I first read this giant of a novel by Ayn Rand back in the early 70's in college. I totally enjoyed it back then, and thought it a great epic of the struggle of free men against a socialist-fascist-collectivist world.
Superb, in-depth character development, twists and turns everywhere, multiple plot lines running, and romance and intrigue sprinkled throughout. It was written in the early 50's, so some of the writing might seem strange to younger people, and there's no whiz-bang technology, but nevertheless, truly great writing, but pure fiction, right?
WRONG!
I started re-reading it a couple of weeks ago, and I'm STUNNED at how relevant it is to today's blatant power grab by the currently elected "President" and his crony-commie buddies in Congress.
I don't have the time or skill to give either a "Cliffs Notes" version, or a full review here, so I won't. It's also ELEVEN-HUNDRED PAGES LONG, so it's not light reading, but if you're a reader like me, once you get going, you won't want to put it down.
Head on over to the Wikipedia for a good background check, but be sure you read ALL the subsections, or you'll miss some subtle but important things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_shrugged
And as further proof of how this novel relates to current times, check out "Directive 10-289".
http://radio.weblogs.com/0104693/stories/2002/11/17/directive10289.html
Really scary stuff, and it looks like it may come to pass.
And in reading further, I found this gem on the normally left-leaning Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_each_according_to_his_ability,_to_each_according_to_his_need
Scroll to the bottom and look at the very last entry in "See Also".
It's a hoot!
Now this is interesting.....In case you didn't go to Wikipedia before today, let me tell you the last entry of the "See Also" section was.........BARACK OBAMA!
It's not there anymore! I guess maybe the word got out about it, and they couldn't stand the light of day shining on their beloved Messiah.
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<i>The Fisher Saga</i> Continues - Act III -
Been working on this post since right after Thanksgiving. I'm making very good progress on the Fisher, and will most likely power it up...
I just got the book. Will start reading soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll enjoy it. Just don't expect to finish it in a weekend!
ReplyDeleteI just bought it in the Exchange...
ReplyDeleteI also highly recommend Constitutional patriots read, "Un intend ed Con se quence s" by J oh n Ro s s. It's approx. 860 pages but I could hardly put it down. Know anyone that owns some hogs?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've heard of "Unintended Consequences" but haven't really looked for a copy. I don't know if my local library has it, and it goes for around $100 on Amazon!
ReplyDeleteI'm grabbing a copy right now, thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThe girlfriend is taking some books back to the library tomorrow. I'll ask her to look for "Unintended Consequences".
ReplyDeleteFound a seller on eBay that some brand-new, still shrink-wrapped copies of "Unintended Consequences", hard cover no less, for $60.
ReplyDeleteMine's on the way, and should be here shortly!