The "Atlas Shrugged" Incident of 2009

There are plenty of "classics" that I haven't read.  Some interest me not at all, some I'd consider if recommended to me and some I just haven't gotten around to, yet.

Someone recommended An American Tragedy to me about 15 years ago.  I read it on my honeymoon.  My wife still laughs because as I read the last page, I got up from my pool chair and proceeded to mash my foot into another pool chair, resulting in excrutiating pain.  My wife said, "THERE'S your American Tragedy."  [I recall enjoying the book, but I do not feel comfortable recommending/not recommending since I read it almost 15 years ago.]

I read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead in college.  I loved it.  I particularly loved the character of Howard Roark.  I neither "got" nor focused on the whole "objectivism" thing back then.  I enjoyed The Fountainhead because I thought it was a well written good read.  It was also recommended to me by a friend.  [Recall the scene in Dirty Dancing where Robbie Gould (aka "The Bad Guy Who Got Penny Pregnant") suggested that Baby read The Fountainhead?  Just a little shout out to Patrick Swayze who lost his battle with cancer this week]

Since reading The Fountainhead, I felt I had to read Ayn Rand's seminal work.  However, I had found it difficult to motivate to read Atlas Shrugged despite the fact that my mother had my grandmother's FIRST EDITION copy in hardback (1,170 pages) (FYI-the dust jacket is long gone.  Otherwise, it's possible that selling the book could pay for a significant portion of a year in college.  Why do people discard dust jackets?  But I digress).  Then, when the economy went in the crapper and all of this "Who is John Galt?" stuff started cropping up, I thought I was missing something.  Thus began the "Atlas Shrugged" Incident of 2009.

I can say with some confidence that there is a good story and controversial, thought-provoking themes somewhere in Atlas Shrugged.  It's there, somewhere, in the 1,170 pages.  There are some great, potentially classic characters, too.  Why Ayn Rand had to bury all of that in an extra 600-700 pages (am I being charitable?) of self-aggrandizing uselessness is beyond me.

Some people won't read this book on principle because of Ayn Rand's politics.  I respect that, and I wouldn't even suggest that those people try to endure the 1,170 pages.  Some people, like me, think that they're missing something (either culturally or educationally) by not reading the book.  Dispell that notion.  You have better things to do.  Do yourselves a favor.  Google "Atlas Shrugged" and "Who is John Galt" and learn enough that you're in on the joke.  Then pick up another "classic" that will be a better use of your time.

Remember, reading a book is better than a stick in the eye.

And, the cold winter has apparently not affected the orange harvest.