"Atlas Shrugged" at 50

My parents are G-d and Ayn Rand. I forget who said that but it could have been me. 50 Years ago, Atlas Shrugged was published.

If Rand was alive today she would be apoplectic over the appeasement to savages. Her treatise seemed outrageous when she published it. Today, it seems tame in comparison to what is happening in the war on Islamic jihad. But she called it. She called it all.

I often quote Rand, "when you have civilized men fighting savages, you support the civilized men, no matter who they are."

Kick back and watch Rand with Mike Wallace;
Part I

Part II

Part III

I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

Much thanks for Tiger Hawk reminding me that Atlas Shrugged turns 50 today. How brilliant, prescient Rand was. She defined my epistemology and helped to teach my how to think, question and deduce. This blog pays tribute everyday - in its very existence.

Rand ought to be required reading starting with We the Living. Throw the leftarded trash out of the classrooms and replace it with the exalted individualism, self reliance, meritocracy.
Read all of Tiger's post here; hat tip Larwyn

..... Atlas Shrugged, was published fifty years ago.

"Who is John Galt?"

With that enigmatic opening line, author-renegade philosopher Ayn Rand began her 1957 novel "Atlas Shrugged," which remains a controversial book 50 years after publication.

More than 700,000 copies of Rand's books sold in 2006, 25 years after her death. Several years ago, when the Modern Library published readers' choices for the best novels of the 20th century, four books by Rand made the list: "Atlas Shrugged" (No. 1), "The Fountainhead" (No. 2), "Anthem" (No. 7) and "We the Living" (No. 8).

A survey in 1991 by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club found "Atlas Shrugged" the second most influential book in the United States. The Bible was first.

"Centuries ago, the man who was ”no matter what his errors” the greatest of your philosophers, has stated the formula defining the concept of existence and the rule of all knowledge: A is A. A thing is itself. You have never grasped the meaning of his statement. I am here to complete it: Existence is Identity, Consciousness is Identification." This passage is part of the radio broadcast delivered by John Galt to the people of America in Part Three, Chapter VII.

More on my journey with Atlas.

I came to Atlas Shrugged in a very personal way. Atlas Shrugged was the favorite book of my dearest friend, a brilliant lawyer for the city of New York. A girl who I immediately bonded with at 11 years old and who remained my dearest, most precious friend (of which I have few) until she died of ovarian cancer 8 years ago July 22nd. I owe her more than I could ever say or repay. I loved her unconditionally and she me. She gave me Atlas. Thank you Bonnie.

 

Comments

[Francis W. Porretto]

I too was greatly impressed with Atlas Shrugged. However, in these latter years, I often wish that Rand hadn't turned so vitriolically against faith in all its forms. Though it didn't utterly deface her thought or taint her influence, it did lessen them.

Imagine what inroads Randian thinking could have made if it had found an accommodation with the faiths and moral codes of Jews and Christians!

[Vince]

All my youth whenever I would be in a library, I would be tempted by this book with intriguing cover art, evocative title, and very unique name for an author. I knew that I had to read it, but it was huge and I really didn't know what it was about so it wasn't until I was 26, in 2000, that I finally got my hands on my own copy.

I was instantly sucked into its world where things are dispairing and you can sense the decay and the mystery of the nil force eating society.

The instant parellels of the moochers and Al Gore's constant perseverating about lockboxes.

The evil of envy and the virtue of selfishness.

The looters use of thier targets' own virtue as a weapon against them.

My love for Ms Rand for writing a love story about America and for romanticizing the property rights to one's own mind.

[pommygranate]

I am halfway through Atlas Shrugged now. I was alerted to its existence by the Samizdata website. It is a truly wonderful book with as much relevance to today's events as 50 years ago.

Are her other books as good?

[Pamela Geller]

Read everything you can get your hands on. Fountainhead rocks, The Romantic Manifesto, The New Intellectual ......... all of it.

[tj]

I to have been greatly benefited by atlas shrugged. Her other fiction writings are terrific,"the fountain head" is one of my favorites, but her non fiction books are also great.

[jimmy]

what a cold hard bitch... I love it

[djw]

My parents are G-d and Ayn Rand. I forget who said that but it could have been me.

Actually, the famous line your thinking of is a book dedication: "I'd like to thank my parents, God and Ayn Rand." It is often cited as an example of the importance and value of retaining the Oxford comma for maximum clarity and mimimum confusion in the English language.

[dtodeen]

Pretty amazing when you consider the apathatic Americans standing by watching Idol. Maybe the wake up call will be another attack? The beheadings are not enough!

[John D. Infidel]

I stumbled upon Atlas Shrugs one day when search for blogs about Ayn Rand!

I'm a BIG fan of Ayn Rand, much to the chagrin of my ex-wife! "We the Living" had made quite an impression on me and I highly recommend reading it. "Objectivism: the Philosophy of Ayn Rand" written by her protégé Leonard Peikoff is a good overview of Ms. Rand's philosophy. Read more here: http://www.peikoff.com/opar/flash.htm

[salt1907]

I wish I was reading Ayn Rand's novels for the FIRST TIME. It is fun to re-read them, but there is nothing like the first time.

In the "Early Ayn Rand" there is a story called "Red Pawn" (from 1934 I think). The plot and characters are a stripped down version of the later novels. In this story, you can see the raw material particularly for "We the Living" and "Fountainhead."

[willyp1954]

The amazing thing is that both of my kids attended an 'alternative' school for HS, a choice I heartily endorsed, and my daughter enrolled in a course titled "Essential Books" which was an Web-based course. The kids had I forget how many books to read, one every 2 weeks, and then the last 48 hours of that period, they had to post comments, with supporting quotes, about the book, or else comment on someone else's comments. "Atlas Shrugged" was one of the books! The school is hopelessly liberal, but many of the kids do end up with the ability to see both sides of many issues. My daughter read almost all of it (hard to do when you are taking 7 classes plus Essential books!)and you have a new book every 2 weeks. She was reading Atlas in between reading other books, so she did not wait until the 2 weeks assigned for that tome. She graduated from college as an English, and History, major, magna cum laude. I think that liberal alternative school actually taught her to think independantly. I am rewarded with her thoughts on Islamists--yeah, go ahead and shoot them! Not bad for a young women who votes D!

Keep up the good work Pamela!!! My in-laws get many of your postings, as do many members of my church choir :).

[Pamela Geller]

The in-laws and the church choir? You have thoroughly made my day.

xoxo