[the_tyrant]

Ayn Rand's world horrified me, Atlas Shrugged gives me nightmares.

I mean, in that book, everyone talks politics all the time. Even during sex!

Imagine having sex with this chick, and the moment after orgasm, she turns around, looks you in the eye, and says, we have to eliminate the moochers, and goes on a long monolog of why hard work is the fundamentals of society. Mind you, I would probably feel more comfortable if she wanted to kill me after sex.

I mean, if you read it as a purely entertaining novel, the book is subpar. Poorly written sex scenes, long, LONG monologs, the really in your face political messages, really don't add up to a good story. In fact, Atlas Shrugged really reminds me of Metal Gear Solid, minus the exciting gameplay. Lots of plot, lots of exposition, not much excitement.

However, if you read her book as a political treatise, I would say it is one of the better ones (purely from a literary standpoint). Unlike the Little Red Book, Atlas Shrugged is really focused, Ayn Rand "rambles" but the story and message is still pretty focused. It isn't nearly as dry as The Wealth of Nations, the story does allow you to see her "point". Compared to Das Kapital, Atlas Shrugged at least isn't confusing in its message (I swear that for a few chapters in Das Kapital, Karl Marx was encouraging me to accumulate capital and try to become a capitalist). However, Atlas Shrugged does drag on, and lacks depth in a few key points. Thus, I say that from a certain perspective, I enjoyed The Prince a bit more.

PS: using the words of left wing detractors, AynRand "fetishized the producer". Ayn Rand is REALLY pushy regarding that point. To her, politicians, political activists, and hippies are the lowest of the low (aka, all the time spent protesting could be spent at work goddamnit!). She also makes her contempt for the clergy very obvious in the works.

Thus, if you are a priest or a political activist, don't bother reading her work, to you, it will be a 800 page insult.


But Skybird, I have a feeling you will like the book, just a hunch.