprehend. What I do like about the length though, is the way Rand allows the socialist view to express its viewpoint through the characters of the book. This serves to educate the reader on the opposing forces that stand in the way to success. Though I haven't finished the book, I'm guessing this is also for the point of the letting the socialist view hang itself... |
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me.
clancy is a far better writer than rand ever dreamt of being Bwahahahaha! You've got to be kidding, right? The issue that contemporary readers have with Ayn Rand's literature is two-fold. 1) We tend to forget that she was a Russian immigrant, writing in a non-native tongue. Considering the length of Tolstoi's work, TRANSLATED from Russian, I think her tomes are actually models of brevity, when compared to typical Russian literature. 2) WE all tend to suffer from ADD-like symptoms due to the MTV/youtube/popular fiction nature of our society. Rand wrote in a time when people still ENJOYED reading, and her writing should be read in that light. That being said, I've read it three times, and it's never taken me more than a week, despite stellar retention of the underlying concepts and character names and roles, if not exact quotes. |
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me.
clancy is a far better writer than rand ever dreamt of being Bwahahahaha! You've got to be kidding, right? The issue that contemporary readers have with Ayn Rand's literature is two-fold. 1) We tend to forget that she was a Russian immigrant, writing in a non-native tongue. Considering the length of Tolstoi's work, TRANSLATED from Russian, I think her tomes are actually models of brevity, when compared to typical Russian literature. 2) WE all tend to suffer from ADD-like symptoms due to the MTV/youtube/popular fiction nature of our society. Rand wrote in a time when people still ENJOYED reading, and her writing should be read in that light. That being said, I've read it three times, and it's never taken me more than a week, despite stellar retention of the underlying concepts and character names and roles, if not exact quotes. nope, not kidding. if she had an editor he/she should be flogged. |
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me.
clancy is a far better writer than rand ever dreamt of being Bwahahahaha! You've got to be kidding, right? The issue that contemporary readers have with Ayn Rand's literature is two-fold. 1) We tend to forget that she was a Russian immigrant, writing in a non-native tongue. Considering the length of Tolstoi's work, TRANSLATED from Russian, I think her tomes are actually models of brevity, when compared to typical Russian literature. 2) WE all tend to suffer from ADD-like symptoms due to the MTV/youtube/popular fiction nature of our society. Rand wrote in a time when people still ENJOYED reading, and her writing should be read in that light. That being said, I've read it three times, and it's never taken me more than a week, despite stellar retention of the underlying concepts and character names and roles, if not exact quotes. nope, not kidding. if she had an editor he/she should be flogged. Please go away, grown ups are talking... 
I think I've rounded the invisible corner that most of you are talking about and I am eating it up right now... I've been devoting time each day during my lunch break to knock out a few pages, and the story is progressing quite nicely... |
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I just picked his up after years of suggestion from friends and now my wife, and I'm approx. 1/3 through and I've not found it hard to pick up at all. Like any story, I've encountered some slower sections, but on the whole I find the imagery to be amazing. I'm accustomed to Clancy books so a 1300 pager isn't really a big deal to me.
clancy is a far better writer than rand ever dreamt of being Bwahahahaha! You've got to be kidding, right? The issue that contemporary readers have with Ayn Rand's literature is two-fold. 1) We tend to forget that she was a Russian immigrant, writing in a non-native tongue. Considering the length of Tolstoi's work, TRANSLATED from Russian, I think her tomes are actually models of brevity, when compared to typical Russian literature. 2) WE all tend to suffer from ADD-like symptoms due to the MTV/youtube/popular fiction nature of our society. Rand wrote in a time when people still ENJOYED reading, and her writing should be read in that light. That being said, I've read it three times, and it's never taken me more than a week, despite stellar retention of the underlying concepts and character names and roles, if not exact quotes. nope, not kidding. if she had an editor he/she should be flogged. Please go away, grown ups are talking...
I think I've rounded the invisible corner that most of you are talking about and I am eating it up right now... I've been devoting time each day during my lunch break to knock out a few pages, and the story is progressing quite nicely... I'm glad you like it. In other news, Spot ran in the book I'm currently reading. |
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Yea...reading it a few pages at a time, putting it down is not much of a problem at the moment, I must not have hit that invisible corner yet. It's OK so far though. Keep on it I am really motoring now. KNocked out 75 pages today. It does get better, LOL. Glad I stuck with it. J- |
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This book has had a long felt impact on me. I first read it 16 years ago, after reading Anthem and The Fountainhead, as well as The Virtue of Selfishness and Capitalism:The Unknown Ideal. I've since re-read it several times. Rand's writing style was ponderous and exact. A good editor could cull out 3-400 pages and they wouldn't be missed, but she demanded that editing be limited to spelling/grammatical only. The book 'The Passion of Ayn Rand' by Barbara Brandon gave a lot of insight into Rand's writing style, her life and how utterly demanding she was. |
I too am having a hard time staying with this book. It is an excellent read but Rand's style of writing is tiring. I have at least found out "Who is John Gault?" He is the most long winded orator I've ever come across in any book. His oratory on air ran for Fifty-Six pages! I found myself either falling asleep or having to re-read his lines over and over to understand what he was saying. I'm sure that he lost a lot of his audience in the book before he was done with his rant. I'm a semi speed reader but it has taken me more than a week to get almost to the thousand page mark. Overall it ties in with todays events very well. I will probably re-read it in the future to find out what I missed the first time.
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Well finsished Atlas a couple of weeks ago and I am glad I stuck with it. I got and knocked out Anthem in one day too! It seemed that wih Atlas there were some real strong parellels between the book and what is going on or in the future of our country. J- Now you have to read Fountainhead! |
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Well finsished Atlas a couple of weeks ago and I am glad I stuck with it. I got and knocked out Anthem in one day too! It seemed that wih Atlas there were some real strong parellels between the book and what is going on or in the future of our country. J- Now you have to read Fountainhead! its up next J- |
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I started it four days ago and I haven't had a problem getting through it at all. Yes, she get's a bit windy at times but I'm enjoying the book, I'll probably finish it tomorrow. Man I wish I had a life that allowed me to average about 230pages of reading a day. LOL Just Kidding with u. J- |
